Grads left out in the cold?

With Oregon’s unemployment rate among the highest in the nation at 12 percent, where can students turn after graduation?

As more and more companies are closing their doors, and layoffs are reaching unforeseen numbers, nonprofits and volunteer organizations have seen a drastic increase in applicants, particularly from recent graduates. The Portland State Career Center has noticed similar trends.

Dee Thompson, the director of the career center, was optimistic about the possibility of students being able to find a volunteer opportunity or a job in the nonprofit sector, something she grouped into the category of “careers for the common good.”

One example she spoke of was an opportunity for students who have received their bachelor’s degree to work in a school in a poor rural or urban district through Teach For America.

The corps allows students to earn a teaching certificate in exchange for serving as a full-fledged faculty member at an underprivileged school.

Thompson also discussed the Japanese Exchange and Teaching Programme in which degree-holders spend a year in Japan as a teaching assistant in English education.

Participants receive a monthly stipend and get the opportunity to learn a foreign language and culture—they are not required to know any Japanese before joining.

Beyond traditional service opportunities, a choice for students concerned with “careers in the common good” is the nonprofit sector.

Thompson pointed to the career center’s Web site, www.pdx.edu/careers, as a resource for students to look for jobs that resonate with their values, as well as other sites, such as www.idealist.org, a clearinghouse for nonprofit jobs.

Most importantly, she said, was a meeting with the counselors at the career center.

“Having students talk with the counselors about where they want to be, we can start focusing in on their needs,” she said. “You can get lost forever on the Internet. It’s all out there, but you have to know where to begin.”

While Thompson acknowledged harsh conditions in the nonprofit world due to the economic downturn, she said an influx of jobs in the public service sector due to stimulus dollars would open up more options.

“There’s no doubt it’s a tough job market, but there are jobs out there—we just have to find them,” Thompson said.

Other organizations campaign for recruits on campus, including the Peace Corps.

In operation since President John F. Kennedy started the organization in 1961, volunteers serve developing communities in over 70 countries for a 27-month stint.

About 12,000 applicants from all walks of life compete for 4,000 positions.

The Peace Corps recruiter on Portland State’s campus, Shan Weatherbee, who served in Kazakhstan from 2004–06, said the program affected his entire life.

“It could affect your career path, and how you see things—it can totally change your mind,” he said.

For undergraduates with a desire to attend graduate school but without the resources, the Peace Corps offers two options: the Master’s International Program, where students use their Peace Corps service towards completing a degree at participating universities, and the Fellows Program, which allows returned Peace Corps volunteers to receive financial aid for their service.

Weatherbee spoke to the timing of joining the Peace Corps as a recent graduate.

“If you don’t have any commitments and you don’t have a job and you like to travel, it’s a perfect time to do it right out of college,” he said.

He mentioned that service includes a freeze on interest and payments for Stafford Loans, low-interest federal loans offered to students and several other types of educational loans.