<p>My son (college senior at CMU) has a job lined up already. Like compmom’s son he got a great technical education, not so great general education. I think he’d have ended up pretty much the same way even if he’d attended the Ivy where he got accepted. He’s been dedicated to comp sci since he was 8.</p>
<p>My younger son (freshman at Tufts) would shoot himself if forced to major in comp sci. His interest is international relations. Hopefully he’ll find a good path too.</p>
<p>D is a junior (large urban U) who has a great internship lined up for the summer that should lead to a permanent job upon graduation. She is an accounting major and really enjoys it, even though “accountant” sometimes seems to be synonymous with “boring” or “unintellectual” here on CC! She will have no debt upon graduation and is very thankful.</p>
<p>Most of her friends in acounting have similar stories re internships and jobs.</p>
<p>There’s a lot more to a successful job search than your degree.</p>
<p>Young grads need to be flexible about geography. Maybe the dream job is in St Paul and not San Fransisco. Young grads need to be flexible about the organization- if you’re trying to launch a career in tv production, sure, a job at CBS would be great- but don’t forget local news stations, PBS, small cable access. Young grads need to remember that networking really works- you are better off taking a job as a marketing coordinator at a large museum and then making friends like crazy in the curatorial department, vs. sitting on your rear end on Mom’s couch for a year trying to get an entry level job as a curator.</p>
<p>I know so many young grads who do everything to shoot themselves in the foot. And then I see kids who are working at interesting jobs and learning and absorbing everything like a sponge- some with allegedly “non marketable” degrees, and it makes me smile. There are unemployed nurses and CPA’s. There are happily employed classicists and historians. </p>
<p>Don’t enable your kids bad attitude by telling them that if they major in X they’ll have it made. 'cause it don’t work that way.</p>
<p>And yes, Virginia, you may have to commute. And no, you won’t be living in a cute apartment and eating in restaurants every night like the characters in Friends if you decide you have to live in Greenwich Village. Even with a good job.</p>
<p>S graduated in June from our state Flagship, debt-free, with degrees in Poli Sci and Econ. He is doing TfA in Phoenix and is paid enough to support himself and put some money away for Law School.</p>
<p>I work for the government, and I got this job because a few years ago a very kind Smith alum helped me get an internship, which was the first step in a chain of events that led to this. So I think when LACs say they offer good connections, they’re usually telling the truth, but it also requires a little work on the part of the student to find and properly utilize those connections and opportunities.</p>
<p>It’s interesting to me to see how many kids are interested in the Peace Corps. D is also thinking about it. For a career, radio journalism.</p>
<p>The [UC</a> Berkeley career center](<a href=“https://career.berkeley.edu/Major/Major.stm]UC”>https://career.berkeley.edu/Major/Major.stm) surveys its bachelor’s degree graduates about their immediate post-graduation activities. Categories are “employed”, “graduate school”, “seeking employment”, and “other”. Average pay is shown if there were enough responses. Reported job titles and employers, and majors and graduate schools, are listed at the bottom of each bachelor’s degree major.</p>
<p>Note the effect of the economic cycle for some majors. For example, compare civil engineering in 2006 to 2009 and 2010.</p>
<p>I wish there were more student-to-career programs. They would be very useful to many recent college grads. Some companies have them for engineering or sales people. </p>
<p>D1 was involved with a yearlong engineering fellowship program that led to her current job. These programs have the new recruits rotating through different departments and different locations.</p>
<p>My daughter is at a research university and is majoring in literature. I’ve always encouraged her to apply for jobs or internships. She never stays idle. Since she was 15 she always has a paying job through Winter, Spring, Summer break. While she is in school she always manage to have a part-time paying job on top of various internships at movie studio. She is currently making up the most money she ever made($15/hour) and receives training on the job(movie editing). I hope with these experiences under her belt, the references from previous bosses from past internships, she will be able get a job once she graduates.</p>