Responding to Rachel Baron’s column from last week entitled “Career Planning’s misguided prioritization of lucrative fields:”
I felt that the article relied heavily on anecdotes and I wanted to share a counter-anecdote. Personally, I am hoping to pursue comparatively low-paying jobs in public service. I have met with my Career-Planning advisor periodically and they have never in any way pressured me to pursue corporate positions. The only time they pushed me in any direction was when I asked if I should consider applying to some corporate jobs alongside the public sector positions I was actually passionate about. They immediately reminded me that I was not interested in corporate jobs and encouraged me to pursue my passions. I completely acknowledge that this anecdote does not disprove the claim that Career Planning prioritized lucrative fields, but I do believe that it demonstrates that this subject requires further inquiry. I would love to see an investigative piece that looks closer at the services the Career Planning Center provides; I would propose that they are more balanced than they immediately appear.
Jacob Russell is a member of the Class of 2017.