How Open Innovation is Giving College Graduates a Leg Up in the Job Market

NEW YORK, May 25, 2011 /PRNewswire/ — While hiring has started to show signs of an uptick, 2011 college graduates flooding the job market this month face compounded competition from the backlog of job-seekers still searching for entry-level positions. According to Department of Labor statistics, in the popular public relations field, the number of qualified applicants will exceed the number of job openings, with the best job opportunities going to those with multiple internships or related work experience already on their resumes.

Attending college during a tough recession, the savviest graduates recognized the need to gain real-world experience while still in school, finding opportunities to build their portfolios – even through opportunities in the virtual world. One trend among ambitious students is participation in crowdsourcing programs, allowing busy but tenacious Millennials a chance to contribute to companies looking to connect with the digital generation.

“When I realized that I might want to work in the public relations field, I joined Mindfire, a crowdsourcing community formed by a leading public relations firm, and as a result, I was recently hired by them for a paid summer fellowship,” said Lauren Campbell, a senior graduating from Yale University this May. “In addition to working at a local New Haven integrated marketing agency while still a student, I found that contributing my creative ideas to challenges posted on Mindfire gave me a real taste of what a job in PR would entail, plus it gave me an edge in landing a position.”

Ketchum, the public relations firm where Campbell will join two other Mindfire community members who also landed summer jobs in the firm’s New York headquarters office, created its university-based online crowdsourcing platform last year as a new creativity engine for its clients.

Click here to read the full press release.

Image via flickr.