The Tragedy of Untapped Genius

I'd like to tell you about a sad story - a tragedy really.  It might even sound familiar to some of you.  A friend of mine graduated with a bachelor's degree over a year ago, but since his graduation he has struggled to find a job that matches both his skills and interests.  It's not from a lack of trying.  But without existing experience, employers hardly give him the time of day. I can certainly empathize - I've been there before.  You find a job opening, you excitedly fill out the application, but as you look over the resume you've created, you realize that without post-graduate work experience, your resume looks bare.  But as an optimist, you submit it anyway, knowing in your heart of hearts that you're perfectly capable if someone will just give you a chance.  The problem is that employers don't like taking chances.  And if they can't see what you can do by looking at what you have done, they're more likely to take a pass than take a risk.  So instead of preparing for an interview, you're preparing to submit your next resume and hope lady luck increases your chances of getting in front of a recruiter.

Does that sound familiar to anyone else?  I can't say that I blame employers.  Their success is largely influenced by the workforce they employ.  But is it fair to students who are - dare I say it? - more than meets the eye?

I recently discovered a new tool that finally helps students show companies what they're all about and what they can really do.  It's called Student Genius, and it's designed specifically to help students showcase their skills and their personality.  You can post a video resume, a timeline of various experiences, upload an online portfolio of your work (e.g., presentations, graphics, videos, or anything else that will help to showcase your skills), and more.  So instead of students being forced to create a boring resume, they can customize their profile, show their personality, and showcase actual work instead of just writing about it.  As the saying goes, "a picture is worth a thousand words" - you can't fit a thousand words in a standard resume, but you can upload as many visuals as you like on Student Genius.

I'm not getting paid to write about this - I simply believe in the cause.  So join the movement against student unemployment - tell your friends and family, any students that you know, to go to beta.studentgenius.com and create a profile and show the world what they can do.  Watch this short video to get a glimpse of what this movement is all about.