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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 22, 1987)
CG l- « _C 3T? n. - re > T3 - 5 2 &■£ r cS'^5'0- D 3°- Grt G3-S>--Q.aJr-:-5'? < £ ^ ii-So^s S s 5 < 5^ 2^ ' *■"— ^gi i Sf c ^ S W 4; =3 12 -J u 3u2S- -c g w o -c £; o •5 c ^ '5 c S § - ^P rt 2 1 • ^ ^ £ S3 be - i ^ | -5 Pr'SoJE^^d ;^-s 1-2 v-h to do with your life? administration in the Placement Center at A&M. says the most important thing for a graduate to consider is his first job “A graduate's first job will have a very great impact on his career.” he says. “Individuals shouldn t look at starting salanes as important. An individual should find a job where he can be happy and work for advancement. “Starting salanes are not the most important consideration for a graduate. Being happy and competent is “Industries who are recruiting want to hire candidates who will be successful. That way they look good and so do you And if you look good, your salary will take care of itself' But sometimes it's hard to find the best job when the job market is always changing, according to a survey published in the Bryan-College Station Eagle The survey, first published by the College Placement Council in Bethlehem. Pa. says job offers to engineers declined in 1987 Job offers to petroleum engineers fell 82 percent (can you say oil crisis?), job ofters to electrical and mechanical engineers fell 30 percent and computer science majors found their number of job offers falling 28 percent So what’s “hot” m the job market? The Bethlehem survey found that both salary levels and job offers to graduates rose in — hold your breath — liberal arts. Yes, that’s right, liberal arts. While some people may think liberal arts is for people who don’t “do” math or science, prospective employers seem to think liberal arts grads have something to offer to the economy. Job offers for humanities grads rose 29 percent, and starting salaries rose 5 percent to $20,256 a year. And if you have put in your hours and received a masters degree, the prospects look even brighter. Starting salaries for those with masters degrees rose 16 percent to $22,644. and the number of job offers nearly doubled from the year before. Obviously, trends are fickle. Some might swear the economy is going to be completely technnoiogized by the year 2000, and if you aren’t some kind of scientist you won’t make a dime. Others may say a human element will become more important, and those who can deal with people will be in the right place. Gudelman says it’s hard to find trends, and the ones he does see disagree with the findings of the Bethlehem survey. “A&M has the largest engineering college in Texas,” he says, “and so we generally have a large number of engineering graduates placed in jobs. But many of our students are going into industry, like engineering and computing. “One slight trend we have noticed is the increasing number of students going into state and federal jobs. The FBI, CIA. National Security Agency and the IRS have all had good (interviewing) schedules here and they are finding an increasing number of students interested in these government jobs as opposed to corporate opportunities. ” One concern many students have is finding a job in the first place Texas hasn’t exactly seen economic prosperity lately and students who want to stay in the state may have worries about job availability. Gudelman says factors indicate Texas is pulling out of its slump, “Recruiting activity is up, and the number of recruiters coming back to A&M is increasing, ” he says. “Also, a growing number of oil and gas companies are coming back with jobs for graduates. “At our recent Engineering Career Fair, the number of companies was up 30 percent. It seems the Texas economy is on the rebound. ” So what do you do with all this information? Do you go with the flow and try to get a job where everybody else has one? Should you be a scientist, or should you be an anthropologist? Can you make a living in the world, even if you are a sociologist and not an aerospace engineer 9 The answer is yes. you can. Gudelman says students shouldn’t concentrate on something they think they can make money at, but to develop their natural abilities, wherever they may be “The bottom line is that you have to go on being yourself,” he says. “Take the education A&M gives 'ou, no matter in what field, id use it to the best of your abilky for the rest ot your life. If you can do that, you will be a success. It just takes putting what you know to good use. Gudelman says there is one key ingredient to being successful “You can have ability, capability and mobility, but it doesn’t mean a thing without motivation.” he says. “If you re not motivated, all the talent in the world won’t make you a success. ” Gudelman says part of being a success is preparation while you are in college “Prospective employers look at three things: grades, campus activities and expenence, ” he says. “In some fields where scientific knowledge is important, there is more of an emphasis on grades The same goes for accounting. But you can make up for a deficiency in one area by increased activity in another. ” So now you know. You can be anything you want. How do you go about getting there? Never fear, the Career Planning "You can have ability, capability and mobility, but it doesn't mean a thing without motivation. If you're not motivated, all the talent in the world won't make you a success." — John R. Gudelman, Jr., associate director for administration, Texas A&M Placement Center