In high school, I was told that going to university would open a window of opportunities for my future and ultimately help me get a good job. I applied to university in a social sciences discipline since I did not have the mathematical aptitude to handle the sciences or engineering.
During frosh week, social sciences and humanities students were taunted by the engineers, who called out, “Spatula!” Meaning: we didn’t have any career options after university and were destined to work a low-wage fast food job.
Humanities students were specifically targeted with “A-B-C-D-E-F-G. H-I-J-K. L-M-N-O-P. Q-R-S. TU-V. W-X-Y-Z. Now I know my ABCs, so I can pass the humanities,” implying humanities courses are easy.
At the time, I just assumed this was a way for the engineering reps to promote faculty pride in their first year students, and this attitude wasn’t present throughout the rest of the institution.
However, it appears that was only wishful thinking: in the last few years, the humanities and social sciences have faced many budget cuts in instructors, number of classes offered and resources available, and I know that this is not unique to my school.
Once I completed a few years of school, I thought going to a career fair would be a good way for me to decide what I could do with my degree in the future. Not being in health sciences, engineering or business, meant few employers were interested in my degree.
I attempted to talk to a few different companies and was turned away when I told them I was in a combined humanities/social science program. I didn’t approach other groups because they had no information for students in more than one faculty. Quite frankly, the whole thing was a complete waste of my time, and I felt very frustrated and disappointed.
Does it mean those engineers were right, or do career fairs need to be re-worked in order to support the diversity of educational options out there?
I’m hoping for the latter. I was told to never to judge a book by its cover and, as an English major, that advice seems almost too fitting.
If your company is attending a career fair at a university or college, remember there will be students from all kinds of academic programs there and, as a result, students with a variety of different experiences, both in terms of education as well as employment.
Just because a student isn’t in a certain degree program does not mean they aren’t qualified for a job in your company. For example, I have experience in HR, public relations, marketing and management, which is something you wouldn’t know if you only look at what program I’m in.
Sure, if you’re part of an architecture firm you’re primarily going to want to hire architects or engineers. But if someone from another program comes to your table, you do not have to turn them away. Every company has multiple departments that need a variety of employees with different kinds of work and education experience, and your company should be no exception to this.
You attend career fairs to entice students, not to deter them. And just because your company doesn’t have anything to offer one student, it doesn’t mean the same student can’t pass on information about your company to a friend or two.
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