Carolina Alumni Review - November/December 2009

Aspirations on hold

New grads searching for jobs can continue to meet with University career counselors for up to six months after graduation. The GAA’s Alumni Career Services also focuses on that life stage, along with career counselors in specific programs, including business and journalism. Counselors say it can be a challenge to keep unemployed graduates positive and motivated.

“It’s always hard to be rejected,” said Leigh Babaian, associate director for career development at the Kenan-Flagler Business School. “I’m using it as a counseling tool: ‘You can’t blame this on yourself. It’s more competitive this year. Take it in stride. It’s going to make you a better person.’ ”

Stiles said he meets weekly with a handful of job-searching graduates, acting as much as a life coach as a career counselor.

“The folks that were most discouraged were the ones that had really worked hard during their senior years,” Stiles said. “The longer you go at something, it does kind of beat you down. … I do work more as a coach to kind of pump them up.”

“It’s a very odd climate knowing so

many people who are unemployed,” James Stenstrom said. “I’ve seen a bunch of my friends’ career aspirations put on hold or changed because of the economic situation.”

Linda Conklin, who directs the GAA’s service, said the networking that’s worked so well in recent years must be backed up with personal contact in this environment. The recent graduates she’s seen succeed in the market are ones who have found ways to present themselves in person to the people involved in hiring. “You have to build credibility and trust and stand out from the crowd,” she said.

Even for those who got jobs, the last semesters were an ordeal.

Rachel Goldhaber ’09, who graduated in business administration, now works as an associate financial analyst for Fannie Mae in Washington, D.C. — but only after she spent a lot of time wondering whether she’d end up in finance.

“I’d say one of the hardest things was just putting out so many applications and not hearing back, and getting rejected from a lot of places,” she said. “The hardest thing was staying motivated after putting in four

hard years of work.”

Stiles said the graduates he’s seen range from the highly motivated to some who just don’t seem to feel pressure.

“I do think people see enough negative news that they have a tendency to avoid a difficult job market until the last minute,” Stiles said. “I think that’s just a darn shame, but there’s a little bit of human nature.”

Jessica Tou ’09 has had a hard time finding anything fun about her unemployment. She has been doggedly searching for a job since January and is living at home and working in part-time internships. She would like to have a career in foreign relations or international diplomacy.

“I guess you could say I’d like to be where I want to be,” said Tou, who graduated with a degree in business administration and a Chinese minor. Parts of her job search have been “frustrating and demoralizing.” She received a full-time job offer in the fall, but she’s still pursing other long-term career opportunities.