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University of Wisconsin-Madison
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Thursday, December 10, 2009
Career advisers optimistic despite economic woes Job market may be down, but not as bad as expected
students right now because employers are looking for very versatile people,” Kohlberg said. “They also don’t know what’s happening in their industries, and they don’t want to hire real specialists.”
By Lydia Statz
New Trends Emerge Aside from students having difficulty finding employment quickly, other patterns are emerging on campus that advisers link to the economic situation. “One of the trends we’re seeing is students who are postponing graduation,” Schroeder said. “They’re taking additional classes—maybe they’re adding an additional major—to postpone entering the job market.” Kohlberg said she has seen more students finding alternatives to traditional careers, like Teach for America or the Peace Corps. “Some of them are just hanging on to their survival jobs and maybe taking them up on their offer to become an assistant manager at a café,” she said. For students who have already begun their job search, campus career ECONOMY advisers agree IN-DEPTH that patience and persistence is the key, and current students can benefit from many resources on campus. Schroeder said he stresses the importance of students tailoring their undergraduate experience to benefit their future career. “Students should start their job search, their internship process their freshman year. It’s not something that you start two weeks before you graduate,” he said. “The competition is fierce, and students have to be able to differentiate themselves.”
The Daily Cardinal Isabel álvarez/the daily cardinal
Kyle Bursaw/the daily cardinal
Kyle Bursaw/the daily cardinal
Students skirmish in Bascom snowball fight By Andrew Kasper The Daily Cardinal
UW-Madison students celebrated the first-ever full day of canceled classes with a snowball fight on Bascom Hill Wednesday. Past and present residents from the lake shore dorms won the fight, which was fought against those from the southeast dorms. “We just don’t have what it takes to win a snowball fight,” said Greg Stravinski, a junior and Witte Hall resident who fought for the southeast dorms. Stravinski admited the lake shore dorms easily won the fight. “Southeast comes out stylish,” he said. “We’re all prettied up and the second the snow starts flying we get worried ... lake shore is always there until it’s over.” Most of the snowball attend-
ees wore standard winter attire, but some of the more enthusiastic students donned goggles, helmets, shields, gorilla and penguin costumes, gigantic slingshots and shovels. One student from Witte left all his winter gear behind and charged Bascom Hill in only his boots and underwear on a $45 bet. UWPD Sgt. Tamara Kowalski said the snowball fight was a fun student event and estimated 3,000 people were on Bascom Hill, including Chancellor Biddy Martin, who was there taking pictures. Lauren Jernegan, a UW-Madison freshman, organized the event with her roommate and her high school friend. Jernegan said the three of them invited 100 people each through Facebook. The event eventually reached 20,000 invites,
with over 5,000 people accepting the invitation.
“We just don’t have what it takes to win a snowball fight.”
Greg Stravinski junior UW-Madison
Jernegan said she got the idea for the snowball fight from the UW student who organized it last year in an attempt to break the record for the largest snowball fight held by Michigan Tech. Jernegan said she wasn’t trying to beat the record this year, but did it for fun instead.
Blizzard prompts closure of state government Gov. Jim Doyle closed state government Wednesday, including most UW System schools, and asked state employees not to report to work in response to a statewide blizzard. The governor determined UW-Milwaukee and UW-Superior were exempt from the order because weather conditions in those areas
did not warrant closure. Doyle declared a state of emergency for all 72 counties Tuesday as the blizzard hit Wisconsin, calling portions of the Wisconsin National Guard to active duty to assist authorities where needed. All state employees were instructed not to report to work Wednesday unless their occupation
was related to emergency response, public health or public safety. “Wisconsin’s emergency workers are working hard to keep people safe,” Doyle said in a statement. “State officers are closed for business to ensure we are keeping people off the roads and allowing emergency response crews to do their job.”
There is no arguing that firsttime job hunters have faced especially tough challenges over the past year because of the economic downturn, though surprisingly, many campus advisers are optimistic about the job prospects for current students. Career advisers from the College of Letters and Science and the School of Business said although they have seen new trends arise since the economic collapse, they remain hopeful. Steve Schroeder, director of the Business Career Center, said graduates of the business program should not be too worried. “Our students have done fairly well, all things considered, in terms of securing employment after graduation,” he said. Schroeder said he has seen the most change regarding the number of job offers a student may receive. In the past, he said, business students have often had multiple opportunities to choose from, but that is no longer the case. “We tell students if you get one job offer, that’s great. But you can’t expect to get five job offers in this economy,” he said. Robert Schwoch, an adviser in the School of Journalism and Mass Communication, said despite the economy he still sees students getting jobs, just not as quickly as they have in the past. According to Schwoch, many students accept a “survival job” or move back home for a period of weeks or months as they wait for the economy to improve. Although the job hunt is brutal right now, he cautions against making hasty decisions that could impact a student’s entire career path. “I’m encouraging students to take an unrelated job rather than taking a job within communications that might put them on a path that they don’t want to be on,” he said. Leslie Kohlberg, Letters and Science Career Services director, said she is also optimistic about the job outlook for liberal arts students, but has noticed similar trends to that of other university departments. “Typically, even in the best of times, it’s usually three to nine months after graduation that a lot of students land their first-time professional employment,” she said. Kohlberg added, however, that she believes students with liberal arts degrees actually have an edge in today’s job market. “It’s very good for liberal arts
Use Campus Resources Kohlberg said she encourages students to make use of their career services office. “Interestingly, students are not seeking a lot of help,” she said. “We can help them get a focus and a goal, help them connect with employers, alumni, professionals in the field who can give them advice and suggestions that lead to real possibilities.” According to Kohlberg, networking and improving interpersonal communication skills are key to finding the right job as well. Although students at UW-Madison have generally had difficulties finding jobs, the message is not all doom and gloom. Kohlberg and her colleagues agree that many students are too anxious, which could end up being an asset for students who are patient jobs page 3
“…the great state University of Wisconsin should ever encourage that continual and fearless sifting and winnowing by which alone the truth can be found.”