Employment Guide: Students find work outside their majors

When Gabrielle Rozenberg graduated from Pitt last May, she didn’t expect to step into her… When Gabrielle Rozenberg graduated from Pitt last May, she didn’t expect to step into her dream job right away.

“I want to go to medical school and eventually become a doctor, so I know I’m going to have to put a lot more work in before I can get where I want to end up,” Rozenberg said.

Rozenberg left Pitt with a bachelor’s degree in history and philosophy of science and a minor in chemistry and secured a position as a youth group coordinator and teacher at a Jewish temple in Philadelphia.

Employees in Pitt’s Office of Student Employment and Placement Assistance spend a lot of time investigating how students with different degrees do in the job market. They found that Rozenberg isn’t alone in pursuing a career that might not directly correlate with her college major.

The office’s director, Cheryl Finlay, said her office tracks which employers frequently hire Pitt’s graduates in a particular major. The office also stays in constant contact with recruiters to gain a grasp on what they are looking for in an employee.

“We found that for the Class of 2009, the graduates found the biggest influence towards gaining employment was their past experience, mainly through an internship,” Finlay said in an email. “The major doesn’t necessarily matter as much.”

While the four years of coursework Rozenberg put in to earn her degree do not directly apply to her day-to-day work, she said the skills she learned at Pitt have proved indispensable to her professional life.

“With any degree you develop critical thinking skills and organizational skills that will help you excel in any discipline,” Rozenberg said. “That’s the whole idea behind a liberal arts degree anyway, to come out of school well rounded and capable.”

Rozenberg considers her experiences as a teacher’s assistant in the chemistry department a critical factor to her current success teaching middle school students about the Jewish faith.

“A lot of the same issues come up actually, whether you’re teaching college freshman or middle school students,” she said. “You have to be able to answer questions and explain concepts in a way that is clear and concise. In many ways, that’s what a degree is all about.”

Sheila Hubbard, another recent Pitt graduate who earned a degree in English literature, shared many of Rozenberg’s sentiments — though she disagreed on the overall point of a liberal arts degree.

“I didn’t get my degree so I could get a better job. I went to school for my own personal satisfaction and to continue my education,” Hubbard said. “I love being a nerd, and that’s pretty much why I went for a literature degree in the first place.”

Immediately after graduation, Hubbard continued a longtime position she had at Prantl’s Bakery on Walnut Street in Shadyside. She said many of her co-workers also had what are sometimes labeled “useless degrees,” and the topic of working outside of her field often came up.

“A lot of the people working there had degrees that didn’t help secure any type of important positions,” Hubbard said. “It was always a bit frustrating.”

A few months after graduation, Hubbard took a position as a sales associate at the Eastside Borders. The work is closer to what one would expect to do with an English degree, she said, but still not a perfect fit.

“I fit the Borders mold in that I can discuss Charles Dickens and can contribute an interesting point of view when customers are choosing a book, but it’s still primarily a sales position,” Hubbard said. “I think I could do it without a degree, to be frank.”

Finlay said that, in today’s economy, many employers are seeking graduates for specialized fields, such as engineering or business majors, but she emphasized that outside-the-classroom experience will help graduates from any major.

“Having experience is what is going to give an applicant a competitive edge for any open positions,” Finlay said.