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8/14/2018 Why Getting A Liberal Arts College Education Is Not A Mistake

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Why Getting A Liberal Arts College Education Is Not A Mistake

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Jessica Kleiman Contributor Work in Progress i

Last weekend, I read an op-ed by Thomas Friedman in The New York Times which

featured Part 2 of an interview with Laszlo Bock, the head of hiring at Google.

Bock has some strong opinions on whether or not prospective employees really

need to go to college. His philosophy: Those who choose to attend a university

after high school should think long and hard about what they want to do for a

living and select his or her major wisely, focusing on skills that will land them a job

post-graduation.

While I certainly agree that college nowadays is a costly investment and that

graduates need to find ways to stand out to prospective employers in a highly

competitive job market, I have a problem with Bock's theory. Namely, he is asking

kids of 18 or 19 to pick an area of academic concentration based less on their

interests than on what fields are hiring the most people. In fact, two of those

knowledge sets--computer science and computer engineering--are what a

company like Google might value, but what about all the non-

technology companies in the world who look for able talent? Are people who

choose to pursue a liberal arts degree any less skilled or desirable in the

marketplace?

When referencing an article he read a few years ago in the Wall Street Journal,

Bock says that a student who had switched from electrical and computer

engineering to a major in psychology and would focus on a career in public

relations and human resources versus technology "was making a mistake." When I

went to college in the 90s, you were allowed to enjoy the experience--it was about

being part of something, soaking up life on campus, meeting new people,

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8/14/2018 Why Getting A Liberal Arts College Education Is Not A Mistake

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participating in extracurricular activities, and choosing to study something that

excited and interested you. When I landed an internship at a magazine the

summer after my sophomore year, I was the only one of all my friends to have an

internship at such a young age. Back then, most people--if they did one at all--

interned the summer before their senior year to get a taste of an industry before

deciding what kind of career to pursue. Now, every entry-level resume I receive

has a laundry list of internships — so many that I'm often amazed that these kids

had any time to study at all. But in a way, the internships on a job-seekers'

resumes makes them more desirable candidates than what they studied or what

GPA they graduated with. The valuable, real-world work experience that

internships provide often arm young job candidates with knowledge, skills and

resourcefulness that college classes cannot.

I certainly understand that having a computer science or engineering degree helps

if you want to work in those fields--and talent is in high-demand, for sure,

especially since there are so many young, tech-savvy programmers today that

would rather launch their own app or website than go work for Apple or Facebook.

Some of them even forgo college--and that's okay. It's a personal choice and, as we

all know, many enormously successful people--from Steve Jobs to Mark

Zuckerberg to Oprah--were dropouts (though I'd be curious to know how many

more have failed and now have no degree to fall back on).

8/14/2018 Why Getting A Liberal Arts College Education Is Not A Mistake

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But what is most unsettling about the advice given in the Times article is that we,

as a culture of competition, are so hyper-focused on career success that we lose

sight of all the other things that make a person interesting, well-rounded and,

ultimately, a good hire. How sad would it be if, in 10 or 20 years, colleges had to

shut down their English, Comparative Literature and History departments

because students were only choosing to study topics that would help them land a

job at Google?

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With thousands of college students across the country nearing Graduation Day, I

think about the incredible liberal arts education I received at the University of

Michigan. While the school has a well-respected computer engineering program

and a stellar business school, I chose to study Communication and English, two

subjects that perhaps do not meet Mr. Bock’s approval. That said, the classes I

Angell Hall taken November 6, 2010 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

8/14/2018 Why Getting A Liberal Arts College Education Is Not A Mistake

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I help brands and companies position themselves in the market and

communicate their unique point of view both internally and externally. I also co-

authored BE YOUR OWN BEST PUBLICIST: How to Use PR Techniques to Get

Noticed, Hired & Rewarded at Work (Career Press, Jan. 2... MORE

took--ranging from philosophy and sociology to cultural anthropology and, yes,

even statistics (though I must admit I got through Michigan without ever taking a

Calculus class)--fueled my curiosity, strengthened my critical thinking and writing

skills and made me knowledgable on a variety of subjects. And my internships at a

magazine, a PR firm and a record company gave me the practical experience to

pursue a career in writing and communications. I didn't feel I made a "mistake" in

choosing that path. In fact, I am now an executive vice president of

communications at a media company--so I guess that degree came in handy.

As technology is ever-growing, finding good programmers, developers and web

designers can be a huge challenge, so I'm all for growing that talent pool. But as

the job market improves, other industries will need skilled new employees as well,

and if students entering college are being told to focus on the fields that have the

most opportunities, then every other type of job will ultimately have too few

candidates to choose from.

My advice: Do what you love, study what interests you, get good internships,

connect with as many people as possible who might help you land a job, be willing

to work hard and be resourceful--and you'll be fine, whether or not you know how

to build an app or program a computer.

Jessica Kleiman is EVP, Communications at SANDOW and co-author of "Be Your

Own Best Publicist: How to Use PR Techniques to Get Noticed, Hired and

Rewarded at Work" (Career Press). She was the commencement speaker at

University of Michigan's 2013 Communications School graduation.