I went to college in a recession. I was a history major and graduated during the economic downturn of 1982 in the midst of chaos in the real estate market. Interest rates were 18 percent, my dad lost his job in Lorain, Ohio and I took out more college loans to make it through my senior year. I experienced stress, anguish, loss of confidence in my career and wondered why the job market was so brutal for people like me.
I only wish my college had a series of events for liberal arts majors like Notre Dame has scheduled this week. Events and career advising support like these programs would have helped me a great deal to focus on my skills, understand the vast array of careers open to A&L majors and prepare me for the competitive application process in a tough job market. I didn't have access to paid internship programs where my college could provide stipend monies for me to gain experience in the real world before college. But today, I am proud to be leading a career operation at Notre Dame where we can give back to students who have opportunities that I did not have in the early 1980s.
The Notre Dame Career Center and College of Arts and Letters will host the Second Annual "What's Next?" Week for Arts and Letters Majors the week of Oct. 4-7. This event will feature representatives from companies such as AT&T, Cummins, Department of Homeland Security, eLoyalty, Google, Keurig, McKinsey, Starcom, Target, The Orr Fellowship and Towers Film Production.
Schedule of Events:
Monday, Oct. 4
Exploring, Finding and Funding Your Internship
6:30-8:00 p.m. LaFortune Ballroom
Wednesday, Oct. 6
Thinking About Graduate and Professional School
6:30-8:00 p.m. LaFortune Ballroom
Thursday, Oct. 7
Landing Your Job or Internship: Employer Presentations and Career Networking Night
6:30-8:30 p.m. LaFortune Ballroom
Lee Svete
director
Career Center
Oct. 3
