News Magazine of the UW Department of Communication
By Katie Stapleton-Paff
While the nation braces for what is expected to be a deep and long recession, several members of UW's class of 2009 are remaining calm about their future and job prospects next spring.
They all agree that the timing is not ideal, but they're not losing any sleep. Instead, they're resigning themselves to a longer time spent job searching and hoping for the best, or weighing options like graduate school and the Peace Corps.
The UW Career Center's associate director of employer relations, Diane Martin, said that while they have slowed recruiting efforts, companies in the area are still recruiting, and looking for young, energetic graduates to fill entry-level jobs.
“I don't want to paint a false picture that it's all roses and sunshine because we are hurting as a country economically,” Martin said. “However, there are definitely still jobs out there. Students just need to be more persistent and self-motivated as they start their search. They also need to start earlier and not wait until they graduate to begin looking. A successful job search usually begins about six months before graduation and lasts throughout spring.”
Below are the stories of five UW seniors who are getting ready to leave the safety net of college and enter the “real world.”
Erin Sayers
A native of Los Angeles , Erin Sayers has majored in business, with a focus in marketing and entrepreneurship. Unlike most seniors, Sayers is fortunate enough to have a job lined up following graduation. For the past two summers, she interned for celebrity chef Devin Alexander, author of “The Biggest Loser Cookbook,” and has received an offer to take over as her personal assistant next July.
“I feel incredibly relieved to have a job to go to,” Sayers said. “I think if I didn't, my anxiety would be through the roof right about now.”
As a student at the UW's Foster School of Business, Sayers said she has friends who are majoring in finance or accounting who are in the process of reconsidering their entire career path and even taking on additional majors to stay in school while the recession takes its course.
“It is really bad right now for everyone who's doing finance,” Sayers said. “Some of my friends are having absolute meltdowns. Others are considering applying for the Peace Corps and Teach For America, which I'm sure they never would have done if the economy wasn't in such bad shape.”
Despite Sayers' relief at having a job waiting, she said that reading news reports about the economy makes her anxious for her peers and the entire class of 2009.
“I just feel like we as a class got the short end of the stick,” Sayers said. “Obviously, we have no control over the situation, having entered the UW when we did, but I really worry about my friends and what's going to happen to us all over the next few years. I really hope things look up sooner rather than later.”
Nick Tichy
A native of San Francisco , Nick Tichy is preparing to graduate in March with a double degree in journalism and political science. As a freshman, he came to UW aspiring to one day become a reporter. This has changed, he said, because of the economic realities of the newspaper industry.
“I came to UW full of journalistic idealism, kind of hoping to be the next Bob Woodward,” Tichy said. “But realistically speaking, I don't think I'll be able to enter the newspaper industry for a long time. It's damn near impossible for young graduates to get jobs nowadays – I mean, people currently working for newspapers are having trouble just holding onto theirs.”
Tichy admitted he does feel anxious about what he will do after graduation. He said he's planning to move back home with his parents. He's weighing going back to school in a few years to pursue a master's degree in history. However, in the mean time, he'll have to work, though he doesn't know where.
“Wherever I can get a job is where I'll go,” Tichy said. “Necessity kind of trumps everything else. My parents are patient, but not to the extent that they'll let me be an unemployed bum for too long. I'll apply anywhere I can.”
In the meantime, Tichy said he's trying to stay calm and avoid stressing out too much.
“If I think about it too much, I'll just go crazy,” he said. “It sucks, but you have to deal with the cards you're handed in life.”
Will Mari
Will Mari will graduate this spring with a degree in journalism and history. For the past two years he's worked for The Daily as a news reporter, columnist and opinion editor, and is currently interning for The Seattle Times .
While his qualifications generally distinguish him from the average soon-to-be graduate, Mari said he's still concerned about entering the workforce because of the poor shape of the newspaper industry.
“Obviously it's not a good time for journalism majors who are graduating and want to work for a newspaper,” Mari said. “I wish the Times would hire me, but they're on a hiring freeze and won't be in a position to be adding jobs for quite some time. It's definitely a stressful time to try and figure out what I'm going to do with my life.”
Mari said he's seriously considering entering graduate school next fall, and has already been accepted to Cambridge University in Great Britain . He's currently waiting to hear back from several schools in the United States before he decides if he will go. However, funding is essential, he said.
“If I receive enough financial aid, then yes, I'll go,” Mari said. “But if not, I'm not going to risk getting into debt. I'll just take my chances in the ‘real world' and hope I can find a job somewhere.”
Brandon Roeder
Seattle native Brandon Roeder will graduate this spring with a degree in biochemistry. Like Sayers, he has his future mapped out more clearly than most, as he has already been accepted to the program Teach For America . The program trains college graduates to become public school teachers in low-income communities. Roeder has been assigned to teach science at the secondary level in North Carolina next year.
Next summer, Roeder will begin training and will start teaching for the 2009-10 school year. During his two years in the program, he'll also simultaneously work toward his master's degree in teaching. He said he's feeling excited but also nervous about moving across the country and leaving his family and friends behind.
“It's definitely a gamble,” Roeder said. “But I'm definitely relieved that in such bad economic times that we're in right now that I have a definite place to go. If I hadn't applied for Teach For America, I'd probably be in panic mode right about now.”
Roeder also works for the organization and has helped recruit on campus this past year. He said there has been a surge in applications for the program, which he said is probably a result of the recession.
“I think with the economy being in such bad shape, a lot of students consider options like Teach For America and the Peace Corps that they probably wouldn't have otherwise. If you're accepted, it provides great security for at least two years. That's probably enough time for most of us to wait while we ride out the recession.”
Nicola Karp
A fifth-year senior, Seattle native Nicola Karp is due to graduate in June with a degree in international studies, concentrating in Middle Eastern studies. For the past three years, she has studied Arabic and has recently begun studying Urdu. Last year, she studied abroad in Egypt at the American University in Cairo . Upon graduation, Karp plans to join the Peace Corps, where she will be required to serve for two years. After that, she said she plans to go to graduate school. Karp said she feels confident about her future, particularly because of the field she has chosen to pursue.
“I think there will be an increased amount of funding for careers related to the Middle East , especially considering the way foreign policy has played out during the past several years,” she said. “I'm pretty confident that in the long run, my degree along with my experience in the Peace Corps will really help me start my career.”
Regarding her peers, Karp said she feels optimistic about the long-term fate of the class of 2009.
“I think they'll be able to step up to the plate and will be all right in the end,” she said. “I think people underestimate us a lot. We're smarter than we seem.”
