The Bowdoin Bubble does not keep its inhabitants immune to the nation's faltering economy. Just as Americans across the country are struggling to find and keep jobs, Bowdoin students are having a difficult time breaking into the real world.
But Sherry Mason, who advises students on graduate school at the Careeer Planning Center (CPC), said that Bowdoin seniors intimidated by the job market have not flocked to graduate school, as conventional wisdom might predict. She said that the economy could, however, influence underclassmen who previously had not been thinking about graduate school.
"What we might find is if things stay lousy, this year's juniors will seek out the certainty of grad school," she said.
CPC director Tim Diehl said that he advises students to broaden their job search across different career paths during these difficult economic times.
"Someone looking at historically a finance internship should consider consulting as well, or another area that utilizes the same core skills that they're passionate about," he said.
Students have utilized the CPC and its resources more than they did last year, according to Diehl.
"We've seen an increase in student interaction with our office across the board," Diehl said. "This year, we made an effort to do more outreach."
"We've increased the number of points of contact we've had with students by 50 percent over the past year," Diehl added. "And one-on-one advising career appointments have increased 15 percent over the fall of 2007."
Teach For America (TFA) Campus Campaign Coordinator Jeremy Kraushar '09 said that TFA has seen an increase in applications across the nation, though he was hesitant to attribute the increase to applicants who, if not for difficulty finding other jobs, would not have applied. Final figures are not yet available, as the last deadline (Feb. 13) has not yet passed.
"This increase may have had to do with the economy, but for the most part, applicants have been genuinely interested in teaching and making a difference regardless of the financial/market problems," Krausher wrote in an e-mail to the Orient.
Teach For America places college graduates and professionals at two-year teaching jobs in schools in low-income areas across the U.S.
Senior Andrew Howard, who has been searching for a job in finance since the beginning of the fall semester, said that he is "not particularly worried" and is continuing to work hard to find post-graduation employment.
"I am just trying to increase my network and continue fishing because I know that people are, and will continue to be, hiring," he said. "The economy and business are not going to grind to a complete stop."
-Toph Tucker contributed to this report.