With less than three weeks until graduation, most of the visitors to the Career Center are looking for Baccalaureate tickets, not jobs.
Things are winding down as the academic year draws to a close, and the center’s only major upcoming event is a symposium Friday for science and engineering Ph.D. candidates. An oversized wall calendar in the Page Building office does not even extend past April 24.
“We stay busy pretty much through the majority of the school year, when students are here,” said Kara Lombardi, associate director of counseling and programs. She noted that most students are spending their time studying, not looking for career advice, in the lead-up to exams.
Tuesday afternoon, the resource room closed its doors an hour ahead of schedule after only a few people came to drop-in advising hours, which end after today’s 2 to 5 p.m. session. From then on, advice will be available by appointment only.
“They’re asking about getting help with their cover letters, résumés, internships,” said Terryl Mills, assistant director and career advisor for government, law, politics and nonprofit. “They may have job negotiation questions. They may have choices to make about jobs.”
Mills described a myriad of reasons both seniors and underclassmen seek out help this time of year. “It could be just about anything,” she said.
Precise data on how many seniors are still hunting for jobs are hard to find. To collect numbers, the Career Center must rely on an exit survey seniors are strongly encouraged—but not required—to hand in before picking up their tickets for the graduation weekend Baccalaureate Service in the Duke Chapel.
“We get a pretty good response rate,” Lombardi said of the survey. “That information is very helpful to us.”
For now, all she could say with certainty is that while many seniors have already made their plans for next year, there are also plenty who have not.
“Every student’s job search is different,” Lombardi said.
Even now, career advisors are still hearing about and informing students of positions opening up this summer.
In some fields, Lombardi explained, recruiting takes place eight months in advance. Many industries, however, do not advertise job opportunities until much later, a practice she called “just-in-time hiring.”
Lombardi also reported a “growing trend” of students who choose to do one- or two-year programs—Teach for America or lab research, for example—before deciding on graduate school or more long-term career plans. Some seniors have also been putting off the job search until after classes end, when they hope they will have more time to devote to the process.
Those seniors looking for work after graduation will still have access to the center’s resources.
“We will see students throughout the summer if they need assistance or help,” Lombardi said, emphasizing that the Career Center will continue to aid alumni until they retire.
Lombardi noted that the center is “typically not very crowded” over the summer, and appointments with advisors are easy to get. Phone appointments are also available for students who are no longer in Durham.
During this busy time of year, however, visitors to the center are often just finalizing plans or paperwork.
“I was dropping off a final reflection essay for the HCIP [Health Careers Internship Program],” said sophomore Sarah Stephens, who added that she had had little other contact with the Career Center.
Seniors who have rarely visited the center over their four years at the University do not seem to be starting now.
“I don’t know much about the Career Center,” said Laura de Marchena, a senior who will be attending graduate school next year. “I went by once to have them help me with my résumé.”
Although there are no hordes of panicked seniors pounding on the center’s door, Lombardi did have a few words of advice for those who are still worried.
“I think that it’s important for them to work with a career counselor... [and] to leverage all their resources, and then to network,” she said.
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