With just two weeks to graduation, many seniors are anxiously trying to decide what to do when they leave Dartmouth.
This past fall, I watched as a number of my senior friends scrambled madly through their schedules to accommodate trips to New York and Boston for job interviews. Other seniors even ventured as far as Chicago and San Francisco.
For weeks, they thought of nothing but their next interview or rummaging through their closets for just the right outfit, or making sure they had some random piece of information memorized.
"Oh no, what is the third way to value a company?"
"Ah, I'm getting companies mixed up! Is Hank Paulson the CEO of Goldman Sachs or Deutsche Bank?"
(By the way, the answer is Goldman Sachs, and don't you forget it: He's a Dartmouth grad.)
And, "what has my biggest obstacle in life been anyway? It's not my fault I've had an easy life!"
Some students, who spent their time pursuing equally difficult paths such as graduate programs, jobs with NGOs and jobs in the non-profit sector, have now turned to corporate recruiting after having difficulty finding attractive offers in other fields.
These decisions were sometimes met with harsh criticism from their peers. Many of them laughed and joked in the fall about how many people "sell out to The Man," don't "think outside the box" or pursue a safe job rather than going out on a limb to do what they "really" want to do.
They seemed to think that corporate recruiting was not as respectable as their own noble pursuits.
Where did they get this notion? Did I miss something?
Why is corporate recruitment met with such harsh criticism from so many students uninvolved in the process? If you are genuinely worried about your friends' happiness because of the long hours they will be working, then start worrying about the entire graduating class.
I am willing to speculate that everyone who wants to move ahead and succeed is going to have to put forth substantial effort and some long hours the first few years out of college.
If you think the move is shameful because they are taking a well-paying job rather than running off to some ravaged community across the globe to save the world this instant, I disagree.
While the pay for a first-year employee at a big consulting or investment firm sounds impressive, depicting it as a "get rich quick" scheme is absurd.
Most of these jobs are in big cities with extremely high living costs, and even if you do manage to put a good amount of money in the bank while working, many are only two or three-year contract positions.
While these jobs will not put you on your way to making millions, they are monetarily attractive in that they pay enough for you to save a portion of your income, which could reduce the burden of paying for further education you may want to pursue. I see no shame in this.
Perhaps corporate recruiting loses its appeal because such a large proportion of the student body takes this path. Dartmouth students pride themselves on being unique, as they should.
A job, however, does not have to be unique to hold merit.
One must surely see some value in the fact that working for one of these firms could even improve his or her chances of admission to a particular graduate school.
These often intense work environments develop qualities that competitive employers seek in their candidates, and prominent consulting and investing firms (to narrow our focus to the primary recruiters at Dartmouth) confer the benefit of instant name recognition.
A school or employer who sees that you worked for a high-powered firm will have something on paper that indicates you are an extremely capable candidate.
Jobs beyond the big city firms may be just as effective in developing your skills, but to dismiss the importance of name recognition is idealistic.
"Playing the game" is part of reality, and the reality of the situation is this: If you plan to pursue higher education or a specific career in highly competitive institutions, it would help to have a job that, if nothing else, will carry more weight at first glance on a resume than a smaller, unknown firm.
As students who chose to attend an Ivy League school, you should be able to understand this.
Corporate recruiting may be a target for criticism because the tangible benefits most obvious to outsiders are money and recognition.
Insiders who are actually applying to these jobs understand that these incentives are blown out of proportion.
The pay is good, and the resume will have a line that might as well say, "Hi everyone, look at this great job I got after college," but students are not naively selling their souls while thinking they will become rich and powerful in their two years as a lowly analyst.
Dare I suggest that these jobs may be valuable for the work itself? Has it ever occurred to the Sellout Police that students find these jobs interesting?
If a student finds the world of business fascinating, it makes sense to apply for jobs that will open doors to bigger business-related opportunities.
Some seniors are not taking so many cheap shots at their friends anymore, who have had jobs secured since November.
To those who now whine that their friends have "sold out" or taken the easy route, take a closer look at the process before judging it.
The competition is brutal, and students who are lucky enough to be offered a position with even one of these firms should be given some credit.
Biding time for the next two to three years while making a good salary is a hollow and inaccurate description.
The far more obvious answer, which the Sellout Police tend to miss, is that corporate recruiting is a sound first career move for those who are interested in all kinds of jobs that require the interpersonal, organizational and critical thinking skills that will be perfected in the business world.
