Fresh Graduation Gift Idea for Class of 2015 Job Seekers

Got a kid graduating from college this spring? Here’s a fresh idea for the ultimate graduation gift: a $2,000 package of job finding assistance or guidance from a new, Darien-based company called Perpetual Ambition. This is not a hefty price tag, if you think about what parents are spending on SAT tutors, college advisors, college essay consultants—all frontloaded before kids even get into a pricey 4-year undergrad program. So why WOULD’NT you spend money after your child graduates to help them launch?

After the Class of 2015 takes off the caps and gowns, they greet mixed job market news.  According to an April 2015 report from the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE), employers will hire 9.6 percent more college grads this year than in 2014. The tricky part is that most college kids look for jobs between January and April of their Senior year, and by April roughly 65% of employers have already made offers to college seniors to fill open entry-level positions.  So if your graduate didn’t take advantage of on-campus interviews, he or she may struggle to find a job that’s a good fit. But there’s help.

Darien-based career consultants, Perpetual Ambition (a division of parent company Perpetual Insights), have the perfect solution: their brand-new Graduate Transition program. This innovative program  (estimated to add up to six hours of face-to-face collaboration) is dedicated to helping Millennials crack the job market. The program includes:  talent assessment, resume writing, interviewing techniques (phone, Skype, and in person), presentation skills, maximizing LinkedIn and other professional or social networking sites, salary negotiation and most importantly, closing the deal. A final report will be presented to your graduate. Meetings can be conducted in person in the Darien office or via Skype, FaceTime or on the phone “You’ve got to be flexible when you are dealing with this young demographic,” says Perpetual Ambition Founder and Managing Partner, Steve Morrissey.

Morrissey is a married Darien dad of two young children. “Even though college graduation is several years away for my family,” Morrissey says, “my long career in placing candidates in corporate jobs taught me that college graduates often struggle with how to present themselves, how to find a job that really suits their interests, skill sets, and developmental potential. There’s a great need for the kind of guidance and training that Graduate Transitions will provide.” Morrissey’s fifteen years as a search professional has shaped the Graduate Transition program. “An added benefit of Graduate Transitions is that the client will learn to work with search firms, so he or she can leverage them throughout his or her career,” notes Morrissey.

Yes, many colleges and universities are supposed to give their students some job search support, but not all on-campus career counselors have real-world job connections or experience and not all alumni career networks are fruitful. “My wife and I have a variety of friends in Fairfield County. Some have older kids, and we hear them talking about the lack of direction their kids have when it comes to post-grad life.” It’s Morrissey’s mission to fill this need, leaving parents and graduates feeling less frustrated. 

To learn more about the Graduate Transition program, call Perpetual Ambition at 203-202-7634 or email stevemorrissey@perpetualambition.com.

Managing Partner of Perpetual Ambition, Steve Morrissey

Steve Morrissey is the Managing Partner of Perpetual Insights, the parent company to Perpetual Ambition. Perpetual Insights is a boutique search firm focused on the consumer vertical. The firm recruits within the Marketing and Sales discipline for a range of businesses, including Fortune 100 companies and small start-up companies. Perpetual Insights creates unique search solutions for each client. Before becoming an entrepreneur, Steve spent fifteen years as Managing Director and then U.S. Board Member for one of the world’s largest professional recruitment firms. Prior to the corporate world, Steve served as an Officer in the Royal Marines Commandos for eight years. Such early experiences helped him forge the necessary entrepreneurial qualities of team-leadership, improvisation, tenacity, an appetite for calculated risk and a sense of humor in adversity. Steve lives in Darien, Connecticut and shares the demands, with his wife, of parenting two very active boys. In a desperate attempt to stave off middle age, he is a half marathon runner, tri-athlete, backpacker and snow-shoer.

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Submitted by Westport, CT

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