Summer Prospects Looking Bleak

With summer less than two months away, many undergraduates are anxiously searching for jobs. But this year, a national and state recession means they are finding their prospects bleak.

Where once employers hired interns and summer associates in droves, the economic downturn has forced college students who once easily found high-paying employment to scrape for opportunities.

"Students are having a very tough summer, especially here," says Mary Fan Kain, summer jobs counselor at the Office of Career Services (OCS). "The economy in the Northeast is impacting on students who want to stay around here this summer. If you can leave and go somewhere else, you will probably find a lot more possibilities."

But the lack of summer employment is not limited to Harvard Square. Students at other institutions in the area, along with undergraduates at universities around the country, have also felt the job crunch.

Shelley Reuger, assistant director of the Student Employment Office at MIT, agrees that the economy in Massachusetts is causing problems for undergraduates trying to secure off-campus jobs--especially for students who want to work in their hometowns.

Although it is "pretty easy" to find on-campus work, Reuger says, "companies that work in scientific fields are difficult to find jobs in." She cited areas such as mechanical engineering as the most competitive, with job possibilities in that field almost non-existent.

But Rueger is more optimistic than most counselors about the job situation and thinks that on-campus jobs provide a reasonable alternative to the outside competition.

"The general job situation has picked up since March," she says. "Office work is still easy to find. Technical jobs are holding steady with last year. And it's not a panic situation yet for students who want to work on campus."

But even so, Rueger says, the difficulties that have plagued students around the country are indeed being felt here in the Boston area.

"I saw a Northwestern career counselor and a graduating senior on 'The Today Show' the other day bemoaning the fact that selections are few and opportunities are more difficult," Harvard's Kain says. "I think this filters down to undergraduates as well."

She also adds that the job shortage has not been as acute in some areas of the nation. The summer jobs counselor cited the Northwest, in particular the Seattle area, as a region where more favorable economic conditions has made finding opportunities feasible.

In addition, Kain notes that "cities in the Midwest are coming around again, especially Minneapolis."

Employment counselors for the most part agree that the national recession has made the summer job search much more difficult than it has been in several years.

"This is the toughest summer in a fairly long time," agrees Marcie Homer, director of the Harvard Student Employment Office (SEO). "Few employers and jobs are available in the Boston area and across the country as well."

Homer also notes that the SEO had begun to see a shortage of jobs for undergraduates last summer, but conditions have worsened. Although on-campus research programs have provided jobs for some students, these opportunities constitute only about "one-half to one-third of what students need in the summer," she says. For example, the college work-study program has accepted only half the number of applicants it did last year.

"Students that apply to work-study late or that are not eligible are definitely concerned," she says.

The Harvard Advantage

Homer also cites the advantage that Harvard students have over other undergraduates, largely because of the reputation of the College and the proven track record of its students.

"Our students have it better than most," she says. "It's known that Harvard students make better employees."

Kain at OCS concurs that Harvard undergraduates often begin a step ahead of students at other schools.

"We're lucky in one sense. The reputation of the College and the students here as responsible and reliable is helpful, but unfortunately, that's not the only factor in finding a summer job," she says.

But Harvard students are now feeling the just-before-summer crunch in the rush to find a job before June rolls around.

Aida Bekele '94 says that she began filling out applications before Christmas, but at present has no summer employment.

"It's been a real effort. Even looking for possibilities is hard," she says. "You can always work in a restaurant, but it's hard to find a job where you can make money and learn something."

Although the pressures of finding a job weigh heavily on some students, other have adopted a more relaxed attitude.

Some undergrads, like Emily L. Drugge '93 for one, say they try to disregard the emphasis often placed on summer employment as a stepping stone to a high-powered and fast-moving career.

"I should be more panicked about it, but I haven't really been," Drugge says. "But it's definitely harder this summer, especially for finding paying summer jobs."

The Winthrop House resident from Darien, Conn. says she had hoped to work at the New York Shakespeare Festival where, she noted, she would receive less than minimum wage. Working a second summer as a camp counselor is her back-up plan.

"The big problem is that people who go away have to find apartments and their jobs have to pay for it," Drugge says. "It's also difficult because it seems that people get going earlier and earlier looking for jobs."

Still, some undergraduates who have found jobs say they haven't noticed the panic that has beseiged some of their classmates. Lawrence C.C. Cheung '94 will be a summer employee of New Jersey PIRG, a group that campaigns to save the environment. He will be working full-time studying toxic waste issues.

The Wigglesworth resident says he noticed posters around campus several months ago and dropped in on a meeting at OCS. Barely having the chance to fill out an application, he was hired on the spot. Cheung says he has not been bothered by the competitive job hunt this summer.

Alison J. Koenig '94 will be juggling two jobs this summer so she can both gain valuable academic experience and also make money. The Atlanta native will spend half of her time as an intern in the cardiology laboratory at Emory University and the other half as an aerobics instructor. But finding these jobs was not easy.

"I contacted several local hospitals and found that they weren't responsive unless I knew someone that works there," she says. "It was a Harvard alum that finally transferred my application to someone that gave me a job."

"I'm getting less than minimum wage in the lab, but it's more of an experience, because most labs don't hire first-year undergrads," she added. "You take what you can get."

Advice For the Future

Most counselors interviewed say they advise students still searching for jobs to be flexible in their approach. In some cases, this may include juggling up to three jobs in order to achieve various objectives like gaining experience and making money.

Basic office skills are also beneficial. In particular, many employers cite computer literacy as an important qualification they consider. Fine-tuned office skills and experience also serve to open doors to more opportunities.

For future summers, Kain stresses starting the job hunt early as one of the keys to success.

She added that internship programs and national competitions have unusually early deadlines, typically November or December, a time when most students have not even begun to think about the summer.

"It's hard for students because they're so busy, but especially in recession times, starting early and using the holidays [Thanksgiving and Christmas] for writing letters and networking is critical and will be more important in the next two to three years," she says.

Yet Homer says she is optimistic that summer job searches will become easier in the next few years down the line.

"I hope things will turn around," she says. "I think the economy will improve and more people will be hiring."