Passion and commitment

June 17 is coming up fast, and many Portland State arts and humanities students might be trying to figure out the next big step after graduation. Work, graduate school, doctoral programs, travel, volunteering—the options are numerous. For some graduates the choice is easy, but what about those who haven’t decided?

Job prospects for those majoring in the various arts and humanities studies vary widely depending on the work experience that a graduate has and what they are interested in, according to PSU Career Center Executive Director Gregory Flores. This means arts and humanities graduates could have an even less straightforward path ahead of them than other majors.

“Working in the arts or humanities is a lot about experience and connections, the more of that someone brings with them, the better their prospects,” Flores said. “Networking is kind of a dirty word to some people, but I cannot overstate the importance of finding a way to connect with people.”

In his day to day activities, Flores works with employers wanting to hire PSU students, plans career fairs and meets with students one-on-one to provide career counseling. He said many students want to know the answer to one of the most difficult questions: What do I do with the rest of my life?

“As a starting point, we have a ton of information on our website on choosing a major or career, job search skills, etc. We offer career assessments in monthly workshops, and we will meet individually with a student or alum and get a sense of where they are and what they need in the process of choosing a career or finding a job,” Flores said.

As a Career Center adviser, Flores said that through talking to students and tailoring advice to each one individually, he is able to help students understand how to make good decisions and point out the resources they have available to them.

Going deeper into the arts and humanities, one misconception is that graduates with these degrees have a harder time finding employment. English degree graduates, for example, have lower percentages of initial employment and wages compared to other graduates, according to an extensive report written by John Brennan, Ruth Williams and Zsuzsa Blaskó.

However, in-depth study of English graduates found the misconception to be more myth than reality. Titled “The English Degree and Graduate Careers,” the authors specifically detail how English graduates fare post-graduation. What Brennan, Williams and Blaskó found lends credence to the adage: Don’t judge a book by its cover.

Solely looking at the first six months after graduation doesn’t show the breadth of employment for English graduates, according to the report’s authors. At six months, the percentage of English graduates in full-time positions is just over half, less than in other areas of study. However, “over a quarter were studying for a further qualification,” the report states.

The real benchmark of employment, according to Brennan, Williams and Blaskó, is three to four years post-graduation. They found that “at three to four years after graduation, 84 percent reported being in a full-time job, a figure close to the average for all graduates.”

Aaron Chambers, who has a Master of Fine Arts in fiction from Syracuse University, is at that benchmark. He explained that his degree allowed him the time and connections to explore his passion of writing and that his degree was advantageous for him on both personal and professional levels.

“I met really talented people [at Syracuse], forged some of the most important relationships of my life. I had drinks with several of my literary heroes,” he said. “Probably the best thing to come out of my degree professionally was teaching experience. As a result of my degree, I’m qualified to teach at the university level. I teach writing at Clark College in Vancouver,” Chambers said.

He was unsure of the big picture before he applied for his MFA. He simply followed his passion, and while he’s not rich from doing so, he is satisfied in more abstract ways with his degree.

“I had no idea what I was doing when I applied to MFAs. I thought I just needed some time to write so that I could publish a book. Then I got there, realized that everything I had been doing was crap. Took time to learn about craft. My experience benefited me tremendously, but in really intangible ways, as all maturation processes benefit us. It was something I did for myself,” Chambers said.

Flores had very conventional advice to graduates, which he says is still incredibly valuable. He said that it is simply about putting yourself out there and being subject to failures as well as successes. “Commitment and passion are part of the arts, and you need to make connections with people and show them how your skills, experience and commitment will serve them and their organization,” he said.

The report on English careers can be found on the English department’s website www.english.pdx.edu/Resources.php. Click on The English Degree and Graduate Careers link.■