From Realism to Reality
Humanities concentrators spend much of their college career learning obscure Slavic languages, analyzing the small gestures in English literature, and acquiring a cursory knowledge of philosophy. They contemplate every abstract question but the one that’s been directed at them repeatedly by their parents: “So what are you going to do with that degree?”
But what’s a humanities concentrator to do when the Office of Career Services seems to be solely focused on throwing free-pen-and-Nalgene recruiting events for the aspiring hedge fund crowd? The Crimson e-mailed 106 junior and senior humanities concentrators; 43 of them replied, four of whom said they had experience going to the OCS for help. Most replied that they’ve never had anything to do with the OCS.
“There’s this view among a lot of people in the English department that OCS doesn’t have anything that’s designed for them,” English concentrator Trevor A. Groce ’10 said.Are the rumors true?
Are humanities students doomed to stumble blindly in the job market? After talking to several of them, FM brought their concerns to four OCS counselors to learn about schmoozing, lemmings, and available resources. It turns out that finding a job requires more effort than just graduating from Harvard.
A CONTACT SPORT
According to The Crimson’s survey of the Class of 2009, over 50% of graduating Harvard students headed to consulting, finance, and health care. When these are the major roads leading away from Johnston Gate, it may be difficult to find resources off the beaten path.
Assistant Director of Career Services for On Campus Recruiting Deborah Carroll said that the industries that attract humanities concentrators, such as publishing, media, and entertainment, by nature do not recruit on campus.
“The job search is a contact sport no matter what industry you’re looking at,” Carroll said. “And the thing with industries like publishing is that they don’t want a passive way of looking for talent. They want someone who’s really passionate about the job. They want you to find them.” Carroll cited the case of Conde Nast, which actively hid links to their internship application to eliminate the less dedicated.
However, Assistant Director of Career in the Arts Gail Gilmore said that the OCS does offer valuable connections into the industry. For example, OCS partners with Harvardwood, an organization that boasts a 5,000-alumni network and brings students interested in the entertainment industry to Los Angeles each year through its Harvardwood 101 program.
“We often bring back alumni who have successfully navigated the industry for panel discussions,” Interim Director of the Office of Career Services Robin Mount said. “We have fabulous peer-to-peer and alumni connections.”
SEEKING YOUR OWN PATH
Many humanities concentrators looking to go into non-entertainment areas, however, have had difficulty finding opportunities through the OCS.
Philosophy and History of Art and Architecture concentrator Matthew H. Coogan ’11 attended an OCS panel on museum internships, but was disappointed that the internships were mostly geared towards graduate students.
Coogan says that he is currently looking for opportunities through the HAA department, where he hopes professors will have useful contacts in the field.
Another junior concentrating in History and Literature, who wished to remain anonymous to preserve her relationship with the OCS, said that her experience with the office was “overwhelming.”
“I went to OCS sophomore year because I wanted to apply for an internship in D.C. A guy spent seven minutes with me, and he basically said, ‘You’re too young for any of the jobs,’ and handed me a business card,” she said. “I ended up getting the internship I wanted on my own.”
Assistant Director of Career Services Benny Belvin II said that the OCS should not be thought of as an instant solution for finding jobs.
“You can’t think, ‘OCS, they have to do this for me,’ or, ‘They are my only source.’ Often times you have to take the initiative to connect with alumni, with people in the industry,” Belvin said. “We’re a great start, but we’re not the only start.”
“THE LEMMING FACTOR”
No matter how much time you spend in Houghton Library, there’s no escaping the possibility of a more typical post-Harvard career. Success stories abound: that History and Literature concentrator who received a Bain offer, the Philosophy student who works for Goldman. And when you have only vague outlines of less lucrative life plans, these stories may convince you to trade in your Shakespeare collection for Vault interview guides.
“The finance and consulting companies make a lot of noise, and many students just look for jobs into consulting or finance because their roommates or their friend is doing it,” Mount said. “We call it the Lemming Factor.”
Going into the industry with a humanities degree and little experience, however, may be more difficult than expected.
Philosophy concentrator Marissa A. Babin ’10, is looking into jobs in consulting as one of several post-graduation options.
“There are some companies that don’t care what you majored in,” Babin said. “But recruiting is definitely not as easy as if I had been an economics concentrator.”
Carroll said that the expectation of landing a consulting job without any “pattern of engagement” is unrealistic.
“You have to realize that your competition is among the Harvard students who may be the presidents of investment clubs or who may have had industry internship experiences,” she said.
So what’s a humanities junkie to do? Must they sacrifice six hours of class a week and suffer through econometrics and multi-variable calculus? According to Belvin, the critical first step is self-assessment.
“You have to be realistic. Humanities concentrators should think about how to connect their education to the specific set of skills needed for a job. You need to ask yourself: what skills do I need? How do I get those skills?” he said. “We at the OCS are here to help you figure things out.”