<p>Hi guys,
I've been spending a lot of time checking out Carleton college and really think that I'd fit in well there. The academics, study abroad opportunities, student body and everything else looks great; it seems like the kind of place where I'd want to spend four years. However, I read a student's somewhat concerning post (not on CC) that said it's difficult to get a job after graduation. Now, I don't necessarily think it's true because lots of places list Carleton graduates have great success in finding jobs.</p>
<p>Basically, I'm just looking for some student accounts about how their job search went after Carleton, or how easy it was to get internships as a current student.</p>
<p>The last few years haven’t been kind to any colleges on the job front. The Carleton perspective is probably a little skewed, though, since so many people go to grad school either immediately after graduating or within a few years (especially in the sciences). Personally, I just finished a Ph.D. in climate science (like, last weekend, yikes), got multiple job offers, moved to New York, and now have a great job doing natural hazard modeling. Oh, and I did summer research projects (I suppose those are science internships) after my sophomore and junior years.</p>
<p>Carleton is actually pretty groundbreaking, though, in helping students find jobs through working its alumni network. Alums have traditionally been a good resource for job-hunting, but let’s be honest - contacting random alums is super awkward. New stuff from the Career Center, which all started as the recession picked up steam, is trying to fix that awkwardness. Usually career centers are…underutilized, and kind of worthless, which was the case when I was there. But, Engagement Wanted was the first big change (and it has now been widely copied by other schools), where Carleton sends out little profiles of current students to willing alums, who offer career advice, networking opportunities, or jobs. It’s really expanded fast, but here’s an article from soon after it got started: [In</a> tough job market, colleges help grads network with alumni | Minnesota Public Radio News](<a href=“http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2010/05/25/college-graduates-networking-alumni/]In”>In tough job market, colleges help grads network with alumni | MPR News)</p>
<p>The Career Center has lots of other great programs, but my favorite has to be Couches for Carls - if you’re coming in town for an interview but don’t have a place to stay, you can contact an alum volunteer for a place to crash for the night. Cute.</p>
<p>Of course, everyone has their own experience after graduating, but I’m still in close touch with many Carls who have graduated in recent years, and they are all currently in grad school or working in solid jobs - no vast tales of wallowing in unemployment. I wouldn’t sweat this too much.</p>
<p>I have a blunt assessment of this. I am a parent who lives not far from Carleton, and have known several students who graduated from there over the past few years. Both of my kids applied as well. We have visited over 40 colleges in the past few years, most of them LACs. My assessment is that Carleton is behind the curve on this issue compared to many of their competitors. There is an ivory tower mentality compared to a lot of other LACs. </p>
<p>It definitely goes in the “negative” column for Carleton when we have made pros and con lists for each college. They rarely mention career/job preparation (and success) in their college literature, and I have known a few students who are still stuggling to find jobs 2 and 3 years after graduation. I can name some other LACs that have lower rankings that seem a lot more aggressive in pushing their students to the job market (internship opportunities, visibility of career office on campus, support for students with internships, etc.). Macalester and Dickinson are a couple of specific colleges further down the US News list that I think do a much better job of preparing kids to work out of college, not just go to grad school. </p>
<p>A lot more colleges got going on this during the recession, but I don’t see evidence that Carleton is one of them.</p>
<p>I’m a senior and I’ve had a great experience with the Career Center. I think my biggest advice to a new student at Carleton (or at any college) would be to start taking advantage of the career resources right away instead of waiting until junior or senior year. To learn more about the programs Carleton offers, check out the recently revamped Career Center website: [Carleton</a> College: Career Center](<a href=“http://apps.carleton.edu/career/]Carleton”>http://apps.carleton.edu/career/)</p>
<p>Here are the programs I have personal experience with:</p>
<p>1) I’ve gone to meet with the student Career Advisers (CAs) several times to discuss drafts of my resumes and cover letters for various internships, and each time I have found them to be extremely helpful. They offer very detailed feedback down to the spacing of your resume and single word choices in your cover letter. </p>
<p>I’m working on some post-Carleton job applications over winter break, and the Career Center staff will even let you make appointments to talk to a staff member over the phone during breaks. This is one of the perks of a small school–I’m not even on campus, but I can call to chat with the assistant director of the career center about my resume. : )</p>
<p>2) I’ve used the Tunnel (the Carleton-specific job posting site run by the Career Center–you have to have be a Carleton student to access it), the weekly NNB postings, and internship/job emails from my on-campus job (as a consultant at the writing center) and my academic departments to find jobs and internships.</p>
<p>3) I did a two-week externship with an alum through the Career Center’s externship program. An externship is basically an internship that is shorter-term and more intense. As an extern, I lived with my alumni host and went to work with her every day, and I probably spent over 100 hours immersed in her field. My host was great about introducing me to different components of her job as well as giving me my own projects to complete. She also gave me advice based on her own career journey and later assisted with my comps project.</p>
<p>4) I wish I had started doing this before senior year, but I’ve been contacting alumni for the past few months to ask for job advice and I have had nothing but positive experiences. Although it might seem “super awkward,” the reality is that Carleton alums are interesting, generous people who are more than happy to help you out. As a personal example, one night I looked up alums in the alumni directory who were currently working in AmeriCorps positions in my field. I emailed 12 alumni one night with some questions, and within 24 hours, 10 of them had responded with enthusiastic, detailed emails offering advice. All 12 had replied within a week. That’s pretty incredible if you think about it.</p>
<p>Over winter break, I’ve been able to find alumni who currently work (or have worked) at a few places where I’m planning to apply for next year. With all of them, I have been able to set up a phone call within a few days. Now, I’m the first to admit that I’m a total introvert and calling up strangers is not something I’m typically comfortable with. But I’m so glad I took the risk–with a couple of them, I talked for almost an hour and got a much better sense of what it would be like to work in their positions.</p>
<p>This is not to say that everything is rainbows and lollipops and going to Carleton will guarantee you a job upon graduation. I’d say the same is true for any college. You’ll need to work hard in your classes, cultivate relationships with professors and work supervisors, and BE PROACTIVE during your 4 years in seeking out internships, programs, and opportunities that will prepare you for the scary world after graduation. But Carleton is definitely a place where being proactive pays off, and there are many, many people–faculty, staff, alumni, and fellow students–who will be happy to help you. I would not view post-graduation job prospects as a “con” of attending Carleton at all.</p>
<p>Thanks so much for the answers! I was afraid that I was sounding offensive. I really didn’t mean to be.</p>
<p>MusicGuru - congrats on the Ph.D! </p>
<p>It sounds like internships are really the way to go during the undergraduate years. How has the six weeks winter break and then the summer worked in that regard? Do you get internships over those six weeks, or is that move of a summer thing?</p>
<p>Posters above highlighted some of the the many excellent ways Carleton currently trains, guides and supports students in their quests for post-graduate opportunities. The school recognizes that more remains to be done on this front. </p>
<p>The #1 core idea in Carleton’s current strategic plan is to Prepare Students More Robustly for Fulfilling Post-Graduation Lives and Careers. </p>
<p>Because of this emphasis in the strategic plan, high school students considering Carleton can expect significant improvements and changes in this facet of the school during the time they would be enrolled. </p>
<p>I think getting a meaningful internship over the six week holiday break is unrealistic. Companies and organizations are not working very hard then, and you just won’t get a “real” experience (even if you can find one). I suspect it is more practical to seek seasonal employment at home and earn as much money as you can during winter break, thus maybe giving more flexibility to take an unpaid internship in the summer.</p>
<p>I think the Carleton calendar of trimesters with late summer dismissal can also be an impediment. Carleton lets out about a month later than most other colleges, so summer start dates have to be later. If you want to go do a semester internship someplace (say, DC through a program that can help you get college credit), you would probably need to focus on the fall semester only, since you miss TWO terms at Carleton if you take one starting in January.</p>
<p>@intparent- I don’t understand why you have such negative things to say. Given the fact that you did not attend Carleton, nor do you have children who have attended Carleton, I think you should let those who have personally had experience finding internships/employment answer this question. I had 2 different internships my freshman and sophomore winter breaks, both of which were great experiences. I also had 2 fantastic summer internships, one of which hired me back during my 6 week winter break this year.</p>
<p>I agree that the best way to spend the winter break is at a seasonal job near home. I’ve had no problem picking up a job at a local restaurant and have made good money during the six week breaks. </p>
<p>I don’t agree that the trimester system makes it harder for Carls to land summer internships. Honestly, that did worry me when I first applied for internships last summer because many employers published specific dates that wouldn’t accommodate Carleton’s academic calendar. But, I found without exception that all the places I applied were flexible about dates and my friends had similar experiences. I was considered for internships without any concern for the schedule issue at all. The strength of Carleton’s reputation opened doors for me despite my admittedly weak freshman GPA. I landed an amazing internship last summer as a rising sophomore and am planning this summer to stay on campus to do research with a professor.</p>
<p>Griffen, it is because I personally know some students who have had employment trouble after graduating from Carleton, and my impression is that compared to other schools, Carleton has not been as aggressive in this area as many other LACs. Very nice that the strategic plan is addressing this, but that puts Carleton behind many other LACs in this area – many of them have been pushing this for several years. Even U of Chicago (least practical of all colleges in some ways!) has picked up their game on th over the past few years (yes, I know they are not an LAC, but they are definitely a direct competitor for the same students). I think Carleton is a very good college, or I wouldn’t have even let my kids apply. But I think this is a weakness. We don’t consider paying $200,000+ for an education at a school without carefully assessing strenghts and weaknesses. I am glad to hear that you have had good internship experiences, though.</p>
<p>Intparent, I think griffin8’s point is that as Carleton students ourselves, it is likely that we know many times the number of Carleton graduates that you know. I don’t have a single friend who graduated before me that isn’t either working or in grad school right now. I’m not sure how Carleton could be more “aggressive” in this area other than continuing to do what it is doing now: providing career programs that grow and change along with the economy and job market. There are plenty of reasons that a recent graduate might have a difficult time finding a job that have nothing to do with his or her alma mater.</p>
<p>Bluesmetal, internships are definitely a great idea for breaks, although seasonal employment is a good option as well in terms of picking up some extra money. I’ve spent the last three winter breaks returning to my summer internships, but that was because they asked me back and I enjoyed the internships, not because I couldn’t find another one for the winter.</p>
<p>This is an interesting topic… I’m a Carleton Alum who has also worked and been in grad school a very large public Universities.</p>
<p>On the Positive side…
Carleton has dramatically improved their focus on finding their alum’s jobs over the last decade. The programs our better. The effort at alumni connections are better.
The Strategic plan that was mentioned does have the right focus. They will continue to do a better job at this.
Carleton is great at getting students into Grad school.</p>
<p>Some criticism of Carleton on this point is fair though. Some of the criticism is unavoidable. </p>
<p>On the Negative side…
It is very hard for any small LAC to compete with a major >20000 student Research University in finding students jobs. Professors at major research universities will have connections to industry that no professor at a LAC can have. These connections will bring companies into hire both undergrads and grad students.
Sure, Carleton students are employed if they want to be after graduation. There is always an issue of he “Quality” of their employment. Over the past years on this CC forum, a criticism of the jobs Carls get is that they are all in either the Twin Cities or Chicago. Carleton may not have the connections to advertise their alums to the top jobs across the nation.</p>
<p>Ways to improve
Start making connections to researchers at the University of Minnesota. There should be collaborative projects that will allow Carls to make contacts. I think something like this was mentioned by the president in his his strategic plan.
Perhaps working with other small LACs in the area to have a combined Career fair.</p>
<p>This is a legitimate discussion. Some have jumped those who offer criticism, but everybody should remain open to some criticism.</p>
<p>I agree, jack. As parent of a Carl, I find this conversation enlightening and interesting. </p>
<p>Future job prospects were definitely a negative in the Carl column when ds was making his final decision, which was between Carleton and a large state uni with a rabidly loyal alumni network in our home state. I have found Carl alums to be generous and loyal, but it still remains to be seen for ds whether this will translate into actual job connections when the time comes. I’m not sure that it will, though not sure it won’t. He picked Carleton for other reasons and has been quite satisfied there. If Carls were overly concerned about employment after school, they likely wouldn’t have picked a liberal arts education and chosen to go elsewhere and get a degree in something like accounting, where there is an obvious track to employment. I’m not knocking accountants, by any means. I hope people get what I’m trying to say. :)</p>
<p>I’ve hesitated to contribute because I generally like to stay out of debate-like topics, but I’d like to step in and say a few things.</p>
<p>Intparent - I do not think that you’re being overwhelmingly negative by any means. As a school we should be constantly striving to be better, so criticism is necessary and I think it prompts meaningful discussion. There are a few things you’ve said that I agree with - like the fact that the College still has a lot of room for improvement - but there are also quite a few things you’ve said that I strongly disagree with because I don’t think they’re true, and I think some of your assertions are based on anecdotal evidence or speculation rather than fact.</p>
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<p>I absolutely disagree that it’s unrealistic to get a meaningful internship over six weeks. Out of curiosity, what are you basing this assumption on? Honestly, as a student for whom finances are a concern, my freshman year I did take the time to work, but I didn’t even bother looking for internships because I knew I needed a full-time job, and I actually had quite a few job options since no other college students were home for the first part of the Christmas rush. That said, I managed to land a great internship last winter break (sophomore year) - I don’t want to say exactly what it was because I don’t want to give away too much about my identity on the message board, but PM me and I can tell you. This winter I also have a pretty phenomenal internship (again, PM me if you’re curious).</p>
<p>How did I get the first one? Mother of a Carleton friend of mine knew of the position and told my friend, who told me; I applied and got it. This year I called the place I was interested in and explained that I would be off, and asked if there were possible internship opportunities. Lo and behold, they found a research position for me. Throughout both breaks, I also worked evenings and weekends to make money, meaning I’ve been extremely busy, but it’s been worth it. Quite a few close friends of mine are also completing meaningful internships; one friend who visited me recently described his internship as “pretty much [his] dream job.” The career center also has a great externship program over break that allows students to get detailed career experience and knowledge, and I was going to apply for several of those if I didn’t get my current internship. I’ll admit that on paper, the six-week break looks challenging, but I actually really like it, and I don’t think it’s necessarily difficult to find meaningful work.</p>
<p>Just thought I’d throw this out as well - I have a lot of friends who have taken a term off to work as well. On paper, it seems like it would be really difficult to take a random ten weeks off in the winter and find a great job, but I know a number of students who have done just that. If you study abroad in the summer, you are required to take another term off; my friends who did that last year ended up working at places like the Federal Reserve and the National Institute of Health. It’s odd, but definitely not impossible to find a solid job for just one term.</p>
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<p>The second part is very true: it is really hard to study abroad or off-campus during a semester other than fall, and that is one of the weaknesses of the trimester/quarter system. I know students who have done it, but before doing so, it’s necessary to make sure that you’re either ahead or very on top of your studies. If you’re on top of things, it’s very possible to take two terms off and still be on track to graduate and finish all requirements fairly easily. However, it is definitely an inconvenience to have to do so, although I think most students are happy with the off-campus study options here.</p>
<p>On the other hand, I completely disagree with the first assertion that you made - that the late dismissal of the trimester system is an impediment to finding meaningful summer work. In previous summers I’ve had friends apply to programs with supposedly “fixed” start dates (i.e. the Amgen scholars), but the programs have been flexible to accomodate the students. Several programs I’m applying for this summer also said that they had fixed start dates the week before we got out, but when I called all three places, all said it wasn’t a problem because they’ve had great students from Carleton, so if got in they’d be perfectly happy to accommodate my schedule (one of these is the Amgen program; PM me if you want to know where else I am looking).</p>
<p>On the occasion that you do get a job with a non-flexible start date, the college can also be surprisingly accommodating. I have a friend last year who got a summer research position that began May 27th, a full two weeks before we got out. She approached her professors and they figured out ways for her to finish the course early; she was able to come back to campus for one final and took the other one early. A few weeks ago, I was talking to my advisor about summer jobs, and while I expressed similar worries, her response was that I should absolutely apply anyway, because there is almost always a way around that - in other words, either the college or the employer will be flexible.</p>
<p>Good Lord this is a long post. I’ll wrap it up by saying that I do think that jack63, intparent, and youdon’tsay make some very good points. The Strategic plan is a great starting point, but Carleton does still need to work on improving job prospects/opportunities available to students. Part of this goes along with increasing Carleton’s national reputation, and part with creating liaisons with more companies, and enticing more companies to recruit here. That is absolutely something that the College needs to work on, particularly attracting companies that recruit outside of the Milwaukee/Twin Cities/Chicago areas. Youdon’tsay, I absolutely agree with what you’re saying. But some of the assumptions here are either incorrect or based on purely anecdotal evidence. I don’t think it’s fair to say that just because you know some Carleton students who have trouble finding jobs, the college must be significantly behind most others. At home, I know two Cornell grads who are jobless and another Cornell grad who just landed his first job – two years after graduation, and after two years of intensive job-hunting. I know a Williams grad who is having trouble finding employment. My friend’s brother just graduated from UChicago last year after majoring in economics – still no job offers; living at home. My best friend’s father was a successful businessman for years with an MBA from a top program, and he’s currently – you guessed it – having trouble finding work. </p>
<p>On the contrary, I know quite a few Carleton grads who are employed in meaningful fields this year, in jobs that they got either through Carleton alumni connections or through their own research. My anecdotes aren’t any more meaningful than yours; they’re just that – anecdotes, not facts. But I think it’s a much more complicated issue than can be summed up by “I know some Carleton grads who are having trouble finding jobs, so the college is behind.” Carleton undoubtedly needs to improve its recruiting profile, but it definitely isn’t miles behind all other LACs, and in this economy the college has certainly been making efforts to step up its game.</p>
<p>Eek! I want to make it clear that all those assumptions belong to someone else and not me. The way they’re written after my name kind of makes it look like I’m the one making those assumptions.</p>
<p>Sorry!! I didn’t mean to do that. I was editing to make it shorter and must have made it more vague than originally. The assumptions that I am referring to are from Intparent, not you - I think you are one of the most articulate and well-reasoned people on these boards, youdon’tsay.</p>
<p>It should read “Youdon’t say, I absolutely agree with what you’re saying. However, some of the assumptions on this thread, specifically those stated by intparent, are either incorrect or based on purely incorrect evidence.”</p>
<p>I really appreciate all of the answers; it’s done a good deal in the way of placating any fears I might’ve had. </p>
<p>Reesezpiecez103, I can’t send private message (I don’t have the required post count yet), but if you PMed me, it’d be awesome - I’m really curious where you got the internships and what they entailed.</p>
<p>Also, is there any specific place (other than, I assume, Minnesota) where Carleton is a known name? I’d like to work in the midwest (Colorado if at all possible, though I know I can’t be very picky) when I get out of college, and it made sense in my mind that Carleton would have more exposure there.</p>
<p>No prob, reesez. I just didn’t want anyone doing a quick read to think that I thought that. As I stated earlier, ds has yet to see how Carleton will help or hurt his job prospects. But to see how he’s grown in so many ways in his two years at Carleton has to count for something, right? We’re e-mailing right now, on the eve of his return from his semester abroad. I just don’t see how anywhere but Carleton could have put him in the perfect trip at the perfect time. He’s sad to leave but looking forward to getting home, too. He’s learned so much. I really give credit to Carleton, which does a great job of supporting kids.</p>
<p>Bluesmetal, if you go to the alumni directory, there’s a big google map with markers for all of the states and countries where alumni live. If you click on a marker, it will tell you how many alumni currently live in that state/country. You won’t be able to log in to get more specific than that, but you can see how many alumni live in certain states relative to others. </p>
<p>I just went past the login screen and searched for the class of 2012 to see where recent grads are (I was curious about it too). Out of the 465 alums listed for 2012, here are the counts by state:</p>
<p>California: 24
Colorado: 13
Connecticut: 4
District of Columbia: 10
Georgia: 3
Florida: 4
Hawaii: 2
Illinois: 35
Indiana: 4
Iowa: 5
Kentucky: 3
Louisiana: 1
Maine: 5
Maryland: 8
Massachusetts: 28
Michigan: 8
Minnesota: 104
Missouri: 4
Montana: 5
Nebraska: 1
Nevada: 1
New Hampshire: 2
New Jersey: 3
New Mexico: 1
New York: 31
North Carolina: 5
North Dakota: 1
Ohio: 11
Oklahoma: 1
Oregon: 10
Pennsylvania: 9
Rhode Island: 1
South Dakota: 1
Tennessee: 4
Texas: 8
Utah: 2
Vermont: 3
Virginia: 4
Washington: 14
Wisconsin: 24</p>