So What's Next?

For this post, I thought it would be important to talk about the thing that is on every senior's mind, what is next? How do I find a job and can OU help me after I have graduated?

To find those answers I talked to Dean Pidcock, a graduate assistant with Career Services and Jim Harris, Assistant Director of Alumni Marketing and Communications.

When I talked to Pidcock, the first thing he said was that if you are a senior and just starting to look for a job, it will take about three to six months to find a job. He also mentioned that most recruiters come in the fall and since OU is on a quarter system and most schools have been out, which might make it harder.

He was optimistic about job searches, however, even though he said the job market in general right now is tight. If a person is flexible, it not be difficult for them to find a job, but as you start narrowing your search down, it gets harder. For example, he said an education major might find it hard to find a job in Ohio because there are many qualified people looking for teaching jobs. If they were willing to relocate to the West, however, that are in need of teachers and will even give signing bonuses for taking a position. If you are looking at a specific geographical location, be flexible in the kinds of positions, even if it is a job you didn't go to school for.

Pidcock also said to be looking for a job in a variety of ways. Only 4% of the people who are looking for jobs on Monster.com find jobs via that site.

Be realistic about your starting salary, Pidcock said. Most starting jobs are less than $40,000 to $60,000. Looking at the different benefits packages because though a job might pay more, you might not get as much in terms of insurance or retirement savings plans. That bit could be worth a lot more than a few thousand more dollars a year.

"I would say that (the small starting salary) is a shock to undergrads," he said.

He also said to be willing to work at a job that is not as high up in the company as you want.

His last bit of advice was to make sure that if you start investing for retirement right away, even if your company does not give you a retirement plan. For more from Career Services, check out thier website, they have lots of tips and other resources.

Another place to look for guidance is a place that many students look right past, the Konneker Alumni Center. Harris said the biggest thing the Alumni Center had to offer was several opportunities to network with fellow alumni.

The first way he said a graduating senior could connect with alumni and get valuable information about jobs and the places they live is call the gateway. It is a networking site similar to Facebook where you cal look up over 11,000 alumni, searching by location, degree or current place of employment. Harris instructed anyone who is interested in this to go to the alumni website and go to the link that says networking. Once there, click on the gateway and enter your e-mail address and your ten digit PID number. Then you can make a profie and start networking with fellow bobcats.

The other thing he said to do was get involved in Alumni chapters and societies. Alumni Chapters are geographically based and to get involved find your location and e-mail the chapter president. He said this was a great way to find fellow bobcats close to where you live, and they are in most of the major cities in the U.S.. Societies are a affinity based organizations you can join, such as if you were in the Marching 110 or Singing Men of Ohio. They are helpful too, but Harris emphasized the chapters because they are more likely to be able to help you with the important things you want to know, such as where a good place to live is and if anyone is hiring at the company you want to work for. There are many opportunities to get assistance as a graduating senior, he said so don't heslitate to stop in and make sure the center has your current contact information so you can stay connected to OU.

Well I hope this helped you as much as talking to these guys helped put my mind at ease.

The Transition

So I don't know about you, but graduating is scary business. Even if I knew exactly what I was doing after college, it would be a major transition. I figured you would feel the same way, so I decided to discuss with our good friends Lynn Walsh, Adam Fardy, Beth Beach, Chris Yonker and Sadie Roth to give us their fears and tips for overcoming them.





Lynn Walsh is going to get a job when she graduates, but hasn't found one yet. She said, and I can attest, that it is hard to live life, take classes AND find a job your senior year of college. Though she is nervous, she is confident in her education.





"The whole suspense of not knowing is hard but I would rather enjoy my last few weeks here," Walsh said.





This is all part of the emotions that have been hitting her as she plans to leave. She feels excited to see what is in store for her next, but she is sad to leave OU and all her friends and memories. OU has been a comfort zone for so long.





There are a few things she is doing to ease the transition along. She is setting up meetings with people, such as work-out dates with people she is leaving behind and those that are also moving on. Included in those lists are getting buddy or sorority families together one last time. She is also making sure to let professors who have had a great impact on her life know they are appreciated.





When Adam Fardy graduates next week, he knows exactly what he is doing for the next few years. He will be going home and working at law firm near his family's home in Cincinnati then going to law school. He is looking forward to enjoying the Cincinnati lifestyle and spending time with his family taking it easy for a while before jumping back into academia. Even so, he knows he will miss Athens.





"I'm ready to leave the school aspect, but this has been my home," Fardy said.





He is confident in his transition and his plans for the next few years, trusting that a year with his family will be great and doesn't believe the rumors that once you leave school you don't come back.





Beth Beach will be staying in Athens next year, as a staff member for Campus Crusade for Christ, a christian movement on campus. Though she is excited about her new role, she knows there will be an adjustment. Being on campus and not taking classes will be weird she said. Beach is also slightly worried about the change in role between her and younger friends and her and the staff members she will be working with. The role reversal will be interesting to come over, seeing the people she looked up to as equal partners in the movement now and learning how to navigate those changing relationships, learning how to make small talk and really build relationships with the other members of the staff. Beach will not have to do it alone, however, and is glad about that. A few of her friends will be joining her on staff.





For Chris Yonker, the symbolism of graduation is what is getting him most.





"I still don't see myself as responsible for anything," he said.





He also said that the assurances from family and friends is a deterent because it seems the same for anyone and not just him. Yonker is not sure what he is going to do after college, mentioning that he is scrambling for a job. He said he is sure his parents would love to have him back, but seeing as how he hasn't lived in his family's house since freshman year winter break, it would be quite an adjustment.





Sadie Roth agrees with Walsh that graduating is a sea of emotions- one minute she is ready to leave and the next she is sad and weirded out by the change. She said that she already feels old in Athens because she has been going to OU, first as an undergrad and then as a master's student.





To start making the adjustment, she has been attending sporting events, plans on taking one mroe good walk on East Green and has been cleaning out her apartment with her roomate. Roth has also started investingating the Akron area, her new neighborhood. She has been investingating apartments she might be interesting and looking into finding things she knows she will need to make the transition, such as a gym and seeing what the city has to offer. She decided to do this because she knows what she will miss most is the social interaction and knows she is not a good transitioner.



If these stories did not calm some of your axieties about the transition from college to wherever you end up, here are two websites that might give you some pointers and more reasurance: The Quarterlife Crisis-A One-Stop Info-Shop for Recent Grads and Beyond and Quarterlife Crisis: Official Site of the Quarterlife Crisis Books, both revolving around the book, Quarterlife Crisis, talking about the official transition to adulthood, accoring to the one-stop-shop site. That site (the first link) has links to different tips for the different areas of your life, and a message forum so you can discuss these issues with others. The second site has a link to statistics the authors of the books have gathered about the twenty-somethings of today. Hopefully those will help you put things in perspective as you pack up to leave Athens.

OU Favorite Places

So here are the pictures that you have been waiting for of some of the seniors' favorite places on campus. Now, because of the lack of response to the survey, these are simply the top picks of students I interviewed and myself, but I feel they could be representative of many seniors.

One of Adam Fardy's favorite places was College Green where he played games with his fellow residents from True House.

Scripps is one of my favorite buildings and is also a favorite of Lynn Walsh.

A look at what used to be the Front Room, a hot spot for Adam Fardy.

Chris Yonker used to spend a lot of time in this area, so did I. Let me tell you, the Post's offices in the new Baker Center are a million times better, as is most of new Baker from the old one.

East Green Drive is a favorite of Sadie Roth, a graduating Master's student studying Industrial Engineering who has spent six years in Athens and whom you will hear more from in a future post.

South Green in front of True House, where many South Greeners hang out and play games.

True House, the first place Adam Fardy or I ever lived in Athens.

This area right in back of South Green was always one of my favorites. I still frequented this area even after moving off South Green.

One of Beth Beach's top places in all of Athens, Emeriti Park. I love it too.

This Bobcat simply deserved a picture, perhaps I will take another picture there with cap and gown?

Sadie Roth will miss going to Peden Stadium.