Seniors Look To Next Year

Aaron J. Snow '93 might be starting his post-college life as a computer programmer next year, but his job has nothing to do with his future career aspirations.

Snow, a computer science concentrator, says he will work for a small publishing company in Boston, although he eventually hopes to become a musician.

Snow sang, composed and played guitar for a band for the past two and a half years. He says he lacks the passion for computers that he feels for music, but he is excited for next year. "I'll have more time and energy [to work on music]," he says. "This place is exhausting."

Like Snow, many seniors say their first official jobs or activities next year will not necessarily relate to their eventual career goals. They just want to experiment for awhile, gain financial stability, or spend some time thinking about what they want to do with their lives.

Though the Office of Career Services (OCS) has yet to compile statistics on what members of the Class of 1993 plan to do next year, OCS officials say last year's tally should provide close estimates for this year's senior class.

After graduation last year, employment and professional or graduate school were the most popular immediate post-college choices for the Class of 1992, at 56.1 percent and 28.4 percent, respectively. While 4.6 percent had decided to travel and 2.7 percent planned to volunteer, 3.2 percent still had "indefinite" plans. Five percent had "other" plans.

One change this year is that seniors were more successful in acquiring business jobs than in recent years, according to OCS Assistant Director Marc Cosentino.

"This year's probably the best year since the Class of '89," Cosentino says. "We used to say that one in four would take a job through [campus] recruiting... This year it was closer to one in three."

But Cosentino adds that these numbers reflect both the state of the job market and the amount of effort individual students put into their searches.

Many seniors, he says, are pleased with their jobs for next year because--fearing the continuing effects of the recession--they looked beyond recruiting to find jobs.

Laura A. Clavadetscher '93, who landed a position through recruiting with a consulting firm in San Francisco, says she has not yet decided upon a career.

"I wanted to be self-supporting," she said, adding that no matter what, the job will be a good experience.

In fact, Clavadetscher, an English concentrator, says she hasn't decided on her long-range plans.

She got the job by accident, tagging along with her roommates to a meeting for consulting recruiting. There, she met the recruiter for the job she was offered.

OCS Assistant Director Catherine E. Hutchison says the Class of 1993 teaching hopefuls have thus far been less successful in the job hunt than last year's.

While 17.1 percent of the Class of 1992 started jobs in the business world immediately after graduation, 5.7 percent opted for jobs in education for the following year.

But she says that since the teaching market doesn't close until late August, its too early know how the Class of 1993 will fare in the end.

Hutchison also says about half of the students who teach after college only dabble in the field for a few years before starting another profession or graduate school.

Other career fields that attract large numbers of graduating seniors are communications (5 percent of the class of 1992), government, political science, and public policy (5.8 percent), and science and technology (6.4 percent).

Many seniors are pursuing fellowships, which allows them to experiment and study abroad before launching into their careers. The students taking fellowships will be among the near 20 percent of the its class spending next year abroad, says OCS Director Martha P. Leape.

Milan G. Chheda '93, a Physics concentrator who will spend the next year at Hebrew University in Jerusalem on the Wallenberg fellowship, plans to study government and work on a human rights project. "Israel seemed cool just because of the history the whole area has," he says. "I thought it would be cool just to go far away."

Chheda says he has not yet decided on a profession. "That's why I'm spending a year in Israel. Maybe I'll be enlightened," he says.

Some seniors are using their freedom from academia to organize ambitious independent projects.

Do Kim, a concentrator in Afro-American Studies and Sociology, received a grant to begin a Youth Leadership Development Program for Korean-American children in Los Angeles.

Kim says he will aim to encourage his program's participants to think about politics, their relationship to the Korean-American community and their role in society. The program will "try to train them to be official leaders for the Korean community."

But for some of Kim's classmates, it's just too hard to put away the books. Since over the past decade the segment of seniors directly entering graduate or professional schools has remained fairly close to 30 percent, it is likely that the numbers for the Class of 1993 will be much the same.

Of course, for many members of the senior class, next year's plans are, well, "indefinite." Many graduates-to-be in this position seem to be taking this in stride. Miriam J. Greener '93, who is trying to land a teaching position but currently does not know what she will be doing next year, says she will use her freedom for the time being to do some go home for awhile and to do some traveling.

"I sort of wish I was more settled, but I'm trying not to worry," she says

Chheda says he has not yet decided on a profession. "That's why I'm spending a year in Israel. Maybe I'll be enlightened," he says.

Some seniors are using their freedom from academia to organize ambitious independent projects.

Do Kim, a concentrator in Afro-American Studies and Sociology, received a grant to begin a Youth Leadership Development Program for Korean-American children in Los Angeles.

Kim says he will aim to encourage his program's participants to think about politics, their relationship to the Korean-American community and their role in society. The program will "try to train them to be official leaders for the Korean community."

But for some of Kim's classmates, it's just too hard to put away the books. Since over the past decade the segment of seniors directly entering graduate or professional schools has remained fairly close to 30 percent, it is likely that the numbers for the Class of 1993 will be much the same.

Of course, for many members of the senior class, next year's plans are, well, "indefinite." Many graduates-to-be in this position seem to be taking this in stride. Miriam J. Greener '93, who is trying to land a teaching position but currently does not know what she will be doing next year, says she will use her freedom for the time being to do some go home for awhile and to do some traveling.

"I sort of wish I was more settled, but I'm trying not to worry," she says