Satisfaction with Career Services remains low

Despite numerous attempts to approve Career Services over the last five years, student satisfaction with the department remains low.

Five years ago, satisfaction was at an all-time low, and so was the staff. It was at the point where there weren't even enough chairs in the cramped career center for everyone to sit. In the 'Senior Survey' exit poll, satisfaction levels with Career Services have only slightly increased in the past year.

The understaffed Career Services has evolved over the last five years, according to Paul Stanton, interim dean of Academic Services and Student Affairs. The department used to be split between locations and was able to consolidate when it moved to Dowling two summers ago. More services have been added, and students who used to have to wait three or four weeks for a 15 minute appointment can now walk in and immediately see a counselor, according to Staff Assistant Karin Murphy.

This time difference can be critical to a graduating senior, especially with impending fall recruitment deadlines. Additionally, the career library that was created in Dowling offers students a wealth of easy to find information, and computers have been set up in the library as a job resource.

Administrators have speculated on many reasons why students are still complaining that Career Services is not up to par. Stanton cites current economy for student dissatisfaction.

"There's a 'grouchiness' factor that comes with a downturn," he said. "Even if we've been doing more, it's still harder to find jobs out there."

Others say that the dissatisfaction is caused by the fact that students have a different perception of what Career Services should do for them than Career Services does. "Maybe their expectations are unrealistic," Director of Institutional Research Dawn Terkla said.

Much of the student criticism centers around on-campus recruiting. Career Services has made efforts to diversify the companies that attend its career fair each year, but some students do not find it useful.

"From what I see, many of the fairs are for engineers," said senior Wilma Chan, a pre-med biology and child development major. "I've been to the non-profit career fair, and it was organized well, but variety-wise it was hard to find anything that strayed from education."

According to Career Services' website, 46 companies will be represented at its October fair. Of these, eight listed are not-for-profit, six are for engineering, four are for high tech and government, seven are related to high tech/science/research, and five are for education. Only one represented is law. There are no advertising/PR or communications companies.

Tufts made over 1,000 phone calls in an effort to plan the fair, according to

Career Services Director of Recruiting Sarah Smithson. Between 50 and 60 companies who came to the fair last year are returning, and ten to 20 are attending for the first time.

Others complain that the recruiters who come to campus do not offer jobs that interest them.

"The problem with on-campus recruiting is that it often brings in the companies who need to fill lots of entry-level positions, but these kinds of jobs aren't particularly interesting to most Tufts students," said senior Anna Somer, an environmental studies and economics major.

But Career Services explains that students should not expect to find offerings for creative, high-powered jobs from campus recruiters.

"Those that come to campus to do on-campus recruiting are the ones doing 'high-volume' recruiting," Career Resource Manager Donna Milmore said. "It's hard to bring companies to campus if they're only looking for one or two people."

Though students still do not perceive that Career Services can find them jobs, many praise the department's programs for preparing students for the application process. Child development major Randi Wiggins, found Career Services' resume and cover letter reviewing was efficient and helpful. "When I was abroad, I was applying for internships and I wanted to have my resume and cover letter reviewed by the counselors. I faxed it from Chile and they faxed it back with corrections within 24 hours."

One problem Career Services has is difficulty attracting first and second-year students, which often means that students are not aware of what services to expect when they are actually looking for jobs. Attendance is a problem for all age groups, as seen in the fact that only 200 out of an estimated 1,200 seniors attended five recruiting seminars last year.

"Our goal is to get students on campus into Career Services at least once in their career here," Stanton said.

Career Services does offer a series of sophomore workshops, which Wiggins found to be useful.

"They seemed really knowledgeable but at that point I didn't know what I was looking for," Wiggins said. "You have to know what your passion is first, and they're great once you know that part."

Chan did not agree with this evaluation, saying that she has been "consistently and repeatedly let down." She has turned to career services at other universities as well as the Tufts Biology Department.

"I did online searches using Google, which were a lot more helpful than Career Services. I don't think their website is really that organized, and it's hard to use their databases and engines," Chan said.

Academic departments often receive information about job offerings, grants, and internships. But students complain this information is often obscured, posted on bulletins in the department buildings or in news announced by a professor.

Students cite the Career Services' alumni networking as effective, but also say it is one of the most unutilized resources.

While the alumni network does not necessarily guarantee students job opportunities, it does offer seniors a chance to directly connect to their fields of interest. The number of alumni networking subscribers doubled to 3,000 in the past year.

But some would rather see Tufts strengthen its existing relationships with companies rather than try to build new ones.

"It would be nice if Tufts let people know if certain consulting companies or investing companies liked to hire Tufts graduates," said senior Veronica Chouinard, a mechanical engineering major. "Then [students] could fully utilize a networking relationship that is already established.