Penn & Beyond

We’ve been hearing for over a year now about how bad the economy is, and now that the recovery seems to have started every one assures us it is going to be a SLOW, SLOW, SLOW one.  With all the bad news, many students are wondering if they will every find a job.
We’ve recently completed the Career Plans Survey for the Wharton Undergraduate Class of 2009 which provides a pretty thorough view of how last year’s class did.  Happily, the news was mostly good.  Even with the very difficult economy, you will see from the survey that Wharton students landed interesting opportunities in both the working world and graduate school. (For full disclosure, it is true that our “still seeking” rate as of August did rise to 9.2% from 5.7% the year before which of course is a reflection of the tight economy, but fortunately most students did land interesting positions.)
You can view the company, industry and region where students accepted jobs as well as average salaries broken down by job type and industry.  This is a great resource when you are negotiating offers.  You can also review surveys back to 2005 to see hiring trends and other useful information.
A few interesting facts about the Class of 2009:
•    The average starting base salary was $59,852. The range was $20,000 – $100,000.
•    82.8% of respondents were employed and 6.6% planned to go directly to graduate or professional school.
•    The average student had 11.7 first-round interviews and received 1.7 job offers .

You can access the Wharton undergraduate career surveys page here: http://www.vpul.upenn.edu/careerservices/wharton/surveys.html

Career plans surveys for the other undergraduate schools are in progress and will be released in the future.

Last week, at an alumni meeting, a discussion was held regarding when alumni-student networking events should be held.  Some students were invited to give input.  One advised that late fall was a bad time for such sessions, because a number of seniors would already have jobs, and would be less likely to attend.

While this may be true at least some years, it struck me as too bad.  You shouldn’t just network when you need something, such as a job.  Networking is a continuous process.  You should always take advantage of the opportunity to meet interesting people, particularly alumni/ae who are interested in sharing their expertise with current students.

Networking is about relationship building.  And it is reciprocal.  Even as a student you have much to offer.  For example, I did a mock interview today with a student who is a candidate for a prestigious fellowship.  I learned that he was the product of a restaurant family in a city I will be visiting.  I jokingly asked him for a restaurant recommendation to break the ice, and he mentioned a place he liked.  Within hours I received an email from him with three further recommendations, complete with web sites and phone numbers.  How thoughtful that was.  This student understands that everyone has something to offer.

So start networking today, and when you get a job, don’t stop.  You need a network, and your network needs you.