Notes From the Desk

Author: Tom McCann

The article in The Campus last week about the Career Services (CSO) Spring Job Fling blew my mind. In particular I refer to the comments made by Susan Walker, the Associate Director for Internships. Speaking of the job search process for current seniors, she said, "What's important now is to begin the process, to know how to do it when you're ready to do it, so after your year of skiing in Vail is over, you know how to research, how to write a resume and cover letter and how to network." After your year of skiing in Vail is over? Unbelievable.

This comment only goes to illustrate just how out of touch the Career Services Office is with the student body. If this is how we, the students, are perceived by the people who are charged with the responsibility of helping us find what we want to do with our lives, we had better get familiar with monster.com. An enormous number of seniors are trying desperately to find a source of post-graduation employment, many of whom need to establish an income source to pay off debts, fund graduate school or, in my case, simply stay in the country. As an international student, and there are many of us, the next couple of months represent a make-or-break period in which we will find out whether or not we can stay in the United States for the foreseeable future. The suggestion that most Middlebury students have the luxury of being able to swan off to Vail for a year before thinking about employment would be insulting enough were it to come from a fellow student, but to learn that it came from a member of CSO is nothing short of disgraceful. It trivializes our efforts and only serves to reinforce the "spoiled" and "preppy middle-class" reputation with which Middlebury students are regularly labeled.

Perhaps this should not come as a complete shock, however. We are talking about the same Career Services Office that produced a handout for the "Job Fling" and told me, "I don't know if these are entry-level jobs, they should be, I just pulled them off the Web today." And the same office that, when I told a member of the organization (who I prefer to leave nameless for the sake of her reputation) I was going to complete a J-Term internship with General Electric, responded, "Right… what do they do?" While a better question might have been "What don't they do?," as the third largest company in the world, I was particularly ashamed since my father happened to be present at the time. "Yes, Dad, this is the office that will help me find a career" seemed somewhat hollow. No one will accuse CSO of being perfect, but it has recently illustrated just how imperfect it truly is. I have much more to say, but unfortunately I need to wrap up, I still haven't booked my ticket to Vail yet.

- Tom McCann, Sports Editor