As Latinos continue to make up an increasingly larger share of Americans, their numbers in higher education are also increasing.

According to a study by UnidosUS, there are 3.4 million Latinos enrolled in postsecondary institutions today, making up 20% of students across the country.

Seventy percent of those students are the first in their family to attend college, which means they don’t always have access to mentors or role models in their community to help usher them into professional careers.

And with Latinos expected to make up 20% of the American workforce by 2020, getting Latinos ready to work in the professional world is more important than ever.               

Pedro Guerra, director of Illinois Latino Small Business Partnership at the Illinois Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, says in his experience, Latino college grads are looking to the technology industry to launch their careers.

“One of the things that happened with the pandemic, it really exposed as far as what technology and in all types of industries you’re able to do,” said Guerra.               

Tech is also part of the advice Career Design Lab founder Sasha Zayed offers to new grads starting their job search.               

“LinkedIn is the number one resource that employers are using to find talent. So if you don’t have a LinkedIn account, make one today,” she said.

While Zayed agrees that internet job boards can be a valuable resource for finding job openings, she says they’re not the best way to actually apply for those openings.              

“The national response rate for job application tracking systems is only 3%. So even if students are applying directly to companies through a job site, they’re probably not going to get a response back,” Zayed said. “So the best practice is to use job boards as a resource and knowing what jobs are opened, but then use that information and go straight to LinkedIn and reach out directly to companies.”

Guerra says that industry events can be great for building professional networks, but only if you have a strategy going in.

“When you’re attending these networking events, don’t just attend to attend. Make sure that you make a connection. Introduce yourself to someone if there is somebody that you want to meet, make sure that you grab that person’s business card and ask him to be a mentor if that’s what you want to do.”

Guerra also recommends solving the conundrum of finding an entry-level job that requires experience by looking into internships and externships, particularly ones that offer tuition reimbursement.

“I can tell you that right now companies like to hire within. It’s a lot less expensive to promote from within than to bring somebody outside and doing the orientation,” said Guerra. “And then you also have a feel of the company’s strategy, their mission, their vision, and they also have a feel of you, what kind of worker you are.”