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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