Stop and Think

'Tis the season to be worried. By tomorrow, the Class of 1999 will have to decide whether they want to participate in the Office of Career Services spring recruiting program, a process that funnels students almost exclusively into jobs in banking, consulting or software development. Faced with the decision of whether or not to drop off a resume and several dozen cover letters, students are beginning to panic.

The irony is that the Class of 1999 really doesn't have anything to worry about. According to a study released this past Sunday, students graduating this coming June will face a stellar job market in nearly every industry. But this information doesn't assuage the fears of seniors, many of whom, without any prior interest in the fields advertised, will drop off a resume on Thursday as a back-up plan that may end up becoming their only plan.

Recruiting is tempting because recruiting is easy. Unlike searching for a job in just about any field besides banking, consulting or software, recruiting requires the absolute minimum of legwork. Recruiting offers students access to jobs that will help them cut back on their debts. For those who hope to go into business for themselves, recruiting can be a great opportunity to start their careers in established companies before venturing off on their own. But for those who aren't quite sure what they want to do, recruiting doesn't just defer a dream--it defers the opportunity to dream. Instead of using this time to face the very frightening prospect of deciding what they hope to do next year, seniors instead substitute the very heartening prospect of deciding where they hope to work, conflating the idea of a life with the idea of a career, and the idea of security with the idea of success.

Students may be attracted to recruiting by one of two things, money or prestige. Those who see money as the badge of success have long been criticized in these pages. And everyone can be sensitive to those who pursue these jobs to alleviate debt. But those who see prestige as the badge of success in their search for the Harvard of jobs--the perfect company name to put on their resume above their college degree, for example--are equally misguided. When we graduated from high school, our friends and relatives pledged to keep our autographs for that bright day when we are all elected president of the universe. Facing another graduation, many still feel that pressure to succeed, or have internalized it. But what students rarely learn is that success is not related to prestige or money. Now may be a good time to pause on the ladder of "success," to stop and think about our options, no matter what those options may be, instead of just avoiding the choice by following the clearest path onward and upward.

What should the Class of 1999 be looking for? The best advice comes from an unlikely source. Speaking at a commencement ceremony four years ago at Boston University's School of the Arts, Jason Alexander, the actor who played the character George on Seinfeld, told the graduates: "Look beyond the veneer of what you consider success. I would like you to try to focus, now and for the rest of your lives, not on glory but greatness."