Last Wednesday, GW welcomed more than 80 different employers and companies to campus to give students a chance to meet recruiters at the biannual Career and Internship Fair in the Marvin Center.
But after scanning the list of businesses attending this year’s fair, I realized there were very few companies where I could apply. Students interested in humanities careers were left wanting, despite being members of the biggest school in the undergraduate community.
For next year’s fair, the University should bring a more diverse group of employers and companies to campus.
Of course, the career fair was fruitful for students in the GW School of Business and the Elliott School of International Affairs, since the event is usually swarming with recruiters from consulting firms and government agencies.
But GW has humanities students, too, and they deserve face time with prospective employers.
Just take a look at some of the names of companies that attended the fair last week. Siemens, The Department of Commerce, Prudential Financial, MassMutual Financial Group and ING Financial Partners were prominently-featured visitors. But where was the booth for an organization like the National Endowment for the Humanities? The Smithsonian Institution? What about the Folger Shakespeare Library?
As a result, students like myself are left to their own devices and are forced to frantically scour the Internet to try to find positions for the summer.
The University could go about remedying this problem by offering a career fair devoted solely to humanities students and students interested in humanities-based careers. As it stands today, students in the School of Engineering and Applied Science benefit from the Engineering and IT Expo, and business students benefit from the GW School of Business Career Fair. Why doesn’t the Columbian College of Arts and Sciences have its own career fair?
The office of on-campus recruiting should make it a priority to connect all students to careers after college; there is more out there than financial consulting.
This situation is particularly disappointing because campus leaders have promised action in the past yet it has never been delivered. For example, as part of his platform in 2011, Student Association President John Richardson said he would improve on-campus recruiting by giving students – particularly those in the humanities – more opportunities to meet with employers. And while it was a noble idea, this year’s career fair indicates that little progress has been made.
Many students come to college so they can get a better job afterwards. As cliché as it sounds, a college education is an investment – one that you pay for in hopes that you’ll receive something better in return. But without an adequate career fair – and a strong on-campus recruiting program for all students – many are left to figure out their summer and post-college plans alone. This has to change.
Patrick Rochelle a junior majoring in English, is a Hatchet columnist.
I hope that the GW Parents Advisory Council, who have several members who have voiced similar sentiments, will be able to work with the Administration to enhance the career fairs and work with students who are graduating from GW. There are many parents and alumni who should be tapped to help our students succeed after graduation by providing advice, internships, and networking opportunities to start their careers.
Sorry if there is not a position hiring where you can put your pre-Columbian Mesoamerican gender studies degree to use.
If you want a job, study a hard discipline like science or accounting.
Patrick,
I appreciate the concerns you voiced in your opinion piece and I would like to provide the Career Center perspective by reiterating several points made to you originally in response to the questions you had sent me while you were researching your article.
First, let me share the good news that of the 86 organizations registered for the Spring 2012 Career & Internship Fair, 68 of them (79%) sought CCAS majors.
As explained initially, the GW Career Center casts a wide net in our fair outreach efforts (to more than 5,000 organizations ranging from for-profit and non-profit to government, educational and humanities institutions). The companies that respond to our invitations are currently recruiting, and have the budget to attend our fairs and/or recruit on campus. The economy drives what recruiting employers can do. Unfortunately, many humanities-based organizations are not actively recruiting at fairs and through on campus recruiting programs—however, they are still making their presence known on campus by posting on GWork and partnering with various GW departments and participating in other activities.
Regarding the list of organizations that attended the Fair on February 1 – or any fair, for that matter – we suggest that you look past the names of the organizations and instead look further into the majors for which these companies are interested and also the types of opportunities they may have that are made available to students. For example, a company may be an engineering firm, but they may be hiring communications majors for specific positions.
We hear what you are saying about the need for diversity in career fairs, and again, we are working to bring in more organizations, however, it needs to be made clear that students should not limit the job search only to attendance at a fair – especially in a downturn economy. What works is research and networking. Networking is vital—there are myriad opportunities to do so at GW, including becoming involved through one’s campus career center.
One method of connecting to a diversity of employers can be accomplished through participating in many of our specialized programs and workshops, e.g., Senior Job Search Group, Engineering Career Development Seminars, Student & Alumni Speed Networking, NGO, NonProfit & Government Career Forum, Women’s Foreign Policy Group Mentoring Fair, etc.
We also look to our industry-specific expos (themes such as Museums, Communications, Engineering & It, Startup/Entrepreneur, International Affairs, etc.) to bring in a wide variety of organizations to serve a broader amount of students. In the past, we’ve hosted such humanities-based organizations as the Smithsonian Institution, the National Park Service, the National Museum of Natural History, the National Gallery of Art and National Geographic. None of these had attended any of our career fairs. Other resources that help with networking include the Career Advisor Network (http://alumni.gwu.edu/benefits/career/networking/)in which GW alumni from all backgrounds and organizations make themselves available to work with GW students.
I sincerely hope this clarifies some of the challenges inherent in the work of the Center yet demonstrates our commitment and continued efforts to bring to GW a diverse group of companies. Also, I hope it is clear that there are myriad opportunities for students to engage with employers at GW – and I hope you and all other GW students take advantage of the resources that can be found at your campus career services department.
Best,
Jeffrey A. Dagley
Communications Coordinator
George Washington University Career Center
Hi Jeff,
Thank you for your response and for shedding light on the resources available to humanities students seeking career opportunities.
In your comment, you mentioned that you were reiterating information originally given to the column’s author. In reviewing your correspondence, however, there was no mention that 79 percent of organizations present at the career fair sought CCAS majors.
I appreciate your continuing the dialogue with this additional information.
Best,
Annu Subramanian
Hatchet opinions editor
Annu,
Thank you for your response. As the communications manager for the Career Center, but also as an alumnus with two humanities degrees from GW, I am happy to engage in discussions regarding this issue.
To clarify, I had stated that I was “reiterating several points” and did so throughout my response above, especially those in the third paragraph regarding outreach efforts for employers which I had described previously to the writer. I also added several new points – such as the one to which you refer – to round out my response.
Please note that the information I had provided regarding the amount of employers recruiting CCAS majors was and is found within the information listed on the Fair within GWork (http://gwork.gwu.edu). We encourage all students interested in our fairs and expos to research all the employers registered for these events to learn about the mission of the companies, the positions they have available, and the majors for which they may be recruiting.
So many of these companies are looking for students with liberal arts/humanities backgrounds. The challenge, as many students know, is that it may not be that obvious on the surface. Thus, it is upon us at the Career Center to help our students dig a little deeper.
Best,
Jeff Dagley