Edward Behr spent a year searching and submitting applications, aiming for 10 a day, before landing his first job after college graduation.
Behr, a 24-year-old UF alumnus, graduated in May 2024 with a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering. He now works for the city of North Port, Florida, in water treatment.
Before clinching his first post-undergrad job, Behr was one of over 18,000 UF graduates from the class of 2024 alone looking to secure work in a post-pandemic market.
“If you don’t have a job, you gotta make finding a job your full-time job,” he said.
In 2019, the unemployment rate for recent college graduates averaged 3.25%. By contrast, in 2025, the rate averaged 4.6% for the first six months of the year. The six-year deterioration was larger for recent graduates than for older college graduates or noncollege-educated workers over the same period.
With the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics predicting technological advancements will replace 1 million office and administrative support jobs by 2029, entry-level jobs are at risk for many hopeful graduates.
Additionally, federal job cuts this year have restricted the number of government positions available, and some students planning to work for the U.S. government post-grad have to look for other options.
Looking back at his undergraduate experience, Behr said he wished he had completed an internship.
From what he’s seen, he said, having at least one internship can lead to a full-time job offer. After graduating, he watched his friends get hired by companies they interned with in the past.
According to the 2023-24 UF Graduation Survey, about two-thirds of respondents completed at least one internship during their undergraduate degrees. Of those respondents, another two-thirds had full-time employment secured for post-graduation.
Students at UF face uncertainty like any other college graduates or soon-to-be graduates, but despite the current conditions, recent college graduates advise to keep applying despite frustrations.
Finding a job in the current market
Julia Boas, a 22-year-old economist for the U.S. Postal Service, graduated from UF with a bachelor’s degree in economics before earning her master’s degree in the same degree in May 2025. She said she began applying to jobs in September of her senior year.
Despite having an internship the summer after she graduated, the process was difficult.
Boas said she applied to roughly 70 jobs and landed two interviews.
“It’s just definitely frustrating, because a lot of the time you don’t really feel like a person,” Boas said. “You kind of just feel like you’re just part of this computer … and you’re just a piece of their game.”
The number of degrees awarded each year is increasing, causing more competition among graduates, she added. The number of bachelor’s degrees awarded increased 19% between 2010-11 and 2019-20, according to the National Center for Education Statistics.
Vivian Bender, a 22-year-old copywriter for the wellness company Life Extension, graduated from UF in May 2025 with a bachelor’s degree in marketing.
Bender completed an internship with Life Extension the summer before senior year and said she freelanced for them during the academic year.
Before receiving the full-time offer, Bender had applied to a handful of jobs, because she didn't know if she would get a return offer. She said she felt disappointed from the rejections she got despite spending a lot of time on applications.
But interviews and career fairs helped her better prepare for the next application, she said.
“Don’t get discouraged,” Bender said. “It takes one, only one, acceptance and just keep applying. It’ll happen.”
The importance of experience
Taylor Stokes, a 39-year-old UF senior lecturer, is the director of Beyond120, a program offered to students in the College of Liberal Sciences. The program is an advising service which exists to guide students to gain experience outside of the 120 credit hours required to graduate.
Stokes said the program provides students with hands-on experiences to connect their academics with real-world applications before graduation through undergraduate research, internships and alumni connections.
She emphasized the importance of students participating in experimental learning to gain exposure to different experiences, which the UF Career Connections Center defines as developing skills outside of the classroom.
Such experiences include undergraduate research, internships, leadership and community-based learning.
“It’s okay to feel a little uncomfortable when you are looking for a new experience,” Stokes said. “Be open to a possibility that you didn’t know was there.”
There isn’t necessarily a correlation between a student’s major and future job, Stokes added.
“An accounting major isn’t necessarily just available to be an accountant. An English major is not just going to be an English teacher,” she said. “They can do so many things.”
Contact Alanna Robbert at arobbert@alligator.org. Follow her on X @alannafitzr.
Alanna is a journalism senior and the Fall 2025 data reporter for The Alligator's Enterprise desk. She was previously a general assignment reporter for metro. Outside of reporting, she is found either with a book, in the gym or with friends playing pool.
