Economy has college students rethinking career paths
Columbia students sit together at their co-op, where they share the cost of living and food to save money. (RJ Mickelson/amNY)
By Jed Kim
Special to amNewYork
Mollie Schwartz has been having more fun than usual these days. She blames it on the bad economy.
“It’s great for me, because whether the economy is up or down, I don’t have any money anyway,” Schwartz said. “So I’m only seeing the upside of this.”
The upside for Schwartz, 21, a senior at Columbia University, is that mealtimes at the co-op where she lives have become great social events. More students are staying in to eat, because they can’t afford to go out as much anymore.
“We can’t fit everyone around the table, which has never happened before, which is really exciting,” Schwartz said. “I think that the co-op has grown more cohesive this semester.”
But for most college students — like everyone else — the bad economy is making them rethink their futures and worry about how things largely out their control will impact their lives. So they’re cutting back on spending, and making tough decisions about their career paths.
Patricia Imbimbo, director of the Starr Career Development Center at Baruch College, said that it’s too early to quantify just how many students are switching majors because of the crisis. However, she said that her office has seen a great increase in students scheduling appointments with career advisers.
“Last year we had a two-week waiting list,” Imbimbo said. “We're up to three weeks right now.”
At Schwartz’s co-op on a recent Monday, the evening meal was tacos, rice seasoned with cilantro, corn, beans and brownies. Inside the tacos was a vegetarian meat substitute. The choice wasn’t because the students are vegetarians. The co-op is for Jewish students, and for them, fake meat is more affordable than the kosher meat they would normally buy.
“We have to be more careful about buying more expensive food that we would like but that can’t necessarily feed 30 people,” Schwartz said.
Other students have also been seeing the effects of the economy. The Columbia Economics Society is a student-run organization that often acts as a liaison between undergraduate students and financial firms that hire students straight out of college.
Sue Yang, 19, a sophomore and the co-vice president of the club, said many students have shifted their interest from investment banking toward consulting.
“It has definitely pushed students to be more open with their career choices,” Yang said.
Yang said that more students have joined the society as a result of the troubled economy. Even though the society has grown and the members have become more supportive of each other, Yang said that the economy weighs on the students’ minds.
“It makes our time here seem all the more fleeting,” said Yang. “Freshmen even are more concerned about what’s going to happen to them after college.”
Trudy Steinfeld, executive director at the NYU Wasserman Center for Career Development, said that many students are looking at the economic crisis as an opportunity to rethink their career choices. Steinfeld said that her office encourages students to be creative with their career path.
“We really try to get students to realize they’re probably going to have three careers and seven to eight jobs, so they need to be flexible,” said Steinfeld. “Career development is a life-long process, so it’s OK for students to take a step back and reassess what they want to do.”
However, many students feel that the weak economy means they should be less adventurous with their time in college.
Galina Arnaut, 19, is majoring in art history at NYU. She said that she has been having serious discussions with her mother about her choice of study.
“We were talking about my major, and she said that maybe because of the economy, art history is not very practical,” Arnaut said. “The last thing people want when they don’t have any money is art.’
Arnaut said she is now thinking of switching to a double major in business and journalism.
“I’m going to have a ton of debt when I graduate, and me not having work when I graduate is just not an option.”
(With Amanda Magnus)
Comments (3)
The Bayit is the greatest!!! Woot woot!
despite all the stats, I still see thousands of high paying jobs posted on job sites.
www.linkedin.com (professional networking)
www.indeed.com (aggregated listings)
www.realmatch.com (matches jobs based on your skills)
Good look to those looking for work!
Shout out to Carly, Meirav and Obama!