The President's Page - February
9, 2000
Career Services: Planning Life after Princeton
At this time of year, seniors and some graduate students prepare to take the next step in their careers. For doctoral candidates this process is largely department-based, and often a student's thesis adviser plays the key role. In the case of master's degree candidates, various mechanisms are utilized by students and their academic departments. Similarly, undergraduate students decide what the next step will be in a number of ways. Some students receive important guidance from faculty; other students look to family members or friends or proceed on the basis of serendipitous encounters. Many undergraduate students, along with some graduate students, rely on the programs and services of the Office of Career Services, an office that has significantly increased its capacity to serve students-and alumni-over recent years.
The office's director, Beverly Hamilton-Chandler, describes her mission as assisting students as well as alumni to explore their career-related interests and to develop effective strategies when searching for summer or permanent employment, seeking admissions to graduate schools, or changing careers. Among her highest priorities at the moment is to increase on-line information which students and alumni can explore at their convenience. Web-based resources now offered include JOBTRAK, an online, searchable job hunting service, as well as notices about summer jobs and internships, various self-assessment tools, sample resumes, and tips for job interviews. Last year Princeton, in conjunction with peer institutions, participated in a "virtual" career fair that allowed alumni and other prospective employers to post jobs on a central Web site for perusal by students and recent alumni who could upload their own resumes for consideration. Prospective employers were able to answer student questions or conduct informal interviews through online "chat rooms." Another virtual career fair will take place this spring and will be open to recent graduate or undergraduate alumni who are interested in entry-level positions.
These online job fairs focus on employers who do not usually recruit on campus, and another of Ms. Hamilton-Chandler's priorities is to make students aware of an expanded range of job opportunities that go beyond the firms that have traditionally visited campus to recruit. This fall the office sponsored the first-ever general job fair which attracted 1,400 undergraduate and graduate students and almost 100 employers from a wide range of industries, profit and non-profit, public and private. The office has also worked closely with Project '55 and the Class of '69 community service program to make students aware of the not-for-profit opportunities sponsored by these classes.
A survey of Princeton students indicates that approximately 26 percent of undergraduates intend to continue their education immediately following graduation. The others have a wide range of plans from regular employment to internships, from service projects to travel. With respect to employment, here as elsewhere, investment and financial management and consulting are the fields that have recently attracted the largest interest among graduates. Compensation packages tend to be attractive; these industries require a relatively short time commitment from new graduates; and they have positions that are open to students in any concentration. The last point can have powerful attraction for students. As liberal arts concentrators, students sometimes are unclear about how to translate what they have learned at Princeton into a career, and Career Services can help them recognize the potential of their abilities, and perhaps most importantly, give them "permission" to explore a variety of job possibilities.
Career Services considers alumni as important clients, who both give assistance to and receive assistance from the office. Staff members provide career counseling services to alumni who are seeking employment or considering changing careers. The online system, JOBTRAK, is accessible to alumni. And, when schedules permit, staff members will travel to regional alumni associations to give presentations on such topics as applying to graduate school and identifying and making the best use of local career services. Alumni are also important as prospective employers and as a source of valuable information for Princeton students about careers. In 1980 Career Services created the Alumni Careers Network, a database of Princeton undergraduate and graduate alumni (about 4,500 currently participate) who have volunteered to discuss their work with students or other alumni to help them learn more about prospective careers and to help make connections with prospective employers. The office also sponsors on-campus career conversations which provide opportunities for students to talk to alumni about how they found their career paths.
If you are planning to visit campus and are willing either individually or as part of a panel to share your advice and experience with students, I urge you to contact Career Services to explore participating in one of these career conversations. And if you are personally considering a change in career direction, I hope you will visit Career Services, by telephone, in person, or on-line. The Web page which includes information about how to communicate with the office can be found at: http://www.princeton.edu/career.
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