Connecting you with your

ideal career
A community initiative proposal to improve life for
young professionals

Submitted to the Fargo-Moorhead Community

Association
November 21, 2016

Career Connections
1234 Main Avenue Fargo, North Dakota 58102
(701) 174- 8734
The Fargo-Moorhead area is rapidly growing in population and infrastructure. With a
growing number of people, the area needs to consider ways to improve life for
young professionals in the FM area. We do not only want to convince young
professionals to stay in the FM area, but we want them to love it. Assisting young

professionals in finding jobs they are qualified for and will be satisfied with will boost
the job market and encourage young professionals to stay in the area. As seen in
figure 1, a majority of college graduates are able to find a job either upon
graduating or within one to six months. The main issue is not the length of time it
takes to find a job but rather finding a job that is related to his or her career field.
According to a November 2013 study by website CareerBuilder, nearly half 47
percent of college educated workers said their first job was outside their field (as
cited in Phillips, 2014). This proposal offers a community initiative that will assist
young professionals in the job search process. Specifically, Career Connections will
provide resources for recent college graduates from the local colleges to find jobs
related to their major in the FM area. Providing resources in the job search process
will help professionals find the right job for their needs and increase their fulfillment
with the job.

Figure 1: 2016 U.S. college graduate employment study

In this proposal, we will begin by analyzing the current situation the FM area faces
with young professionals leaving the area, and we will relate our interpretation of
the situation to market research. We will then explain our proposal plan including
the objectives and specific steps to achieve them. A discussion of our companys
qualifications will show why we are the best business to implement the initiative.
The proposal will conclude with a discussion of the cost and benefits of the proposal.
Encouraging College Graduates to Stay in the Area
When considering a community-initiative to improve life for young professionals in
the FM area, our team began by considering factors that could be causing recent
college graduates to leave the FM area after graduation. At Career Connections, we

believe recent college graduates are the main demographic of young professionals
who are leaving the area. Through market research of 13 survey respondents, we
found three main reasons graduates are leaving the FM area after completing
school.
First, college graduates are not receiving a job related to his/her career field. In
our market research, 7 participants stated they would not be likely at all to stay in
the FM area if they do not get exactly their desired job, and only 1 participant stated
he/she would be very likely to stay (see appendix for survey questions used to
collect this data). This data shows getting a job matched to the graduates
qualifications is a main influence for college graduates to stay in the FM area.
Second, job opportunities or better job offers elsewhere are causing young
professionals to leave the FM area. In our market research, 6 survey respondents
confirmed that job opportunities or better job offers in other locations is a primary
reason for college graduates leaving the FM area (see appendix for survey
questions used to collect this data). The definition of better job offers included
salary prices, more experienced job market, and benefits. One focus group
respondent states, I do think that more people would stay in the area if they were
aware of all the great possibilities in the area. Sometimes the best jobs are hard to
find.
Lastly, current college students are not aware of resources available to help with
their job search. Based off survey data, 10 respondents (77%) are not aware of job
placement programs in the FM area (see appendix for survey questions used to
collect this data). College students could be more successful in finding job
opportunities related to their qualifications with the assistance of professionals.
When asked how likely respondents would be to use a job placement program if the
NDSU career center offered one, 12 respondents answered with a 3 or 4 on a scale
of 1-5, 5 being the most likely. This data concludes there would be interest in a job
placement program for this population.
Young professionals, specifically recent college graduates, are more likely to leave
the area in search of jobs if they are not aware of job opportunities in the area. The
job search process can become long and frustrating, so providing assistance to
graduates and showing them career opportunities in the FM area would encourage
them to stay. According to Susan Svriuga, reporter for The Washington Post,
...because a large majority of candidates dont know which jobs fit their skills, their
job searches are unfocused and not strategic. As a consequence, the results are
poor and we are left with a very inefficient market qualified job seekers and hiring
companies that cant find each other (2016). Local businesses and the job market
in the FM area will decline if young professionals arent staying here to work,
potentially causing other young professionals to leave in search of a better job
market.
Our Project Plan: An Accessible Job Placement Program

The solution Career Connections is proposing includes implementing a job

placement program geared specifically towards recent graduates from the local
colleges to provide assistance in locating jobs in the FM area. The main goal is to
create an accessible program structured off the needs of recent college graduates.
Our teams objectives for the proposal are as follows:
Determine interest of college students in using a job placement program after
graduation and likelihood that it would encourage them to stay in the FM area.
Design a program geared specifically towards new graduates.
Partner with the local colleges career centers.
Develop a marketing plan that will increase awareness of the program.

Phase One: Conducting Market Research on the Need for a Job Placement Program
The first step of the project is to conduct further market research on a larger
number of college students to determine the need for a job placement program for
college graduates. Conducting this research through survey questions will help
determine interest in a job placement program and the likelihood that it would
encourage graduates to stay in the area. We will also post focus group questions to
get more information on what graduates would look for in a job placement program.
This information will help our team design a program that is accessible to our target
population. Research information and data on national trends will be conducted to
find statistics on the job search process for college students.
Phase Two: Designing a Job Placement Program for College Graduates
After taking our market research data into consideration, Career Connections will
develop a job placement program geared specifically toward the needs of recent
college graduates and will locate jobs in the FM area. Our program will build
connections with local businesses in all career fields to provide job options for a
variety of local college graduates. The job placement program will be designed for
maximum accessibility to college students. To make the program more accessible,
we will partner with the local colleges career centers. Our team believes students
close to graduation will be more likely to use this resource if it is available on
campus. The program will include internship opportunities as well as career
opportunities. Internships can greatly benefit college students marketability and
also lead to job opportunities after completion of the internship.
Phase Three: Marketing the Job Placement Program
To increase awareness of our job placement program and encourage college
graduates to use this resource, Career Connections will create an effective
marketing plan. Effective marketing can greatly increase the success of our
proposed program. The program will be marketed through student email accounts in
the various local colleges. This is an effective way to communicate to a mass
population, and most young professionals primarily communicate through
technology. We will also use marketing strategies including creating flyers and

posters, which will be hung up around college campuses and other popular
businesses in the FM area. Through marketing, we will also address the strengths of
staying in the FM area to attract young professionals; these strengths include
shorter commute times and a lower cost of living. According to Forbes, the cost of
living in the Fargo area is 0.6% below national average, and the average commute
time is 17 minutes (2016).
Qualifications
At Career Connections we strive to get people, especially college students, jobs
within the community of Fargo-Moorhead. We will use our previous job placement
success to provide the local college students a comprehensive system to find jobs in
the FM area.
Management and Labor
With over 25 years of service in the industry, our team offers the most up to date
knowledge and understanding of the job market in the Fargo-Moorhead community.
Alex Anderson, Manager
Alex grew up in Fargo, North Dakota and completed both his Bachelors degree and
Masters degree from North Dakota State University in Business Management. With
15 years of managerial experience in the job placement industry, it was a perfect fit
for Alex to take over as manager of the new job placement company Career
Connections. His job will be to oversee all operations and provide support wherever
needed in the company to keep operations moving smoothly.
Kelsey Sorensen, Marketing Representative
Kelsey grew up in Moorhead, Minnesota and attended college at North Dakota State
University. She earned a Bachelor's degree in marketing from the college of
business. Her role in the project will be developing resources to market to college
graduates, and she will distribute them for advertisement. She has been with the
Career Connections team for 3 years.
Jakob, Customer Service Representative
Jakob Hurt grew up in the Fargo-Moorhead area and has completed his Bachelors
degree in Strategic Communication at NDSU. Along with answering questions and
concerns from clients, Jakobs role will be to visit colleges in the FM area in order to
promote the job placement program. He will also be active in the community in
order to promote job placement among young professionals. Jakobs skills suit his
position in the company well because he is an outgoing person making him easy to
talk to. Along with his skill in communicating with people, he is also very
experienced through previous job experience, which makes him a very good
employee of Career Connections.
Taylor Thunstedt, Customer Service Representative

Taylor grew up in Moorhead, Minnesota and completed a Bachelors degree in

Business Management at North Dakota State University. Her role is to educate
graduates on a job placement program to help seek their dream job. Taylor has
great experience in communication and problem solving which will make her a great
asset of the Career Connections.
Company History
Since opening our doors in 2012, we have become the most successful and
comprehensive job placement program in the Fargo-Moorhead community. Our
focus has always had more emphasis on keeping young professionals in our
community. Dan Wells started the company after he realized that his children had
trouble finding jobs within the FM community. He then started developing a team of
professionals who were already in the job placement field in order to not only have a
successful business but to help the community grow in the process.
Experience
With our experience and background with helping recent college graduates in their
job search, we believe our company could be an even bigger asset to the
community if we have staff on each local college campus. Our success has come
from hard work, adapting to the ever changing job market, and a knowledgeable
staff from different educational backgrounds.

Projected Costs and Benefits

It is important to build a cost-effective budget to maximize our companys services
and benefits. The main costs our company will budget for is the rent for a small
office, the salaries of our four employees, and the costs for marketing the job
placement program. These costs are very low compared to the benefits our
company will bring to people in the community.
The purpose of our company is to provide resources for job opportunities to young
professionals in the FM area, so this is the first benefit of our proposal. We will
provide job opportunities to many people attending college or who have recently
graduated. Bringing job opportunities to a large audience in the FM area will
encourage them to stay will also provide an overall boost to the job market and
economy in the FM area. The economy of the area will increase in many different
ways both directly and indirectly from more people joining the local job market.
More apartments and houses will be occupied, which is an indirect benefit to the
economy. Along with this, many business in the area will receive more customers
because of the increased population. The last benefit our company will bring to the
Fargo/Moorhead area is helping young professionals network with the local
businesses. Networking is really important in the business world because it helps
people find jobs with a company that is right for them. This will help business and

young professionals develop interpersonal relationships with one another resulting

in potential employment or other job connections.
As you can see, Career Connections job placement program will benefit both local
businesses and future employees in the Fargo-Moorhead area in many different
ways. Our proposal provides resources to young professionals to maximize the job
search experience and encourage them to stay in the area. Thank for you for taking
the time to hear our proposal for your community initiative to keep young
professionals in the FM area. If you have any questions about the details of Career
Connections job placement proposal, please contact the manager, Alex Anderson,
at (701) 174- 8734 or CareerConnections@gmail.com.

Resources
CNBC. (2016). Accenture strategy 2016 U.S. College graduate employment study.
[chart]. Retrieved from http://www.cnbc.com/2016/05/16/college-grads-enjoy-the-best-jobmarket-in-years.html
Dickler, J. (2016, May 17). College grads enjoy the best job market in years. CNBC.
Retrieved from
http://www.cnbc.com/2016/05/16/college-grads-enjoy-the-best-jobmarket-in-years.html

Forbes. (2016). Fargo, ND: Fargo, ND-MN metropolitan statistical area. Forbes.
Retrieved from
http://www.forbes.com/places/nd/fargo/
Phillips, C. (2014, November 16). A matter of degree: Many college grads never work in their
major. Times Free Press. Retrieved from
http://www.timesfreepress.com/news/life/entertainment/story/2014/nov/16/matter-degree-manycollege-grads-never-work-/273665/

Svriuga, S. (2016, January 30). More than 4 out of 5 students graduate without a
job. How could
colleges change that?. Washington Post. Retrieved from
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/grade-point/wp/2015/01/30/more-than-4-out-of-5students-graduate-without-a-job-how-could-colleges-change-that/