Job Hunting Got You Down? Consider Service as an Alternative
Nov 23 '02 (Updated Nov 28 '02)
The Bottom Line Not ready for the corporate world? Consider spending a couple of years in service to your community.
Two years ago, I sat in the career center at Georgetown University and listened to people wax poetic regarding the joys of consulting or of shuffling papers for the federal government.
Call me crazy, but I would leave the recruitment presentations with my head throbbing and a chorus of "you can't do something as dull as THAT" echoing through my mind.
I blame it on my wonderful Jesuit education and those crazy books that those authentically wonderfully annoyingly moral teachers made me read. Frustratingly, they made me think that my first priority in life was to serve the rest of humanity. I couldn't really see consulting or any other potentially lucrative field as a means to serve humanity, and so I was a bit stuck.
Fortunately for me, my university took pains to bring in speakers from a variety of service organizations, and offered information regarding their programs right beside the recruitment brochures for corporate jobs. I would encourage anyone interested in taking a few years for service to consult with their university's career office; they usually have the information, even if they don't necessarily push it on their graduates.
In the end, I decided to eschew the job market for two years in favor of serving as a teacher in an innercity school with Teach for America, an Americorps program.
To the typical college graduate, running off to join a service organization may seem absurd. In truth, service has its benefits.
A member of a service organization will acquire experience dealing with difficult real world situations-- experience that will put them head and shoulders above most recent college graduates. Americorps programs, the Peace Corps, and any number of other service organizations often force their members to confront poverty, to use problem-solving skills, and to demonstrate fortitude in difficult circumstances. Future employers will recognize and appreciate these qualities, as well as recognizing and appreciating the broader world perspective that time spent in service gives the applicant. And, yes, service looks very, very good on a resume.
While service may not be as financially rewarding as directly entering the work place after college, it does have monetary rewards. Americorps, for instance, offers a $4,000 grant for each year of service that a member completes, to be used for future education. I may be struggling by on a low teacher's salary rather than earning more in corporate America, but when the time comes I will have $8,000 toward my graduate education. That isn't too shabby.
Finally, and most importantly, spending a couple of years serving your country or your community after graduation is good for the soul. You may go on to work in an office some day, or become a wealthy businessman, but after the experience of dealing with inequity and poverty on a daily basis, you would probably end up doing so with much more conscience.
In short, don't rush headlong into the corporate world unless you really feel that you belong there. Experience can be gleaned from service to your community just as easily as it can be found through filing and coffee-fetching.
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