Steering them toward service

Russell Eckenrod '01 is facing a tough decision. In a few months, he, along with many of his classmates, will have to sign on the dotted line and choose between public service, consulting and law school.

Eckenrod says he is inclined to seek employment in the public sector, working for the government, a special interest group or a nonprofit organization. But monetary factors and the prospect of working at a consulting firm have made the decision far less simple.

"Public service is what I want to do — and I was not converted by Woody Woo. But I haven't decided definitely yet. I am going to look at the consulting interviews for different reasons," said Eckenrod, a senior in the Wilson School.

Wilson School faculty and administrators are well aware of the gravity of the decision Eckenrod and his classmates face — and in their minds, the right choice is clear. For the past three years, the Wilson School has provided its undergraduates with additional career guidance with the stated intention of convincing them to shy away from the private sector and seek careers in public service.

"I think that it is an enormous challenge at all levels, both undergraduate and graduate, to get students to enter the public sector," Wilson School dean Michael Rothschild said. "The more Princetonians choose to work for the public interest, the better off we are going to be."

The Wilson School is the only department at the University with its own career services office — a necessary feature for the school because of its unique nature, administrators say.

As one of Princeton's only three professional schools, a key part of its curriculum is locating job opportunities for its students, according to Rothschild, who guided the development of the Wilson School's undergraduate career office.

But the services — which include everything from scholarships to one-on-one guidance from administrators — are not available for students seeking jobs in the private sector.

The Wilson School undergraduate career office — which is supported by University and Wilson School funds, according to Rothschild — provides its students with general advice, weekly job and internship leads via e-mail, access to fax machines, telephones and computers, as well as extensive resources at the Placement Resource Center in Notestein Hall.

"Because we offer services exclusively for jobs and internships with public service, we like to think that we are filling in the gaps in the University's career office. Students can network, look up foundations and flip through state and local government handouts," said Susan Rizzo, Wilson School director of undergraduate career services. "The office is gaining popularity. Two years ago, eight juniors and eight seniors used our services. Last year, 30 juniors and 20 seniors used it. Who knows how many will use it this year?"

Ann Corwin, who directs the Wilson School's graduate career services, said the original idea of an undergraduate career service program was based on the idea that "the University career office attracted mostly people from the private sector, and that students concentrating in public service were not exposed enough to jobs in the public sector."

"The school wanted to expose them to more opportunities in the public service and nonprofit organizations," Corwin added.

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Students interested in pursuing a job in public service submit a career-planning form and resume to Rizzo so she personally can assist those students in finding full-time or summer positions.

"Students can make appointments to come and see me so that we can have an interview, one-on-one, and discuss that student's different options and how he or she can form contacts," Rizzo said. "We can't force students to go into public service, but we definitely hope that they do. We figure that's why they are students at the Woodrow Wilson School."

The Wilson School also offers $3,000 stipends to those students who work in public service during the summer. Last year, 20 students received the grants, including Eckenrod, who used it while working at the National Civic League — a Denver-based nonprofit organization.

Though it does not encourage its students to go into the private sector, the Wilson School career office does allow students to use some of its career services resources for that purpose.

"They can use the telephones and the fax machines. I am not going to monitor that. But if they come make an appointment to see me, I am going to try to convince them to go into the public sector," Rizzo said. "Not many who want to go into the private sector come and see me. They know what I am going to say."

Other universities that have departments dedicated to public service, such as Georgetown University's School of Foreign Service, have similar career service programs to help students find jobs in the public sector. Other universities, such as Harvard, have career counselors dedicated just to finding students jobs in public service.

"Because a lot of Harvard students are interested in jobs in public service, one of our career counselors specializes in the public sector," said Bill Wright-Swadel, who is the director of Harvard's career office. "She spends a great deal of time meeting with students, developing contacts and working through the Philips Brooks House, which organizes university volunteer service."

The career centers at other universities, such as Brown, depend on University service organizations to notify students about career opportunities in public service.

"We work through the Swearer Center, which posts jobs every day that deal with careers in the common good," said Brown associate director for career services Kerry Willigan.

According to Beverly Hamilton-Chandler, director of Princeton's main career services office, exposing students to jobs in public service is not only important to the Wilson School's career office but also to the University's general career center as well.

"It is of vital importance that the career center provide better-than-adequate services across the board, which includes the area of public service," Hamilton-Chandler said. "We are focusing our attention on our resources. We are trying to build them up and are actively encouraging organizations to come and work through our services. We will be the ones to bring these opportunities to the general undergraduate body."