<p>Two of my all-time bright students are floundering after having graduated two years ago from Yale and Berkeley. Each graduated with a degree in English, and each has been unable to get a decent job. </p>
<p>It pains me to see this, and I just wonder how many students fail to look beyond their personal "interests" and take into account cold, hard "realities."</p>
<p>There’s always teaching.</p>
<p>Mine all had not-such-practical majors (except one had a minor in applied math) and they’re doing fine. They’ve been working since HS; they had both unpaid and paid internships in college, did scutwork for professors (fact-checking for a book; indexing and making charts for articles, etc.); went to the dumb and boring interview workshops at the career development office; etc.</p>
<p>I don’t think their majors had any bearing on their ability to get, keep, or excel at a professional job once they graduated- it was something they were interested in and explored as undergrads. Their ability to find a keep a job was mostly related to all the other skills they developed per the above. </p>
<p>Not to be critical… it’s never to late to learn how to interview, or to take a scut-work job in an organization you’re interested in, impress the heck out of everyone in the first year, and then advance into more meaningful work. It’s still a time-honored path, even in a recession, although kids these days don’t want to hear about it.</p>
<p>Do you think they’re limiting themselves by perhaps aiming too high for the starter job because they went to Yale/Cal as opposed to some other college? Are they getting jobs in companies that have clear opportunities for upward mobility? </p>
<p>After a short amount of time out of college and into the working world, their opportunities will be more defined by their job performance rather than where they went to school. They need to not only do a good job (even if in an entry-level position) at a company that has decent opportunities for upward growth, they need to stand out in their performance, be pro-active in seeking out other positions, and then pursue those positions. If they find themselves at a company that doesn’t really have the opportunity path, they need to switch to another company (maybe eaiser said than done).</p>
<p>I don’t think it’s the major. I wonder if they might need some coaching on how to search for a job. It’s NOT easy, especially in this economy. You have to be assertive, work the system, network like mad, and be ready for LOTS of rejection. I know many young folks who go into a shell when faced with this kind of effort - even really smart graduates from top schools. Hey, I know a lot of older folks who have trouble with this. Nothing comes easy these days. </p>
<p>Suggest a visit to the career center…I’m sure alums qualify for services - and maybe some career books. This is hard work and being good at it has more to do with persistence and energy vs. intelligence.</p>