What鈥檚 your dream job? What do you want to be? Every five-year-old has a quick answer or two to this question. But once you are at university it becomes more pressing. Besides, what鈥檚 a dream job? The question becomes: how do you land a real job straight out of college and suddenly the answer may be more elusive.
听WELDY: 鈥淪o, I鈥檓 trying to figure out what I want to do after graduation.鈥�
听That鈥檚 Anna Weldy, a sophomore at the 人妻少妇专区 majoring in chemical engineering. She鈥檚 talking to an advisor at the University鈥檚 Gwen M. Greene Center for Career Education and Connections.
WELDY: 鈥淚 was originally thinking of going the MS/PhD route for engineering. Now I鈥檓 thinking I might want to go to law school.鈥�
听The Greene Center is key in the University鈥檚 efforts to ready its students for life after graduation. Its task is to connect students with Rochester鈥檚 strong alumni network and prospective employers.
TESTANI: 鈥�That鈥檚 the lifeblood of what we do and it really kind of drives the programs that we do and a lot of initiatives that we have within the office.鈥�
Assistant Dean Joe Testani is the center鈥檚 executive director. He says the role career centers play has changed鈥攁way from traditional counseling toward becoming facilitators of connections.
TESTANI: 鈥淏efore it was really built on the idea that the career centers have all of the information, are the gate keepers. And I think the reality is that because of the information that students can get access to online, it鈥檚 really about how they make better decisions with the information that they have access to.鈥�
听Of course, certain fields are more in demand than others. According to Testani, Data Science is one of the hottest.
TESTANI: 鈥淲hen I go on the road and I talk to alumni and employers they are interested in those graduates. They want to know what they can do or how they can get access to the talents of data scientists and data science students.鈥�
A stone鈥檚 throw away from the career center sits the Simon Business School. Here, 94 percent of its full-time 2017 graduates found employment within three months of finishing their degree. But trying to figure out what job to aim for can be tricky.
Morgan: 鈥淚t鈥檚 amazing how many new job types, job categories there are today that didn鈥檛 exist 10 years ago. So, I think it makes it challenging for not only career advisors but for students to try and find information about these new occupations, these new trends in jobs.鈥�
听Hannah Morgan is the assistant director for working professionals at the Career Management Center for the Simon Business School. Her advice to business seniors is two-pronged:
听Morgan: 鈥淔irst鈥攗nderstand the landscape, the lay of the land, the industry that they want to go into. There鈥檚 so many different areas which a student could get into, they need to become familiar with those options are.鈥�
听The second part? Well, have you done any internships lately? Don鈥檛 dither, says Morgan.
Morgan: 鈥淓ven if it鈥檚 not the most ideal internship, any internship with work experience is more valuable than none. So, I really encourage students to get out there, get an internship, create an internship with a family member or a friend if can鈥檛 get one secured, that will give you valuable experience on a job site to better understand what you like and what you don鈥檛 like.鈥�
[nat. sound violin music at Eastman]
Barely three miles away in downtown Rochester is the University鈥檚 Eastman School of Music鈥� a name that carries real prestige. The school is picky in its admissions, yet being able to work in a classical orchestra upon graduation is not a given. Nowadays, around 16,000 students in North America obtain music degrees each year鈥攎any of whom will be competing for the roughly 250 full-time orchestra jobs available. To answer the changing employment landscape, Eastman has created the Institute for Music Leadership. Its director, Jim Doser鈥攁n Eastman grad himself鈥攅xplains the Institute鈥檚 dual purpose.
DOSER: 鈥淥ne is to give students a career-based skill set that compliments the artistry that they learned here in the Eastman School of Music. The second is that we try to be a resource and a hub for information and resources for students and professional around the world.鈥�
So, where are the jobs in the music industry? Where are Eastman grads going nowadays?
DOSER: 鈥淲ell, I would say that the hottest field right now is writing music for video games. It鈥檚 really exploding, and at the same time it鈥檚 exploding, it鈥檚 creating new business models 鈥� very different from not too many years ago where composers always licensed their music and/or got royalties for what they wrote. Now, there鈥檚 a lot more one-off-types of engagements.鈥�
Still befuddled? Do you know what prospective employers are looking for鈥攖hat is besides a solid knowledge of your field? Here鈥檚 again Testani from the Career Center.
TESTANI: 鈥淓thics and professionalism, communication skills, both verbal and written, ability to work in teams and collaborate with others as well as intercultural fluency. These are all really critical things that employers really seek out.鈥�
Still not sure what you want to be when you are really, really grown up? Here鈥檚 Testani鈥檚 advice to all university freshmen:
TESTANI: 鈥淓xplore often and early. I think our curriculum is set up in a way that allows them to try on a lot of different majors and disciplines and so we want them to extend that idea to everything they do. Join different organizations, volunteer, shadow people, do internships.鈥�
For more info on how the University helps students find careers go to Rochester.edu/careercenter.
For the 人妻少妇专区鈥檚 Quadcast I鈥檓 Sandra Knispel.