For years, stigma and perceptions around Bachelor of Arts degrees have been perpetuated by concerned parents, STEM majors and finance bros alike, with common ideas such as students with a BA can’t get a job post-grad or that a BA is useless compared to other options.
As graduation looms on the horizon, graduating students may be feeling worried about their options post grad, especially with the added stress of needing to prove their degree is valuable.
“I’m excited and terrified,” said fifth-year student Maddie MacGregor. “Every year around this time, I’m picking my courses for next year. And now I’m sitting here like, ‘I don’t even know what I’m gonna do next year.’”
MacGregor is a sociology student who has absolutely no idea what she wants to do next year. She has considered continuing in the social work program, but is also looking at jobs so she can finance more education. Nevertheless, she said having relatives at family gatherings ask her what she wants to do after graduation makes her feel “awful.”
“I’m still so young. I don’t want to dig my heels in anything without being 100 per cent sure,” she said.
“So yeah, I’m definitely struggling.”
For many graduating students, MacGregor’s worries may resonate. But while the concerns can feel overwhelming and all-consuming, simply knowing that there are thousands of people that have been in the same position can be a comfort.
In the spring of 2022, St. Thomas University alum Hailee Fleck said she felt a lot of stress after her four years at STU.
“After those four years, it’s kind of a relief that you’re done. And then you’re like, ‘oh gosh, now I gotta find a job.’ I definitely put a pressure on myself to rush it,” said Fleck.
For Fleck, however, figuring out what she wanted to do after graduating became more exciting after working on her resume and truly understanding what she had learned in her time at university.
Now, she works in Saskatchewan at a retirement facility as the director of a day program for seniors. She says the job search post-grad was not as smooth as she hoped, because as a gerontology major, not many employers she spoke with even knew what gerontology was.
“Only three universities in Canada offer it,” she said. “But even getting your foot in the door, you’re able to explain yourself and whatnot. After I got the job, they then added [gerontology] to the list of available options.”
Despite some initial troubles, Fleck said her life post-grad in the workforce has been going well, thanks in part to the skills STU provided her throughout her studies, such as critical thinking, adaptability and well-roundedness.
To this year’s grads, Fleck’s top advice as an alum is to be patient and understand that you might not be where you want right away. Trust the process.
“There’s always that dream job that you’ve envisioned,” she said. “Just remember that that’s your goal. That’s not your beginning.”
STU’s career advisor Erin Feicht said there is often not even a dream job for many students that come to her for help and that is also okay.
“A lot of the time, they don’t know at all what they want to do. They’ve heard ‘okay, I should go to university because that will help me get a job.’ But other than that, they’re not really sure,” she said.
Feicht has been at STU for two years and her job is to support students with careers, especially post-grad. She said for graduating students that come to see her, getting a job after graduation is a huge concern and they often have no idea where to start.
“I think letting students know that what they’re about to complete is something that is actually very unique,” she said. “A Bachelor of Arts provides you with transferable skills that are useful to a huge variety of jobs.”
For Feicht, her biggest tip for students is to get as much experience as you can before graduating.
“The more extracurriculars, the more jobs or internships, the easier it will be to convince employers that you’re the right fit for them,” she said. “Employers like to hire students right after they’ve graduated, because it’s a new perspective. The minds are still fresh.”
For students that may have no experience or extracurriculars, Feicht said there is always a solution. Whether they take up last minute volunteer hours or start networking with professionals, there is always a way.
“If they haven’t gotten any experience before, now’s the time to start,” said Feicht. “Everyone’s done something, even if it’s just helping somebody.”
