With spring break over and graduation looming in the near future, many seniors are still jobless. Although many Hopkins seniors go straight to graduate school, the real world looms within months for many others.Forty-four percent of Hopkins graduates have full-time employment, while another 42 percent are in graduate school. Only three percent of the students said they were still searching for a job. These figures, provided by the Career Center, are from the class of 2005's post-graduate survey, completed in January 2006. The career center has no data on how satisfied graduates are with their jobs."Looking for a job is really scary," said Jaan Rannik, a senior studying German and classical guitar. "I think Hopkins does a good job supporting their students. A little bit can go a long way. I think the Career Center is helpful, although I should have used it more."
"In general, attendance at Career Center events has been higher than past years," said Mark Presnell, the director of the Career Center. "Our career preparation programs continue to be well attended as are our career information series of panel discussions." These panels aimed to inform students of jobs that they can get with different majors. The career preparation programs describe how students can "break into" different types of careers.The Career Center also held two career fairs, a general one in the fall, and a science and technology fair in the spring. Presnell said both of these fairs saw "higher student turn-out than previous years." "Although the Public Service and Non-Profit Career Fair this spring saw a lower turnout despite a significant increase in the number of organizations attending, the Career Center has no plans on canceling that event. In fact, we are committed to providing counseling services, events and programs for all students," Presnell said. The Career Center did, however, cancel two events this year. The first, a discussion of academic job searches, was canceled because the panelists were unavailable, while the second, "What to do with a foreign language major," was cancelled due to the weather. "I've tried to use the career center, especially when I was an underclassman to see if I could get internships or jobs, but since I was looking to do something in Nebraska, my home state, they didn't have anything available," said senior Alena Balasanova, a psychology and Spanish double major. "Their web-search tool, MonsterTrak, is skewed. Most of what is offered is in large metropolises such as New York or Chicago, and I was looking for something closer to home. I get e-mails all the time about recruiters coming but once again -- they are mostly from the east and west coasts.""I really wish the Career Center would make an effort to entice recruiters to come from Midwestern states, because many large corporations are based there also," Balasanova continued. "I did use the Career Center for help with my resume earlier this year, and the career counselor I met with was very helpful and professional. Ironically I wasn't able to use that resumé for any of the jobs they advertised though!"Presnell said that he tries to respond to all feedback. He won't start to collecting data on this senior class until April, but he expects positive reviews. "We solicit thoughts beginning in April via the post-graduate survey. Separately, we survey students who visit the Career Center and meet with a counselor. Our results are overwhelmingly positive about their experience." "I've used the Career Center somewhat," said senior economics major Shivank Gupta. "But not as much as I could have or should have. I wish I had used their resources more. I definitely feel the Career Center is always trying to reach out to their students via e-mail and such and trying to give everyone opportunities for on-campus recruiting and providing corporate events on campus. "I think [students] should really focus the majority of their job search on the Career Center," added Gupta, who is looking for a career in consulting or business development, but hasn't found one yet. "But they should also make sure they explore external avenues as well because the Career Center doesn't and can't cover everything that's out there. I think the Career Center does a great job giving you literature or directing you in your research as to what you want in your career, and that's a big part of the battle, from then on I think a student should split their time evenly between Career Center opportunities and external opportunities." Chunwoo Kae, a senior film major feels differently: "I have used the Career Center but for a film major it doesn't help at all. They're better at helping to find jobs in finance and engineering and corporate stuff." Kae has secured a job in television production but said he did so without the help of the Career Center.Presnell recognizes that the Career Center cannot do everything and admits that liberal arts majors tend to find it less helpful: "Liberal arts majors sometimes have a more difficult time translating a major into a career goal which can make job search more difficult. We strive to provide programs and services for all students. Different fields often require significantly different search techniques and strategies. Some fields have significantly greater presence on campus simply by the nature of their recruiting mechanism."Presnell does say there is a typical plan most seniors can follow: "In general, a comprehensive job search consists of three parts: First, making a list of employers and contacting them directly; second, networking with alumni and other professionals; third, responding to postings, attending career fairs and participating in recruiting. It is a balance of those three strategies that increases success for students." Presnell cited two public service and non-profit career fairs in Baltimore and New York and five other off-campus career fairs as some of the most important services offered to liberal arts majors. The Career Center has also co-sponsored panels on how to break into museum careers, writing careers, teaching and public health. "I have used the Career Center," senior Amanda Thurm said, "I currently think the Career Center is helpful." Thurm added that in the past she has found it less helpful, but has seen an improvement. "I think that JHU does support seniors and that they are trying to make more connections to help seniors in the years to come."
