College seniors are probably familiar with the never-ending question: What are your plans after graduation?
For Vanna Walker, a senior computer science major at the University of Miami, that question is becoming more pressing as she searches for a post-graduation opportunity.
For Emmanuela Boateng, a student at Brown University, the question came before she even started college. By the beginning of her senior year, she had already secured a finance job offer. But many of her friends and peers still do not know what the next year will look like.
Where will they live? What will they do? How much money will they make?
For students trying to turn a diploma into a paycheck, the job search often begins years before graduation.
Making yourselves irresistible to recruiters
The strongest candidates do not wait until senior year to build their resumes.
Ali Rodriguez, executive director of the Toppel Career Center at UM, encourages students to begin building connections and understanding how their major can translate into a career as early as freshman year. That can include internships, research, job shadowing and campus employment.
Rodriguez recommends using Cane2Cane, a professional networking website for UM students and alumni, to request informational conversations with graduates working in fields of interest.
Rodriguez said students should search strategically for job opportunities. She said a strategic search is more effective than submitting hundreds of applications online without a plan.
When Marie-Elsie Ade, a pharmacy recruiter at Baptist Health in Miami-Dade County, is hiring, she said employment is also about what happens beyond a list of qualifications.
“I look mostly for team cohesion. How would the person fit?” Ade said.
Communications and media
Recruiting timelines differ by industry.
Rodriguez said the UM’s Communications, Media and Entertainment Fair is generally held in February or March and can bring employers such as NBCUniversal, CBS and local television stations. Communications positions can also appear throughout the year.
Students entering the communications field should build a portfolio rather than relying solely on a resume. Writing, social media, video, design and research can demonstrate skills employers can use across multiple roles.
Finance and accounting
Finance and accounting recruiting can begin much earlier.
Boateng said some consulting firms can begin recruiting sophomores for summer programs as early as August, while banking applications can open in late fall or winter and operate on a rolling basis.
“You shouldn’t reject yourself in this process,” Boateng said. Students should apply to jobs they believe they might be under-qualified for because they never know what could happen.
She also warns students not to overlook smaller firms, different locations or opportunities that lack a prestigious name.
Technology and design
For technology and design students, a portfolio can become a second resume.
Walker, who is pursuing UX/UI design and product-focused work, said she wished she had built her portfolio earlier. A portfolio gives recruiters tangible evidence of how a student thinks, solves problems and creates.
Nafatari Manigault, a college counselor at the University of Delaware, encourages students to record accomplishments as they happen.
“People want to see numbers,” Manigault said. “Find a number behind it, so you can put it on a resume.”
Where to Find Jobs
LinkedIn and online application systems can open doors, but they should not be the only doors students knock on.
Career fairs give students the opportunity to meet recruiters before applying. Rodriguez said UM’s various academic programs and extracurricular programs host individual career fairs involving industries ranging from finance and health care to engineering and entertainment. Interestingly, there’s even a graduate school fair that supports graduate students in finding employment
Students should also research when their industry recruits. Applying early matters, especially in industries with accelerated recruiting cycles.
Boateng recommends translating campus employment, retail jobs and other experiences into transferable skills.
A resume may get someone into an interview, but the interview has to make the experience meaningful.
“The resume has all the stats and the numbers of what you did, but if you cannot tell a story from that, you’re not going to have a captivated interviewer who wants to see you back,” Boateng said.
“You have to have a good story.”
Managing Stress
For many students, rejection becomes the emotional soundtrack of senior year.
Manigault has seen students become deeply affected when employers stop communicating after an interview. Her advice is to follow up appropriately and then continue searching.
“It is a lot of work, applying for work. It is its own 24-hour full-time job,” Manigault said.
Boateng remembers receiving numerous rejections herself.
“I got a thousand no’s before I got my offer, and even then you have to continue,” she said.
For students watching classmates announce internships and offers online, Manigault has another warning:
“Don’t look at them,” she said. “They probably don’t have it figured out.”
External Factors
Students can prepare themselves, but they cannot control the size of the applicant pool, an employer’s hiring plans or broader economic uncertainty.
Rodriguez said that in spring of 2025, the hiring market was somewhat flat and May graduates were taking longer to secure opportunities.
For Walker, the uncertainty has been personal.
“I think it’s just stressful for everyone who’s a senior right now,” she said. “Knowing that college is ending and you [have] to figure it out or you’re just going to be broke.”
But the job search does not have to begin right before graduation. Building connections, gaining experience, documenting accomplishments, creating a portfolio and learning to tell a compelling story can begin much earlier.