Job

I want a job with IBM, doing this. But how do I get it?

The Liberal Arts Lie

There is a growing trend to view higher education as a value-adding commodity. You go to school and you expect to come out employable, with marketable skills. Surely, education is an investment in human capital, but an overly commodified view has its drawbacks. If you view education as a value-adding transaction, then you tend towards vocational training, which adds value in concrete, measurable ways.

Liberal arts institutions fight this trend, a worthy fight in my humble opinion. Rather than cranking out employees, liberal arts colleges try to nurture thoughtful citizens, armed not with skills but with critical thinking. And this is the liberal arts pitch: at our institution, you will learn how to think, you will learn how to learn, and that is the most transferable skill possible. You will receive a broad-based, holistic education that will enable you to pursue any profession you desire. At our institution, we take a broader view of "value."

This is all nice and dandy. I enjoy learning and thinking, and my Swarthmore education cultivated my curiosity and, cliche as it might sound, a lifelong love of learning. Things get a bit messy, though, when you transition from an institution that fights against the value-added view of education to the job market. In the vagaries of the marketplace, it is unreasonably difficult to translate thoughtfulness into social contribution. I see so many of my classmates--who are smart, thoughtful, motivated and filled with good intentions--struggle to find employment where they are happy and feel as though they are contributing real value to society, or at least on their way to doing so.

I am unemployed right now, and I am sleeping on the couch of a high school friend who studied Business for his undergraduate degree. He is an investment banker taking in a handsome salary, and he just finished reading a book, titled Damn, It Feels Good to be a Banker. The author of this obnoxious book ends the preface with this sentence: "Dad, thanks for not letting me study liberal arts."

I am not complaining. There are things in my life that I value much more highly than a bank statement. And I think the liberal arts pitch is ultimately true. I am merely commenting on the difficulty of the transition from a liberal arts education to a nonacademic pursuit. And I think that it is something of a shame.

A One-in-a-Million Plea

Dear John Doerr,

Obviously this e-mail is a long shot. But, as you said in your TED Talk, quoting Thomas Friedman, "If you don't go, you don't know." I am an avid reader of Friedman's books and columns, and his writings have helped convince me of the need for the United States to adopt a Code Green response to today's environmental and economic crises. I want to contribute to the cause.

I am writing to you in particular because I was moved by the passion and emotion with which you spoke during your TED Talk. From everything that I have read about you, you seem to share Friedman's vision of America as a place distinguished by its innovative vigor and entrepreneurial spirit. In fact, I would argue that you have largely been the author of this vision during your career at KPCB. But more importantly, you seem to believe in America as a place where a guy like you just might respond to an e-mail from a guy like me.

Let me tell you a little bit about myself. I graduated from Swarthmore College in 2007 with majors in Economics and English Literature, and after teaching high school English for a year in Ecuador, I now live in San Francisco. I decided to move here because, in Michael Lewis' words, "[The United States] is the capital of innovation," and, "Silicon Valley is to the United States what the United States is to the rest of the world." I moved here with the intention of getting involved in greentech innovation, hoping to offer my skills and work ethic towards the cause which I passionately believe in.

Unfortunately, my decision to move to the bay area has coincided with one of the worst periods for the economy in recent memory. In the six weeks that I have been here, I have submitted application materials to over fifty companies and have repeatedly been told, "Sorry, but we are not hiring right now," or some variation of the same sentiment. I have a degree from a presitigious liberal arts college with a strong record of academic achievement, and I am convinced that I have something to offer to greentech innovation, perhaps not in the vein of technical expertise, but at least in the combination of critical thinking, passion and hard work.

Being young, I am eager to learn and to contribute. But I have not yet been able to find the structure required for me to develop what potential I do possess. When I learned of the Greentech Innovation Network and your leadership role in it, I said to myself, "I want to be involved in that." Obama and McCain both speak of the dignity that comes with earning an honest living. As a young American, I seek the dignity that comes with working towards what one believes in. I worry for our country and for the world when young people with profiles similar to mine struggle so mightily to find meaningful employment. So I am writing to ask you how I might get involved in what you are doing with respect to greentech. Perhaps I can assist in research and analysis, conduct literature reviews, or support administratively. I want to be involved in some capacity such that I can be a part of the bottom-up innovation required to reach some solution to the problems that we face. Any guidance that you could offer would be much appreciated.

I humbly ask that you take the time to read my e-mail and I hope to hear back from you sometime. In any case, I admire the work that you have done on your daughter's behalf.

Sincerely,
Brian Chen