Forget the Perfect Job: Why Momentum Matters More for New Grads in 2026

The job market facing graduates in 2026 looks nothing like what many students expected when they first enrolled in post-secondary education. Entry-level roles are disappearing in some industries, while artificial intelligence and broader economic pressures are reshaping which jobs exist and what skills employers value most.

“This is not your older siblings’ job market by any means,” says Catherine Fisher, a career expert and vice-president of communications at LinkedIn. However, the challenge for graduates today is not just a lack of jobs, but understanding where opportunities are shifting and which skills can move with them.

LinkedIn recently published a guide for recent graduates and found many of the most in-demand jobs are not all highly technical AI roles. Positions such as marketing assistants, recruitment coordinators, and other business-function jobs are still seeing strong demand from employers. “It was refreshing to see that,” Ms. Fisher says. “Those jobs that we’re all very familiar with are still really in demand for people entering the job market. So it’s not like, ‘oh my gosh, if you’re not an AI engineer, you’re not going to get a job.’ That’s not the story.”

LinkedIn’s latest list of fastest-growing jobs in Canada also includes a range of roles, including power systems engineers, car sales managers, and psychotherapists.

Three Key Strategies for Graduates

1. Understand where hiring is actually happening. Use platforms like LinkedIn to identify in-demand jobs and tools such as the Job Match feature to better understand how existing skills align with available roles. “Either you have the skills and you’re a great match or maybe you don’t have those skills or you don’t have them on your profile yet,” she says.

2. Avoid blending in with AI-generated applications. Recruiters are increasingly seeing hundreds of nearly identical resumes and cover letters, making authenticity a differentiator. “You want to be able to stand out as much as you can and standing out also means not over relying on AI,” she says.

3. Recognize you already have a professional network. Professors, former managers, coaches, or family connections can all become valuable career contacts if approached thoughtfully. “You want to time bound it and have specific three questions – that’s it. It’s much easier for someone to say ‘yes I will talk to you for 15 minutes and answer those three questions.’”

Ultimately, Ms. Fisher says graduates need to rethink what early career success looks like in today’s economy. Ms. Fisher, who started her career as a bank teller, says graduates should focus less on finding a perfect first role and more on building momentum. “It’s not about finding that perfect job, it’s about finding a job that gives you an opportunity to grow your network, skills and experience,” she says.

Fast fact: Degree disconnect

42 per cent of recent grads (aged 22-27) are working in jobs that don’t require degrees at all.

Career conversations

For new grads, well-meaning advice from parents, teachers, and mentors often adds pressure instead of relieving it. According to psychologist Alexis Redding, they can help by rethinking a few common habits:

• Instead of telling grads to “find their passion,” ask specific questions about what interests and energizes them.
• Rather than treating a first job as a permanent choice, introduce the idea of a “squiggly career,” where pivots are normal.
• Instead of only pointing them toward senior professionals, encourage “mirror mentors” – people close to them who can reflect their strengths back to them.

Quoted: Job jolts

“Jolts are an event that knocks us out of the autopilot our work life normally takes on. They put our relationship to work under the microscope, pushing us to reconsider the various tradeoffs we have been making and shortfalls that exist. They lead us to recalculate whether the benefits of staying outweigh the costs of leaving,” writes Harvey Schachter, drawing insights from the book Jolted by Anthony Klotz.

On our radar: Patchwork paycheques

While the traditional staff job isn’t disappearing entirely, the expectation of long-term career security with a single employer has eroded. Freelance, fractional, and “portfolio career” models are on the rise, though experts warn that independent work comes with real downsides such as unstable income, no benefits, and a loss of workplace belonging.