Insights
Field notes on first-gen careers, hiring, and a region that listens.
What I'm learning from students, employers, and educators as we build Future Ready SD: the research, the experiments, and the conversations shaping how San Diego launches its next generation.
What I Told 3 Business Students About Getting Hired (According to Employers)
Inside a mock interview day: what employers actually look for, why curiosity and initiative beat a perfect resume, and how a part-time job becomes experience worth talking about.
More field notes
From the work happening now.
The Hidden Rules, the Hourly Job, and the Superpower Nobody Asks About
A First-Gen Celebration Week look at the unwritten rules that get in the way of first-gen students' career launch, and why the jobs they already hold are a strength.
Read the article Future Ready SD · 2026The First 42: What 1% of Our Work Hours Could Mean
Why 42 San Diego leaders giving 21 hours a year adds up to real connections for first-gen students, and how to join them.
See The First 42Research we're following
What the research says about the first-gen launch.
The national data, what students and leaders tell us, and the long-term stakes. Choose a gap and open any finding for the context and the full source.
The starting line
Three gaps between a degree and a strong first job
Students feel prepared. Employers aren't as sure.
Source: State of Higher Education 2026, Gallup & Lumina Foundation
"There's not a place I could go and be like, 'Hey, how do I interview?' So that's kind of why I went to outside sources, you know, LinkedIn videos and friends and TikTok."First-gen business student, from our research interviews
"Curiosity, adaptability. Those are really important skills. We always say things are never black and white. We live in the gray."Early-career recruiter, from our employer interviews
70%of employers use skills-based hiring for entry-level roles
Up from 65% a year earlier. Employers want candidates to share specific examples of using their skills to solve problems, not just list a GPA or coursework.
Job Outlook 2026 · NACE →
77%of entry-level talent say AI raises what's expected of them
New hires are expected to perform at a higher level because of AI, even as they get fewer chances to build skills on the job.
AI's Impact on Early Talent · Business-Higher Education Forum →
27%of college grads report high purpose in their work
Grads who applied classroom learning in a job or internship, and who got realistic expectations about the job market, were far more likely to find purposeful work.
Bates College-Gallup study · Gallup →In San Diego, who you know still depends on where you start.
San Diego County economic connectedness. Source: Social Capital Atlas, Opportunity Insights & Meta
"The task of creating connections and finding community is sort of put on ourselves. It's not something that is done through the school… that's a task we need to figure out on our own."First-gen business student, from our research interviews
"Where I see people succeeding is when I see people who are willing to take a chance… to start asking people to meet up with them… to ask, 'How did you get to where you are?' and then follow through."Hiring leader, from our employer interviews
+20%adult income when low-income kids grow up with cross-class friendships
Economic connectedness is the strongest predictor of upward mobility the researchers found. If low-income children had friendship networks as connected as high-income children's, their adult incomes would rise about 20% on average.
Social Capital I, Nature 2022 · Opportunity Insights →
1 in 2internships are found through informal networks
More than half of students secured internships through professors, family, and friends. Access to those networks is unequal by income, race, and gender.
Social capital research · Clayton Christensen Institute →
43.5%of business students' outreach to professionals got a yes
When CSU San Marcos business students reached out to professionals, 30 of 69 asks got a yes. Typical cold sales emails get under 10%. People answer students who ask.
Field notes · Future Ready SD →22%of grads had a mentor who encouraged their goals
Only about one in five graduates strongly agree they had a mentor who encouraged their goals and dreams. Gallup research shows grads with that kind of mentor are about twice as likely to be engaged at work.
Gallup-Purdue Index · Gallup →Where a career starts is where it tends to stay.
Source: Talent Disrupted, Burning Glass Institute & Strada, 2024
"I think I kind of expected career development to come from classes, which I don't really think it has. I think it's come from this job I just started."First-gen business student, from our research interviews
"We need to better infuse meaningful work throughout the entire student experience — not treat it as something that happens after graduation."Ellen Neufeldt, President, Cal State San Marcos
4.6Mstudents sought an internship in 2023 and couldn't get one
8.2 million students looked for internships or similar experiences, and more than half didn't have access to the opportunities they were seeking.
Lost in Translation · Business-Higher Education Forum →54% vs 60%of first-gen interns were paid, vs. continuing-gen interns
First-gen students are less likely to land paid internships, and the gap compounds: paid interns average more job offers and higher starting pay.
2023 Student Survey · NACE →$67.5Kmedian starting salary for paid interns vs. $45K for unpaid
Paid interns in the Class of 2023 also averaged 1.4 job offers, compared with 0.9 for unpaid interns.
2023 Student Survey · NACE →Where it leads
One strong start compounds across a lifetime.
Students aren't just coming to education to get a degree — they're coming to change their lives.Mark Milliron, President, National University
Stay on track
of grads who start in a job that uses their degree are still in one five years later. Of those who start underemployed, 73% are still underemployed a decade on.
Burning Glass Institute & Strada → The first decades$92,500Build wealth
is the median household wealth gap between first-gen and continuing-gen graduates ($152,000 vs. $244,500).
Pew Research Center → The next generation90% → 50%Out-earn their parents
Children earning more than their parents fell from about 90% of those born in 1940 to 50% of those born in the 1980s.
The Fading American Dream · Opportunity Insights → The region$4.4TA thriving California
potential economic gain if California raises degree and credential attainment to 70% for every group of working-age adults.
The Golden Ticket · Georgetown CEW & College Futures →Research resources we draw on
Logos identify the organizations whose public research we cite. Future Ready SD is not affiliated with, sponsored by, or endorsed by these organizations. Student and employer quotes come from Future Ready SD founder Brian LeDuc's research interviews and are shared anonymously.
The research behind the work
Three gaps we're designing around.
less a year earned by first-gen graduates than peers with a college-educated parent.
Pew Research Center
of employers say new grads are proficient in the skills they need most. Human skills now rival technical ones.
NACE, AAC&U/Strada, World Economic Forum
of graduates say their alumni network helped them get a job. Only 25% strongly agree they had an encouraging mentor.
Strada-Gallup
Want the full research brief or a talk for your team? I share the data, the field notes from student and employer workshops, and what they mean for early-career hiring in San Diego.