USD Magazine, Spring 1999

apiece ef \Y©rk

OVERWHELMED BY THAT FIRST JOB OUT OF COLLECE? UNFULFILLED BY YOUR CAREER CHOICE? THE USD CAREER CENTER OFFERS ADVICE AND COUHSELINC TO HAVICATE BUMPY JOB WATERS.

STORIES BY SUSAN HEROLD AND }ILL WAGNER '91

I n college, Bree O'Shea '96 knew exactly what she wanted to be - a radio disc jockey. And she knew exactly what the job would be like. "Of course, it would be glamorous. It would be easy. I'd work for four hours, come home, never stay late. There would be no office politics," says O'Shea. "All of which, I found out, was very wrong." The glamour dulled when O 'Shea landed her first on-air job - the midnight to 6 a.m. graveyard shift for a now-defunct San Diego alternative rock station. The hours left her muddled and exhausted. Her ideal four-hour workday became eight hours when production duties were added. And the pay was strictly unglamorous: $15,000 a year. She took a nanny job during the day to make ends meet. "I'd get home from my radio job at 8:30 in the morning and go to bed at 9. I'd sleep to 1 in the afternoon, then be at my nanny job at 2. I'd work from 2 to 6:30, come home, eat, go to bed for another hour or two, and then go back into work," O'Shea says. "My friends would be going out, and I couldn't go because I was exhausted all the time." Long hours. Scarce leisure time. And that sleep thing. The transition from university life - where you pick your own schedule, wear shorts and T-shirts and sleep, well, whenever you want - to a first job can often be overwhelming. Not to mention confusing. "I remember everyone (in my office) kept saying 'KOB,' and I didn't know what they were talking about," says Steve Eilers '98, whose communication studies major and German minor did little to help him decipher the lingo of the insurance industry, where he landed a job as an underwriter. "KOB. Kind of business. It was week three before I figured that one out." As graduation day approaches, and with it, the inevitable crush of resume writing, interviewing and suit shopping, the focus is on landing that first job. Yet career consultants say get– ting the job is often the easy part. The real work comes in mak-

ing the transition from school to the workplace, continuing to learn on the job and ultimately determining if the career is the right one for you (see accompanying story). YOU ME~N THERE'S NO SPRING BRE~K? "For many graduating seniors, its hard for them to imagine life after USD. They're so overwhelmed with the job search, they don't think about the actual job," says Sue Kelly '89, USD career counselor. "There are a lot of adjustments ... some of the hardest are simply the hours, being in an office all day and lack of vacation time." Eilers can relate. He says he knows where he'll be each day from 8 to 5 - the office - but after that, "I have to pick and choose now what I do. I don't go over to someone's house any– more and stay up until 2 ... I have to go to bed." But he admits sheepishly he's still stuck in the college schedule: "I'm going to Mexico for Spring Break. I guess I'm having a hard time break– ing out of it." While time management may be tough, money management is a popular subject with recent grads. With a strong economy, salaries continue to grow, ranging from more than $44,000 for computer science majors to more than $30,000 for liberal arts majors, according to the National Association of Colleges and Employers. "We usually get two reactions from (graduates) on the salary surveys," says James Tarbox, associate director of USD Career Services. "Either it's 'Gee, I didn't think I'd make that much,' or, 'Wait a minute, I spent all this money on school and I'm only making $30,000?' " Heather Bourne '98, an accountant with PriceWaterhouse– Coopers, is thrilled with her $34,000 salary plus bonuses. Yet her accounting background didn't necessarily temper her impulses when she got tho~ first few paychecks. "At first, I went a littlf srazy. I splurged, bought clothes, CDs, a surfboard, ran~om s~ ~_that I wanted but didn't need," ~~ .,, .,.I': ·~,., :.~l.£·;\. vi t :~.y;'-, .. ..~,.._ ~ t«.:, i ;{·')i'~·..:~\.·\' -~.•,. ~ ;.;-JI''· · .•., t.::.~-:;-: & A Z N E ' 1 '-"· ,l{.:A , '"' ..--,~ . . '<}3~-- ~ ~;,-.,.-. • . ···~!– ~t . ;. ~t1" ·

U S D

M A