Placement Problems

Both Fortune Magazine and a small office in Weld Hall have expressed themselves recently on a matter dear to the hearts of all students interested in money--namely, the job market. Fortune gloomily noted that the demand for Harvard Business School graduates is so great that most of them are in an unprecedently powerful bargaining position, but it gleefully anticipated a coming day when once again employers can be choosy and stingy. Meanwhile, the Office of Student Placement announced a series of twelve symposiums in which the various careers open to graduating seniors will be discussed. Fortune Magazine has indicated what the plight of such specifically-trained persons as Business School graduates may soon be. The corresponding fate of the liberally educated but, for the most part, vaguely prepared college graduate can be imagined. But the philosophy behind the workings of the Office of Student Placement--as indicated in the purely educational respect of the symposium scheme--needs some revision of that fate is to be met with any sense of efficiency.

Operating on the assumption that the Office should advise rather than place, John W. Teele and his small staff have done admirable work in job counseling. Rarely do they provide specific opportunities. First find out the man's interests and aptitudes, suggest several firms that may be able to use him, then send him forth to and a job himself. There is, it is true, much to be said for both the theory and practice of this system. Most Harvard AB's should be competent enough to hold down positions of responsibility, provided they have a liking and a natural ability for the work. Most large firms have space for young men of ability and interest if his future in the firm seems promising. Yet, not all firms, indeed only a few, actively seek out college graduates whom they will use. According to Teele, "Job information is elusive and illusory." The problem is to equip the graduate with a knowledge of his interests and aptitudes, together with some information as to which companies might employ them.

Granting the simple logic of this approach, admitting the success of the venture thus far, the thoughtful undergraduate might well wonder what his chances for a job will be in 1951 under such a system. Other schools--among which Yale is an out-standing example--lay much more emphasis on placement and much less on discovering aptitudes and inclinations. In a time when jobs are scarce, the Yale man who has been told precisely where his best chances lie is likely to have a distinct advantage over the Harvard man who has been told that he would make a good banker, or insurance agent. Even today, competition is high among college graduates, and a bureau concerned with actual placement would be a great service to many students.

While it is unfair to condemn the Placement Service because it may not perform its work at some future date, a general expansion of its activities could increase its efficiency today, and guarantee it against the threat of the future. Information now on file in the Registrar's Office, the Office of Student Testing, and Hygiene Department, if collected and kept on file in the Placement Office, would enable the job counselor to have before him at once the medical, educational, social and economic background of any student seeking aid. At the same time, close contact with firms ready to employ college graduates, coupled with a constant study of the overall job market, should provide information about available opportunities. Such expansion means expense, but as the financial future of a college is to a notable degree in the checkbooks of her alumni, the investment would be more than a sentimental one.