Though the School of Business runs its own business career

center, not all profession-driven schools have their own career

centers, which may leave students with little guidance when it

comes to job hunting.

Matt Bruch, a University of Wisconsin senior, has visited the

Business Career Center, which posted his resume online. He said he

has already been contacted six or seven times for interviews.

“Yeah, I’ve had a fair share of interviews,” Bruch said. “I’ve

tried looking outside on my own, and it’s a lot harder.”

Bruch added he could see how different majors in the College of

Letters and Science would be harder to coordinate career fairs for

due to the breadth of majors.

“Companies are looking for something very specific,” Bruch said,

going on to say the cost-benefit relation for business recruiting

is much better than another company recruiting for just a few

positions from liberal arts majors.

Journalism and Mass Communication advisor Erica Salkin agreed

with the cost-effectiveness argument, citing that businesses often

have Midwestern or local divisions, whereas newspapers likely do

not.

The School of Journalism and Mass Communication is one of the

schools driven by vocation and learned skills that lacks a career

center. During their tenure at UW, graduates of the school studied

for specific careers, ranging from print media to communication

arts or strategic communication. However, Salkin urges students to

realize that the School of Business or College of Engineering is

totally different in terms of career counseling than the journalism

school.

“It’s like comparing apples to oranges,” Salkin said. “The

School of Journalism is part of a much bigger, diverse College of

Letters and Science…It’s such a huge range.”

Salkin’s office does email online job postings or internships,

but notes that L & S and College of Human Ecology has a joint

career center that provides career advising and offers several job

fairs throughout the year.

“Students need to use these resources,” Salkin said, adding the

center not only helps in immediate job placement, but also in how

to hunt for employment opportunities in the future, since L & S

majors like history or English do not necessarily offer a specific

career. “We want them, too.”

UW English major Rachel Gross concurs that advising should be

available, but the actual problems may lie in the major itself.

Gross wanted to become an English teacher through further schooling

in graduate school, but said she must take some courses not

required of her major before admittance to further education

programs.

“There’s nothing career-oriented about teaching,” she said,

adding many English majors go on to graduate school or law school.

“There’s no specific future in (some majors), but there could

be.”

She added that the “problem” with many undergraduate majors is

the lack of professional direction.

“You basically have to go to graduate school. And if you go to

graduate school, then why not prepare you a little better,” Gross

said.