It’s Their Fault

Last week, the New York Times put out a popularly e-mailed piece about students choosing big-money corporate jobs instead of service or artistic jobs. Too many students, they say, are lured by the big paycheck.

On other campuses as well, officials are questioning with new vigor whether too many top students who might otherwise turn their talents to a broader array of fields are being lured by high-paying corporate jobs, and whether colleges should do more to encourage students to consider other careers, especially public service.

This is certainly true on one level, but the Times (and popular debates surrounding this issue in general) portrays the students as being totally at fault for being greedy. The fact is, they aren’t: law firms, consulting businesses, and financial institutions offer much more than a payday — they offer a recruiting practice and career path that is, while perhaps more difficult, increasingly more visible, cut-and-dry, fair, and (in career terms only) rewarding. The fact is, public and arts institutions have been acting like they don’t care about attracting top talent, and in return, they aren’t getting it. (More after the jump)

On college campuses, law firms/consulting practices/financial institutions (I’ll call them “A” careers) are perceived as constantly competing for talent — regardless of how high the paychecks are, students can read about the horse race to offer new employees top-of-class salaries, benefits, and work-life programs. “A” career firms also have specific, well-thought-out interview processes to ensure they are getting top talent (you can even have a secure offer before you graduate!): an offer from a great “A” career firm is universally regarded a vindication of good college performance.

The other careers the Times discusses: public service, politics, arts, etc. (I’ll call them “B” careers) should obviously be equally attractive to smart, ambitious students. But these institutions never make nearly the effort that “A” career firms do. Not only is there no visibility or competition among top “B” firms (and they do exist - from large entertainment conglomerates, to special interest groups, to political offices) when it comes to handing out entry-level benefits and salaries, but there is no clear recruiting system at all. The contest in this realm is usually to get your resume considered, and as a result, people who land these jobs credit them much more to luck, crazed persistence, or family connections. And once someone lands one of these “B” entry-level jobs, evaluation systems are less systematized, promotions more haphazard, and salaries and bonuses more randomly assigned.

As result of this dynamic, “A” careers are clearly the safer bet not just for college students who want to get rich, but for those who want to have an entry level career that has fair hiring practices, recognizes and rewards past achievement and in-job effort, and values the contributions of entry level work by actually competing for it. “B” careers are regarded as being for people who have their own money and can afford to be unrecognized in exchange for having a “cool” job to talk about, or for well-connected people who can get a plum “B” job regardless of prior achievement. As a result, “B” careers lose talent all the time, and miss out on young, motivated and smart contributors–the cracks in our culture have already started to show it.

All these “B” career companies need to do is make a concentrated (but not expensive) effort to attract top graduates: even the salary playing field, organize campus recruiting, crack down on nepotism, improve HR departments, and have real mentoring programs. Teach for America — which has a great campus outreach program and is well-known among students — has exploded in popularity, demonstrating the significant bloc of students that want to do public service if only the application process was as clearly delineated as “A” career applications are.

I think that if “B” career firms follow the TFA lead and act as if their jobs deserve to attract the same people “A” careers do, despite the fact they pay less, they’ll find themselves flooded with talent. After all, they were once.