In the past few weeks, seniors have been seen around campus dressed in their best suits and business attire, a far cry from the usual Bowdoin uniform of T-shirts and sweatpants; the recruiting season has begun for many seniors interested in business and financial careers.
However, the well-dressed seniors represent only a fraction of the graduating class, as the interview season for those interested in the humanities or arts is much later in the year.
Some feel that the arts and humanities are deprioritized by the Career Planning Center (CPC), and several students have voiced frustrations.
The recent focus on job opportunities and interviews for financial and consulting fields has augmented the feeling that the CPC has neglected those pursuing careers such as communications.
Jess Weaver '10 said she has noticed an imbalance in the focus of the CPC, even though she personally has had a good experience with them.
"The CPC, from what I can tell, gears most of its big programming to finance, marketing, and business with all of its consortiums. For people interested in the arts, we have to be a little bit more independent and think outside the box a little bit more, so I think that's stressful," said Weaver.
Director of the Career Planning Center Timothy Diehl said students typically become nervous this time of year because they see their fellow students beginning the hiring process.
He said he wants to reassure students that most companies outside of the financial and consulting world do not begin their hiring until much closer to the start date.
Diehl said this year is similar to past years in the level of interest in financial paths displayed by students and that students' interests are as varied as their majors. He has only noticed a slight increase in government related fields.
Before the hiring process starts, Diehl said he stresses that students should begin networking with alumni and friends involved in their field of interest using tools on the CPC website, like the Bowdoin Career Advisory Network (BCAN) or LinkedIn.
"Alumni represent the vast array of industries our current students are interested in working in. They do not vary from the level of student interest. The process of finding them is what the challenge is for students," said Diehl.
Weaver said she was lucky that one of the CPC career advisors had multiple contacts in the path she was pursuing, documentary film making, but that others are not so lucky. Many of her friends, she said, have become frustrated because they cannot find any such contacts in their particular paths, even with the use of the CPC's programs.
Jenna Breiter '10 is one of those frustrated with the limited help she said is available in her pursuit of a job in the publishing field.
"I think the CPC does do a very good job in the areas it has developed. They were interested in helping, and they did try, but they don't really have a build up of sources and connections," said Breiter.
Breiter feels the CPC is more helpful for those interested in finance because it makes more resources available to them.
She says this disparity exists because there is greater demand by the students at Bowdoin for those types of careers.
Before beginning to network, students have to overcome the huge hurdle of deciding what profession to pursue.
Many students rely on the help and advice of the CPC to make this decision, but some are frustrated by those discussions.
"What frustrates me about the CPC is the tendency to send you to certain programs that may or may not really help you, instead of just sitting down and having a conversation about it," said Weaver. "They send you toward all of these programs like personality tests or LinkedIn or Optimal Resume. They are useful, but conversations are really important in terms of finding out what you really want to do because that's something personality tests can't really tell you."
Breiter said that after a frustrating and unsuccessful meeting with the CPC last year, she decided to continue her summer job search on her own. Weaver said her friends had been in similar situations.
"It is sort of hard to separate what's frustrating about the CPC and what's frustrating about the job market because those concerns are definitely related and something to keep in mind," said Weaver.