After several weeks of planning and research, I am excited to share the results of a comprehensive survey on Millennials and first jobs. I conducted the survey alongside Business Insider, a prominent news and commentary website, which often runs my NTLB columns.

The survey of 548 Millennials has several interesting findings, and you should definitely check them out on the slick infographic down below.

Here are the highlights:

– Sixteen percent of Millennials can’t find jobs after six months in the job market.

– The Gen Yers surveyed believe “Salary” is the most important job factor, ahead of “Meaningful Work” and “Flexibility”.

– Twenty-four percent of young adults applied to 11 or more jobs before being hired.

– Eighty-two percent did not negotiate their salary because they either didn’t feel comfortable (38%) or didn’t know they were allowed to do so (44%).

Read more about the first jobs survey here.

OK, so the survey results prove (not surprisingly) that’s it tough out there for a young person. What should we do with the data? What’s the News To Live By?

Here are my thoughts:

– To cut through the competition and land a job within six months, learn to tell your own story.

– To ensure your job application has value, run it through this checklist and then click “Send.”

– To effectively negotiate your salary — even on a first job — use these exact words.

– Want to quit struggling and create your own “luck”? Start here.

[callout]If you’d like to be awesome and share the survey, here are some ready-made tweets!

– Survey: 16% of millennials can’t find jobs after six months in the job market read.bi/1yiIok4 via @businessinsider @newstoliveby

– Gen Y ranks “Salary” most important job factor, well ahead of “Flexibility” read.bi/1yiIok4 via @businessinsider @newstoliveby

– Survey: 24% of millennials applied to 11 or more jobs before being hired read.bi/1yiIok4 via @businessinsider @newstoliveby

[/callout]

Here’s the infographic in all its glory.

 

 

Feature photo: bpsusf (Flickr)