Nayeli Sanchez is on the homestretch of her undergraduate journey at Cal State Dominguez Hills. As a senior psychology student, Sanchez has spent a lot of time lately preparing for Graduation Day later this month. Most days, that means updating her resume, scouring job listings, and imagining what life will be like after she crosses the stage at commencement.
For Sanchez, the joy of finally earning her college degree is mixed with the fear and uncertainty that she might not get to use it.
“I feel like I won’t be able to find anything since I do not have my master’s [degree] in my major,” Sanchez told The Bulletin. “I am scared that it will be hard to find a good-paying job that I will like.”
Sanchez’s concerns are not unique and reflect a broader sentiment among American college graduates that the time and effort they put into their degrees won’t be appreciated by the current job market.
Amid rising inflation, economic volatility worldwide, and the increasing adoption of artificial intelligence in the workplace, new college graduates are set to enter one of the most brutal job markets in recent history.
While the unemployment rate in the United States last month fell from 4.4 percent to 4.3 percent, economists say a bigger issue facing new graduates is underemployment—workers who have jobs but not at the level or hours they need. It’s not so much that these jobs don’t exist, says CSUDH economics professor Sherine El Hag, but that companies don’t seem willing to hire new graduates at all.
“The market is kind of flat for the [new] graduates. There is a freeze for entry-level hiring in many sectors,” El Hag said, adding that employers are prioritizing technical skills over academic performance and achievement.
“Companies are more focused on specific skills more than even the grades right now,” El Hag said. “There is high competition among [new] graduates.”
The competition for entry-level jobs, El Hag told The Bulletin, has intensified recently due to inflation and rising oil prices due to the joint U.S.-Israel war against Iran. “If unemployment increases while inflation increases, it can lead to stagflation, which we try to avoid as economists.”
Students hope for the best, plan for the worst
When it comes to finding a job, senior Vanessa Barberena knows it’s not necessarily what you know but who you know. Barberena, a marketing management student at CSUDH, feels confident about her ability to find a job but is concerned about her level of experience.
“I feel my degree can be used in almost every field of work,” Barberena told The Bulletin. “Networking is so important when getting hired places, because when you know someone, it changes the ball game—you have someone that can vouch for you.”
Dahlia Medina, a marketing student at Cal State Long Beach, is frustrated by how often she sees “entry-level” job listings requiring years of professional experience. Medina told The Bulletin that many students have jobs “just to pay the bills,” but not what’s necessary to build a career.
Medina believes there’s a gap between what happens in the classroom and what’s expected in the workplace, but some professors have attempted to ease her concerns. “I have two great professors that have made me feel more confident about the job market, but once I see expectations listed, I get worried again.”
Some Toro alumni have also struggled to find a job in this market. Jorge Jimenez told The Bulletin he had applied to several jobs and internships in the film and television industry after graduating CSUDH in 2023, but he couldn’t land an interview. He said he eventually found a job that had “nothing to do with what [he] went to school for.”
“I personally don’t feel like my college education prepared me for the job market,” Jimenez said. “Even with an education, I feel like experience matters the most when looking for a job.”
Underemployment a Catch-22
The current job market has created a misunderstanding among students, according to CSUDH accounting professor Nestor Garza, who said federal unemployment statistics can mask deeper issues. While unemployment for workers aged 16–25 is not unusually high compared to historical trends, he said, underemployment tells a different story.
“A person might be working, but below their qualification or in part-time work when they want full-time,” Garza told The Bulletin. “You are working, but your situation is much worse than what you would like.”
For students, that can make transitioning from college to the workforce more difficult. Brenda Mendez, CSUDH director of career development, said the disconnect between having a degree and finding a job with that degree is a common challenge.
“Students get to graduation and realize they’ve done nothing in terms of work experience, and then they start panicking,” Mendez explained, adding that employers increasingly expect new graduates to have at least two years of professional experience. “Grades don’t matter in terms of hiring—skill sets do.”
Mendez pointed to internships, campus jobs, and student leadership roles as critical pathways that students often overlook.
“We understand students are working, going to school, and trying to survive,” she said. “But at the end of the day, the students who don’t do those extra things are the ones who struggle the most after graduation.”
An emotional toll: The full-time job of finding a job
The pressure of not only finding a job, but a stable job, can impact mental health, according to CSUDH psychology faculty, who say “there’s a lot of uncertainty.”
“When you put your application out there, who is looking at it—is it a person or an algorithm?” asks psychology professor Ashley Membere. “Students start thinking, ‘Did I do everything I could? Was it worth it? Is there something wrong with me?’ When really, the answer is no—the market is just unstable right now.”
Membere told The Bulletin that repeated rejection can feel hurtful, but “the rejection isn’t about you.” Those feelings, students say, are compounded by a lack of feedback from employers.
Amy Dannara Lopez graduated from the University of Southern California with a journalism degree in 2025. Lopez said that despite USC’s prestigious reputation and alumni network, the experience of finding a job was unexpectedly emotional and difficult.
“I would hope that having USC on my resume would sort of boost me forward,” Lopez explained. “It has been a lot of constantly applying, and a lot of ghosting as well.”
Although having USC on her resume helps to catch someone’s attention, Lopez said networking is not enough to overcome the state of the job market. “It is very much helping each other, but it is still very brutal out there.”
Toro alumnus Jeremiah Rojas echoed Lopez, saying the job hunt made him feel isolated.
“It’s a very distancing and isolating feeling to not even get an email back,” said Rojas, who received his journalism degree from CSUDH in 2025. “Not even to have a person tell me I got rejected, but just the same automated email that doesn’t even tell me why I didn’t get the position.”
Rojas also lamented the disconnect between “entry-level” jobs and the expectations of the role listed by employers. “They want maybe three to five years of experience—it’s just rough anywhere.”
Sanchez, the senior psychology major, says classes haven’t necessarily prepared them for the realities of the current market, but she isn’t giving up hope of a career in her desired field of sports psychology. However, she realizes that the path to landing a gig may not be linear after graduation.
“I will still try to get a job but maybe in a school working with kids or anything with sports to help me get some exposure to what I want to do,” Sanchez said. “Also, I do want to go get my masters after graduation, but I think I’ll give it a year before I start applying.”