The Orbis

Issue date: 1/27/10 Section: News/Features

Media Credit: Vanderbilt Career Center Career Center counselors give advice to graduating seniors.

Every May, Vanderbilt's graduating class walks out of commencement and into the "real world." This year, many second-semester seniors will be making that walk into an uncertain professional future. The Class of 2010 is not only plagued by the thought of losing four day weekends and fraternity keggers, but with the reality of a failing economy and mass unemployment. Here, Orbis asks two Career Center coaches how undergraduates can land a job that makes a difference.

Finding a job generally takes approximately six to nine months. According to Career Center coach Shannon Beeman (Education, Community Organization, Non-Profit), that number doubled as the stock market plummeted. "Now we've learned that because of the economy it has taken some people twelve to eighteen months to find their first professional opportunity."

To improve their chances of getting a job offer by May, Beeman said, job-hunting undergraduates should start early and be persistent- especially in the non-profit sector.

"It's tough right now," said Beeman. "A lot of non-profits are privately funded or funded by the government and so their budgets have been cut. They might not be able to hire like they had anticipated or they might not know if they're going to be able to hire for an extended period of time."

Beeman sees the job hunt as a numbers game. "You might put out twenty applications and get one interview, and then you might have to go on a dozen interviews to get one job offer. So you could potentially be sending resumes and applications to hundreds of employers." Although networking is key, Beeman said, so too is quantity. "Cast your net wide at first and then start reeling it in. That's my suggestion."

In order to find enough potential employers to make this method possible, Beeman said,
you have to know where to look and what you are trying to target. To help students with this task, Beeman provides students with a list of particularly useful websites, including idealist.org, nonprofitjobs.org, and cgcareers.org. Beeman also suggested
students take advantage of the large Vanderbilt alumni network in such places as Atlanta, New York, and the Dallas/ Houston area.

Students interested in government jobs consistently look at D.C. and New York, according to Career Center Coach Christy Waggoner (Government, Public Policy, Pre- Law). However, Waggoner emphasized the pros and cons of looking for a job in such popular locations. "There are a lot [of opportunities] in D.C. but there is also a lot of competition... A lot of times you have to go out there and intern upon graduation, not receiving any payment and you have to figure out how to pay your bills- or before you even have an internship you just find a way to get out there and just stay there to network."

Continued...

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