After spring term, outgoing University students will be leaving Eugene and entering the working world after graduation.
Most students who are searching for a job after graduation either focus on a desired position or a desired company, said Clarice Wilsey, associate director of career development at the Career Center.
Wilsey said she sees many students with questions about where and how to find work that is right for them.
The University’s Career Center offers numerous opportunities for students to find the career that is right for them. On May 14 it will hold its Spring Career Fair, which will attract around 80 companies to the University.
“If students are feeling anxiety or stress about talking to recruiters, this is good practice because the recruiters are there because they want to talk to the students,” said Wilsey.
Approximately one-third of the companies at the career fair, which the center’s staff calls the “last-chance career fair” for students who haven’t found a job yet, will be holding interviews the day after the fair, said Mandy Devereux, campus interview program coordinator. Companies come to the University specifically to find workers and hire students, Devereux said.
Some students have a better handle on where they would like to work after graduation.
The School of Architecture and Allied Arts offers a five-year professional degree for its undergraduates, said architecture department head Glenda Utsey. She said most University students who complete the five-year degree program end up working all over the country and world.
“Architecture is a global occupation now,” said Utsey. “Students now maintain a second language because they are interested in working in that culture.”
Students who are graduating from the School of Journalism and Communication also often go directly into the profession, said Petra Hagen, graduate coordinator at the journalism school.
“If the student has an undergraduate degree in magazine or news, then there really isn’t too much more (the graduate school) can teach them. They need to go out and get experience under their belt,” said Hagen.

Volunteer work or internships

Many students are exploring alternative options to heading straight to work after graduation, looking instead toward volunteer or internship work.
On-campus representatives from Teach for America, AmeriCorps, and Peace Corps can help students find the best option.
Teach for America works nationally to eliminate the achievement gap in lower-income regions in the United States, according to its Web site. The program begins with a summer training session, and recent graduates are then placed as entry-level teachers in low-income neighborhoods the following fall.
There are three different programs offered through AmeriCorps, said Lauren Hazewski, community relations specialist at AmeriCorps’ National Civilian Community Corps, or NCCC.
NCCC participates in several different community service projects around the U.S. Both AmeriCorps Vista, along with AmeriCorps State and National, place members at internships with non-profit organizations, said Hazewski.
Peace Corps has a strong presence on campus, with a campus representative in the Career Center, said Brett Holt, a Peace Corps recruiter and University GTF.
Peace Corps is a two-year program where graduates do different types of work in 36 countries all over the world. Participants have the option of using the program to earn a master’s degree.
For additional volunteer or internship options, Clarice Wilsey, associate director of career development, said a good resource is idealist.org, a Web site that has a comprehensive list of positions internationally.

Graduate School

For those graduates who aren’t quite ready to leave school, there are many options for graduate school.
The University has more than 90 graduate programs through the School of Architecture and Allied Arts, the Lundquist College of Business, the College of Arts and Sciences, the School of Law, the School of Music and Dance, and the School of Journalism and Communication, according to its Web site.
“A lot of undergrads will go into grad school because they think it will develop their career opportunities,” said Debra Otley, assistant dean of the graduate school.
In the school of business, many undergraduate accounting majors continue for a fifth year to earn a master’s degree in accounting.
Andrew Verner, the assistant dean of the graduate program at the business school, said this is because in order to qualify to become a certified public accountant, accounting students must be in school for five years.
Senior Allison Leigh will be graduating this spring and coming back this fall for one more year to earn her master’s in accounting. With her master’s degree she hopes to get a job in either a large national or regional firm.
The College of Education attracts graduates from all disciplines who, after graduation, decide they want to teach, said Otley, because the education program does not require a bachelor’s in teaching.
There are also many graduate school options for those who want to go into a career in academia, said Verner.
[email protected]