The Job Search

On Tuesday, a representative from H&R Block visited my class to give students tips on internships and job searches. Our business faculty thought it important enough to target several junior level courses for this topic on Tuesday morning. Of course this topic should be of some importance to most college juniors as they think beyond college. The prospect of choosing careers and finding jobs seems like it would be a daunting task, but it is something many people in this country, especially those with a college degree, take for granted.

I can only imagine how those many people in the Great Depression felt when jobs were hard to come by, or any number of eras and regions where jobs were neither plentiful nor chosen. Yet, with so many Americans able to get college degrees we do have the great privilege to have at least some choices in our careers and jobs.

When I graduated in 1980 with a degree in Accounting I did not think that much about my career -- I just thought I would get a job, which I did. Since then I have changed careers (not jobs) twice. Lucky for me I was able to do this (at some financial sacrifice). My father, on the other hand, stayed in the same job for 45 years -- he grew up in the depression and jobs were a thing to be cherished.

Anyway, there are probably two points in this ramble: 1) students should be thoughtful about their careers and college is a good place to do that and 2) although there is some whining about the ups and downs of the economy, be thankful for the abundant opportunities even in a "down" economy . . . college students like I once did can easily take this opportunity for granted.