OCS Holds First-Year Career Panel

With decisions about classes and concentrations still up in the air for many first-year students, likely few have career plans foremost in their minds. But last night the Office of Career Services (OCS) aimed to change that, with a career fair targeted specifically at Harvard's newest undergraduates.

The fourth annual Career Discovery Panel, held in the Science Center and Memorial Hall, used speeches and panel discussions to show first-year students career options which they might not have considered otherwise.

OCS Director William Wright-Swadel set the tone in his keynote address.

"Break the mold," he said to a half-full Science Center D auditorium. "You'll be fine."

The event, co-sponsored by OCS and the Undergraduate Relations Committee (URC) of the Harvard Alumni Association, featured eight panels composed of Harvard alumni working in various fields.

Wright-Swadel spoke highly of the panelists, saying each had "a set of abilities, a set of values, a set of aspirations that are not limited by other people's dreams."

"They are now pursuing paths that are not a direct line application of what decisions they made as undergrads," he said.

Wright-Swadel said current undergraduates might begin to see their career options become limited as they near graduation.

"By the time you get to senior year," Wright-Swadel said, "you see four career paths: investment banking, consulting, medicine, and law," he said.

And, he said, exploring unfamiliar career paths can be a daunting task.

"My middle name is not Pollyanna. I don't believe this is easy," he said.

But by using the resources available, he said, undergraduates "can see the possibilities you could not have imagined."

Some panels covered traditional professions like medicine, law, and business. Other panels, however, reflected Wright-Swadel's advice and discussed less conventional options like entertainment, public service, publishing, and the computer industry.

Publishing panel participant Ellen C. Reeves '83, editor of The New Press, encouraged students to use the opportunities the Harvard network affords.

"If nothing else...you have each other and networks of alums and a privilege that others don't have," Reeves said.

"Nepotism works," she said. "Use it."

Across the hall in Memorial Hall, attorneys from the firm Dewey Ballantine talked about their experiences as interns, clerks, and trial lawyers.

"There's a real variety of opportunities in private practice," said Seth C. Farber '86, who told students that his clients range "from CEOs to people accused of murder."

Myles V. Lynk '70, a partner with the firm, spoke about different sectors of the profession.

"Even within the practice of law there is a variety of different ways you can practice it," he said.

The event was geared towards first-year students "to encourage freshmen to use the resources at OCS," said Ann S. Robinson '00, co-chair of the URC.

"It's a general introduction to careers... it's not meant to have the specificity that upperclassmen need," Robinson said.

John D. D' Amore '02 said he came "to see what opportunities are available for the summer and the future after Harvard."

D'Amore, a biochemistry concentrator with an eye towards medical school, said he liked the format of the event and the "laid-back environment."

"It's less intrusive than going to OCS and making an interview with somebody," he said.