Preparing Students for Professions with Few Jobs
College teachers are finding new ways to help students find jobs in occupations where there are few openings.
Some help their students reach out to people who can help them find jobs. This person-to-person method is known as “networking.”
They are also offering classes that can help students learn skills outside their chosen professions. It will help them find jobs if jobs are not available in their first choices for work.
Paula Vogel teaches theater students and she received a Pulitzer Prize for excellence in writing.
Vogel supports her students by helping them connect to a group of people who can help them reach their dreams.
That includes literary agents and people working in theater productions.
Lorraine Branham heads the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University. It prepares students to work in the news media.
Branham said the Newhouse school is offering more classes on how students can present news through the Internet. Students are also learning how to produce videos.
It is a difficult job market, but Branham noted, “Our students are finding jobs after graduation.”
For years, there have been jokes about English majors graduating from college with great knowledge of Shakespeare’s plays, but no job offers.
Michael Kuczynski heads the English department at Tulane University in New Orleans. He said the school’s English majors are finding work, although not always directly connected to their studies.
He said businesses are employing English majors because of their ability to communicate clearly. So are public relations companies and non-profit groups.
