2 in 3 college seniors are stressed about the tight job market—how to stand out, says career counselor who’s advised thousands

The class of 2025 is just starting their final year of college, but they’re already sour on their job prospects after graduation.

A majority, 57% of rising seniors, are pessimistic about their future job plans — up from 49% last year — according to a new report from Handshake, the college career resource, based on responses from 1,925 students graduating with a bachelor’s degree in 2025 surveyed between June 14-July 5.

Rising seniors say the tight job market is the No. 1 reason for their pessimism, with nearly 2 in 3 saying competition for entry-level jobs is a stressor in their overall post-grad outlook.

Job creation has slowed on Handshake this year compared to 2023 levels, matching national patterns around job openings and hiring.

As a result, class of 2025 students are applying to more jobs. Today’s seniors have have submitted 24% more applications per job on average than the class of 2024 students at the same time last year.

“I applied to more than 100 openings before I got my current internship. And I think applications for full-time jobs are starting very early,” one class of 2025 finance major said, according to the Handshake report. “Some companies are already making offers to students graduating in spring 2025. I’m going through the process with one company right now and it’s going well, but if that doesn’t work out I’ll start applying to as many jobs as I possibly can.”

Additionally, students say their concerns around student loan debt, November elections and generative AI are dampening their view of their post-college years.

That being said, “While they are short-term pessimistic, they are still long-term optimistic about their careers,” says Christine Cruzvergara, the chief education strategy officer at Handshake. “And so it’s about helping them get over this initial hump. How do we just get them get started?”

Take a computer science student who originally wanted to work for a tech company, she says: “Tech jobs are down by about 20,000 this year over last year. So instead of going into tech, you might consider, what other industries can I go into where I can still use my tech skills?”

Many students who originally wanted to work for a tech company have pivoted to government and health-care jobs, according to Handshake data, which are known to be stable industries that are constantly hiring.

“The second thing is to begin your networking and make sure that you’re actually meeting people in your field, whether they have the job role that you want” or are in an industry that you’re newly exploring, Cruzvergara says.

That being said, she cautions against applying to jobs too widely. Doing so could lead to burnout.

“Make sure you’re very clear with yourself about what you’re interested in, where your skill set lies and what types of jobs you’re applying for,” Cruzvergara says. “Once you’ve identified those, then by all means, apply to as many jobs as possible that meet that criteria.”

Mass applying haphazardly “will catch up with you later,” she adds. “Even if you ended up getting an interview, you’re probably not going to do a great job if you haven’t given some of the things I just mentioned some thought. “

Federal student loans are back on the table after years of being on pause, and roughly half of today’s college seniors say their college debt is a major source of stress. That share rises among women, Black students and first-generation students with student loans.

Debt-burdened students are prioritizing workplaces that offer loan repayment support. Cruzvergara says more employers are now introducing the benefit as a result of young prospects pushing for it.

Almost 9% of jobs posted on Handshake in the past year offered student loan repayment help as an employee benefit. It’s most common among government jobs, where 18% of roles offer college debt assistance, followed by health care (14%), non-profits (9%) and education (6%).

It’s worth noting that the survey closed in early July prior to the assassination attempt against former President Donald Trump, President Joe Biden ending his re-election campaign and Vice President Kamala Harris being named the presumptive nominee for the Democratic party.

“This generation has been so specific about having value alignments around stability, the economy, climate change and mental health,” Cruzvergara says, and students are highly aware of how each candidate could impact their lines of work in those spaces.

Students understand that “regardless of what area folks go into, there will be some ripple effect” of how national policy impacts their jobs, she says.

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