<p>My point about Wharton was simply that the bottom pretty much fell out AFTER the kids started. When my son’s peers entered Wharton they sure didn’t have many concerns about employment prospects after college. Things changed.</p>
<p>Sure did MOWC. Yes, things change, including marketability of specific majors - like Finance. Accounting though…seems pretty bullet proof. But so did nursing. And so did teaching. Yeah…it’s tough to predict. I like the idea of double majors :)</p>
<p>This just came through in my email today. Some good tips…including specifics on joining the Peace Corp. </p>
<p>[In</a> this job market, hiding out isn’t always the best move. - Jul. 26, 2010](<a href=“http://money.cnn.com/2010/07/23/news/economy/get_job_or_grad_school.fortune/index.htm]In”>http://money.cnn.com/2010/07/23/news/economy/get_job_or_grad_school.fortune/index.htm)</p>
<p>I think, in the end, it’s really all about how you advertise yourself. When it came to college applications, it was all about presentation. When it comes to jobs, it’s all about how you interview. You obviously need the substance behind everything, but sometimes simply having the skills/degree is not enough. If you don’t know how to convince someone that you’re valuable, you’re going to have a hard time.</p>
<p>Well, its about presentation first, then interview – you have to GET the interview, and that only happens if resume and accompanying submissions get past the first screen.</p>
<p>I think the interview is, in itself, part of the presentation.</p>
<p>I understand – but it’s the last part. I was just responding to your post that said that getting the job is mostly about the interview – it takes a lot of preparation and work to get to that stage.</p>
<p>I’m raising this because I have the sense that some students (and/or their parents) are looking at a job search as something that entails meeting with interviewers of major companies who show up to campus. Of course that is one way to find a job, but that represents a relatively small fraction of available jobs. </p>
<p>So in most cases, the new grad is going to be sending off resumes, making phone calls, or using other tactics to connect with various agencies and organizations that have job openings. The specifics might depend on the type of position.</p>
<p>It seems that some posters are talking about a “job market” without understanding the concept of “marketing” --hence the idea that some degrees are “marketable” whereas others are not. But in “marketing”, any product is marketable – you can sell rocks as pets if you can think of a way to get people to buy them.</p>
<p>That’s why I said the notion of the “marketable” degree is something of a myth – it is the individuals who needs to be able to “market” themselves - and that means presenting whatever qualifications they have in the light that is most attractive to prospective employers. </p>
<p>One reason that some students may have difficulty getting jobs is that they don’t understand the process. For example, if a student limits their job search to signing up for on-campus interviews, they might be disappointed if that doesn’t pan out. </p>
<p>Let’s say a particular student does not interview well-- and their accomplishments in college are modest, so that other interviewees are likely to overshadow them with the on-campus recruiters. That student isn’t out of luck when it comes to jobs – but that individual needs to be doing the self-“marketing” in a different fashion, one where their particular strengths become more apparent. Now – if that person happens to have majored in a design or arts field – such as graphic design – their portfolio might be much more important than their interviewing skills.</p>
<p>Yeah, but I’d have an easier time selling cute puppies as pets. So in my book, they’re more marketable than rocks :)</p>
<p>I don’t sense a lot of disagreement on the basics from posters on this thread. Most, if not all, will acknowledge that you have to work hard to find opportunities, no matter what your major. </p>
<p>And when you don’t get what you’re looking for, it sometimes hard to figure out why. Potential employers are notorious for NOT providing feedback. That’s why it’s so helpful to get help from career counselors. I did as a 22 year old…from a guy who was brutally honest with me about my resume and how I presented myself. Painful but valuable.</p>
<p>Actually, I’ll bet Gary Dahl made a lot more money selling pet rocks than most dog breeders net. The rock-selling was low overhead, low maintenance – and apparently made Dahl a millionaire. See <a href=“Pet Rock - Wikipedia”>Pet Rock - Wikipedia;
<p>Using your parents for a job is not networking skills. Thats called being lucky and being born in the right family.</p>
<p>Does prestige matter? Of course. The school you go to is basically your “free” networking tool, especially when it comes to interviews. All you have to do at our UCSO is “bid” on your interview, the company preferences you, and the system mixes and matches you. Then you have 2 - 3 rounds and hopefully with the number of interviews you do, you get an internship/job offer. </p>
<p>Now its not the most “effective” numbers systemwise, as there were I believe around 300 internship oppenings for the entire B-School, but much more effective then cold calling.</p>
<p>The CEO of the company I now am currently interning for went to my school, not suprisingly we had the biggest intern class in the entire country. I am loving every day of my internship.</p>
<p>The most effective way to get a good job is to find a specialty niche where you can find an entry level position which will then put you in good position for a better paying job at a better company. A lot of tech schools and community colleges have inexpensive courses that can bring up anyone’s marketability. My friend’s daughter took medical transcription at community college and was very marketable. Not what she wanted to do for the long term, and she did have an English/psychology degree as well that she completed while working at her job. But her foot in the door at that job was what led her to her current position which would otherwise have been such a longshot for ANYONE right out of college. </p>
<p>Special skills will trump prestigious colleges in finding jobs and a toe hold into the job market. Especially during hard times.</p>
<p>Last week at work, I encountered a recent grad of MIT’s MBA program who related his inability to land a job despite an excellent GPA. (His claim was that he has no experience and every company wants 3 years.) This young man was visiting a friend who works in my office. His friend got his job because both his parents work at this prestigious institution. He himself is completing a summer internship and is now considering the National Guard in order to get benefits. (Being a patriot, he said he would have done this anyway but is acting on it faster than he would have otherwise.) While we talked, I couldn’t help wondering if the debt he has incurred is worth it. Perhaps, big state U with a concentration in accounting would have been a better choice; certainly, it would have been a lower debt burden.</p>
<p>One of the MIT grads that we hired a few years ago had impressive internships every summer. His parents took out significant loans for him to attend MIT (not sure whether or not he is paying them back but he certainly earns enough to do so) and I think that it was worth it in his case.</p>
<p>Why assume there is debt? Not everyone has to borrow money to go to college.</p>
<p>I didn’t read the post as an assumption of debt, more an anecdotal story. My kiddos will finish their undergrad with no debt but after that they are on their own if they want to further their schooling. I guess if you don’t have debt you have a little more flexibility in your first out of college jobs.</p>
<p>
Most MBA programs prefer students who have had some work experience – it’s sad that a young person would get through to an MBA without having picked up some real-world work experience along the way.</p>
<p>This reinforces what I’ve posted repeatedly about the need for accumulating work experience along the way. Employers look at a college degree as only one part of the equation – they almost always want to see a track record of work experience as well. </p>
<p>The young people with work experience have a triple advantage --(1) they have relevant work (or internship) experience to list on their resume; (2) they have the network and references established through their previous employment; and (3) they have learned and honed their job-hunting and employer-pleasing skills along the way, so they start the post-college job hunt on a more sophisticated footing.</p>
<p>Okay - so do prestige schools lead to employment? The Harvard class of 2010 had roughly 2/3 with jobs lined up by May. A lot were going on to grad school. Quite a few into nonprofits. But I don’t think a lot stagnating in the parent’s basements.</p>
<p>That said, my son there is scared stiff. Very concerned about the market as are his friends. This is not a good time to be launching. Certainly nothing is a sure bet except maybe petroleum engineering of late. My niece who stayed on at Johns Hopkins to get a masters in chem E is getting no bites. That’s right. Female. Chem engineering. Johns Hopkins. Oh, and yes, Calmom, she has work experience!</p>
<p>My oldest son’s class was '06. Those kids, even many with highly marketable degrees, had a difficult time finding jobs. All of the ones I know are working now, but not necessarily in positions for which they were educated. Many are living with parents. Mine was self sufficient until the company where he was employed closed down. He’s working now but not making much money, living at home since he doesn’t make enough to pay rent anywhere here, have a car, eat, have a girlfriend.</p>
<p>sewhappy – I’m confused about your niece’s status (“stayed on at Johns Hopkins to get a masters in chem E is getting no bites”) – does she now have her masters, and is she looking for post-grad employment? Or is she looking for summer employment, because she will be returning to school at JHU?</p>
<p>In any case… I’m also the one who doesn’t buy into the idea that an engineering degree is a sure job ticket. I’d figure that the more specialized the degree, the narrower the range of employment opportunities related to the degree. </p>
<p>I don’t dispute the concept that a kid with a degree in engineering is likely to be paid significantly better if and when she gets a job appropriate for her qualifications – but to me, that also is a factor that makes it harder, not easier, to get a job. That is… I think that there are more low-to-moderate paying positions around for someone whose job qualifications are very general (thus widening the pool of positions they might apply for) – then high paying positions for specialists. The person with the highly specialized degree faces the problem of either applying for a vary limited type of employment (entry level position requiring the high-end degree) – or applying for lesser paying positions where the degree signals that she is “overqualified” for the job.</p>