This is the first year start-ups have played significant role in job searches, Career Services says
Long tables lined with computers and people dressed in Hawaiian shirts and jeans didn't exist in a warehouse in San Francisco a year ago, and may not exist a year from now.
But graduating senior Bradford Mak is confident it will be there at least until July when he is slated to start work full time at eFrenzy, an Internet start-up company. In deciding to do so, he changed his mind about a longtime plan to go to medical school.
"I began seeing what an exciting time it was ... historically we are in a unique time," said Mak, 21, who studied human biology. "The rationale is that grad school and professions will always be there - these jobs won't."
And, as recent college graduates "we are at the prime time to take a risk," Mak said.
He is among a growing number of graduating seniors either hired by Internet start-up companies this year or starting their own companies, according to Sheila Curran, director of Career Services. A start-up is a company that received initial funding for a business plan and has not yet gone public.
At eFrenzy, Mak will work as a market research analyst, reviewing its competitors and analyzing the pros and cons of each. The Web site targets time-starved individuals who need to find someone to clean their houses, provide tennis instruction, perform lawn care, cater a party, or give them massages to alleviate the stress from all of those commitments.
A personal connection to the company's founders landed Mak an interview. His chances were slim otherwise; eFrenzy receives about 200 résumés a day, he said.
This is the first year that start-ups - particularly those of Internet ventures - have played a significant role in the career search for students, said Curran. Thirty-nine start-ups listed jobs in the virtual career fair this year; last year there were none.
The risky nature of Internet start-ups was apparent in April when the stock market suffered turmoil and Internet stocks fell almost 50 percent. "But I haven't seen anyone changing their minds because of the stock market," said Curran.
"You may be very unlucky and the start-up may go under but no one is going to look askance at your résumé if you were in a dot com for three months," said Curran.
Two important steps when making such a career choice are to determine whether the start-up is an idea you really love, and to do a lot of advance research about the industry, according to Curran.
She recommended interviewing with Brown alumni already in the field, and the qualities to look for in a start-up. Curran frequently travels to New York and San Francisco to meet with alumni and seek their assistance in counseling students.
But even those seniors who have not done much research are diving into the field.
Philip Lynch plans to head to California after graduation to knock on doors with his résumé. The only thing he is definitely looking for in a dot-com employer is stock options, he said.
Earlier in the school year, Lynch had considered taking a consulting job but changed his mind because "there is just such a shift in focus toward the Internet and computers."
"There are just so many of them," said Lynch, who concentrated in sociology and organizational behavioral management at Brown. "I heard from someone who is out there that they need bodies."
Brown's curriculum prepares students with skills often called for in the dot-com world, say those involved. And a degree in computer science is clearly not required.
In the case of eFrenzy, the company was looking for someone who had demonstrated research skills, showed initiative, could work on a team and was entrepreneurial, all talents he had demonstrated while at Brown, said Mak.
And the freeform structure of the Brown educational experience is also good preparation for the chaos of managing a start-up, according to Barrett Hazeltine, professor emeritus of engineering and a member of the faculty board of directors for the Entrepreneurship Program at Brown.
"The beauty of Internet start-ups is that they work in Internet time - fast," said Hazeltine. "Hardware or biotech start-ups take five to eight years to work out, maybe longer. With an Internet you probably know within two years."
In a lifetime, a person could do five or six Internet start-ups - "if she had the stomach for it" - and still have time to retire, said Hazeltine.
Mak began looking for other career opportunities at the beginning of his senior year; some experiences with international medicine had prompted him to think about other options.
He interviewed Brown alumni already in the field of start-ups and read trade magazines, learning what to look for in a dot-com business. He received two informal offers from start-ups while in San Francisco, but they were less secure than the eFrenzy offer.
At eFrenzy, Mak liked the management team. And when he walked into its warehouse for the interview, its walls peppered with inspirational sayings, he felt immediately comfortable.
"You can just feel the energy and excitement," said Mak. "I guess you sort of hope the company will continue for a while, but it is indefinite."
In a year? "I'll still be there. If not, I'll possibly start my own company. If not maybe be in another start-up," he said, the sentence trailing off with still other possibilities.