Class Of 2009
Monday, February 16, 2009
2 comments
As I wrote the ADP post this morning, I could not help wondering what’s going to happen to the class of 2009 and their job search this year.
Are there any class of 2009 readers? Would you like to share your experiences at various campuses?
I’m graduating this year in June having studied Computer Science at the University of Cambridge.
Our class seems largely unaffected by fears of recession – then again, the computer scientists generally seem quite laid back when it comes to looking for jobs. Most of them will be looking for jobs in software companies (there are several local companies which market quite heavily to our undergraduates – e.g. Redgate Software / Dorset Software / ARM). The rest usually go into further education (indeed, our department has just set up a Masters course in Advanced Computer Science – good timing).
Many of my friends studying other subjects are rather more worried about jobs. The Law students seem fairly secure but the Economics and Management students are much more worried. Traditionally a large percentage of these would have gone into investment banking, and increasingly most would have got an offer through the course of an internship. Despite many people have internships last summer, very few people were lucky enough to be offered graduate positions.
Realising that it is no longer as desirable, the two remaining options seem to be further study or management consulting (and for a small minority, law). Management consulting, already a competitive choice, is even more competitive. Several of the big names have commented that they will be taking less graduates than before – simply due to less demand for their services. Again, pushing up competition for these jobs.
Very few people are planning on travelling (or have been pushed to this because of a lack of a job). Personally I shall be but this decision was made despite a job offer, not because of a lack of one.
Regarding the choice of entrepeneurship as a career path, it is something several friends and I have considered closely. The issue is, as always, coming up with an idea. This year we’ve had a course on Business Studies and our lecturer mentioned several times that moving into a recession, although tough, if we can’t find a job, perhaps joining/creating a start-up was a worthwhile venture.
As for the numerous careers fairs, attendance (especially at the banking fair) of companies has been down slightly. However, companies always seem quite keen to market to Cambridge graduates.
At this stage in the year, most people have chosen not to let it take over their minds – especially with exams looming.
I am a final year computer science major at Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur set to graduate in June, 2009.
Our placement season commenced in December 2008. Overall, the placement season in our institute this year has been bleak. A far cry from the spectacular placements we had witnessed in the last batch.
Around 70% of the B-Tech batch has been placed uptill now with departments like CS, EE witnessing 100% placement. An interesting trend this year is the placement of many students in Public Sector Companies like ONGC, GAIL which are generally spurned.
CS students have more less been unaffected by recession as a number of firms recruit from the department. Still, it’s noteworthy that big name corporations like Microsoft, Google have significantly reduced their intake this placement season.