Next year may take your average '04 to Wall Street or Cape Town, to a law firm, inner-city public school or clandestine service. Today and Thursday, that daunting array of choices will be on full display at the Career Services' Not-For-Profit and Employer Information fairs.
The two fairs, held in the Top of the Hop and Alumni Hall, respectively, will bring representatives of organizations from across the country to answer questions.
On the non-profit side, participants include AmeriCorps, the Central Intelligence Agency and Teach For America. Citigroup, Abercrombie and Fitch and Mercer Management Consulting will be among those representing the corporate world.
The Peace Corps, one of the 17 non-profit organizations at the fair, is one group that has typically been "bombarded" at previous years' fairs, recruiter Susanne Delaney said. To combat that rush, this year the Peace Corps table will be staffed by two representatives.
Delaney, one of the two recruiters, is herself a veteran of the Peace Corps and described it as "one the best experiences of my life."
"I spent four years in college writing papers and not really living life. I came back with two new languages and a whole new view on the world," she said.
For those seeking options a little closer to home, many other organizations should provide what they are looking for.
The judicially-minded may check out the Lawyers Committee on Human Rights, which addresses the rights of refugees seeking asylum, post-war issues in Iraq, Mexican policing and workers' rights. This organization offers internships in Washington, D.C. and New York City, both of which come with a $1,000 grant.
Another option is the New England Center for Children, which offers paid entry-level positions, including health and dental insurance, paid vacation, skills training and substantial tuition reimbursement.
The Employment Information Fair will feature well-known private sector companies including Pepsico Beverages and Foods, Millennium Pharmaceuticals, Bridgewater Associates and J.P. Morgan and Appian, a software development company located in Virginia.
In recent years Appian, which includes three Dartmouth graduates among its founders, has been quite kind to Dartmouth. Last year alone, the company hired 10 "outstandingly well-rounded" Dartmouth students, Appian recruiting manager Pamela Shea said.
Bridgewater Associates, a global investment firm based in Connecticut, has heavily recruited at Dartmouth in recent years. As a result, 30 percent of the company's employees are Dartmouth students or graduates, according to Bethany Fay, Bridgewater recruiting coordinator.
Bridgewater Associates offers several internships which have yielded full-time positions for interns in the past few years. Two of the Dartmouth interns hired last year have had their contracts renewed and are staying on with full-time positions.
"The company, like Dartmouth, is a small, tightly-knit community," Fay said. "I really don't think anyone's left [the company]."
The fairs are put on by Career Services and sponsored by a number of organizations, including the Tucker Foundation, The Dickey Center, the '04 Class Council, the Rockefeller Center, Alumni Relations and the President's Office.
