How to make the most of your post-college job search

A store sign in California
A help wanted sign is placed in the window of Veronica M clothing store on June 21, 2013 in Pasadena, Calif.
Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images

Recent college graduates are having a particularly tough time finding jobs as the economy recovers. Transitioning from college to a career path has always been difficult for young people, but many current issues are making it harder than ever.

While some college graduates do find employment, they are often considered underemployed. From the 2014 Federal Reserve Bank of New York report:

While high unemployment among recent college graduates has attracted considerable attention from policymakers and the public alike, there is also growing concern that recent graduates are finding themselves underemployed — that is, working in jobs that do not require a college degree...

For college graduates as a whole, the underemployment rate has held steady at around 33 percent over the past two decades — meaning that about one in three college-educated workers typically holds a job that does not require a degree...

The underemployment rate for new college graduates has not held steady. The rate rose to 46 percent during the 1990-91 recession, then fell significantly during the economic expansion of the 1990s. By 2001, the rate had dropped to 34 percent. During the first decade of the 2000s, the underemployment rate rose somewhat sharply after both the 2001 and 2007-09 recessions, and in each case, only partially retreated, resulting in an increase to roughly 44 percent by 2012.

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On The Daily Circuit, we talk about the barriers to getting on a career track and what recent graduates can do to get around them.

LEARN MORE ABOUT GETTING A JOB AFTER COLLEGE:

Five tips for the recent grad's job search (MPR News)

Career advice for Millennials: 10 ways to hack into the workplace (TechRepublic)

Recession-Proof Job Search Strategies for New College Graduates (CareerProfiles)