Steve Brauntuch: Getting a job the old fashioned way

On Sunday night, I watched the season finale of Dream Job, the show on ESPN where the network gives a complete amateur a one-year contract to be a SportsCenter anchor. Like many ardent followers of the show, when it was over, I was left with many lingering questions.

Is Brown undergrad and semifinalist Maggie Haskins as cute in person as she appears on TV, or does the fact that she can name the Red Sox starting rotation make her more attractive? Since it clearly wasn't talent or intellect that got her a job, did ESPN hire morning show host Kit Hoover because of her obscenely large cheekbones? Has Dream Job champion Mike Hall entered any Craig Kilborn lookalike contests recently?

And perhaps most importantly, if ESPN is giving out anchor jobs to contest winners, why am I bothering to go to graduate school?

You see, I was under the impression that in journalism, a master's degree was more appealing to potential employers than a year of getting coffee and making photocopies for other reporters. Sure, there was something to be said for on-the-job training in a small market and jumping right into the workforce upon graduation from college. But I thought more education and practice on the amateur level would make potential employers take me seriously and give me a leg up when entering the field of my choice.

Apparently, though, when it comes to schooling, I'm a slow driver watching cars zoom past me on the highway to professional success. While I'm thrilled to have been accepted and plan to attend graduate school this fall, spending another year in school may actually be hurting my chances of getting a good job, at least in the short run.

Now I know graduate school isn't for everyone, especially those with degrees from preprofessional schools. And although I completely disagree with them, people have certainly warned me that I won't learn anything of value by going to school for another year.

But for my own peace of mind, before I step in front of the camera for the first time to report a story, I want some practice doing it when my salary isn't on the line. I don't think I'm qualified right now to get a job in broadcast journalism, but I know I will be one year from now.

The problem is that my qualifications may not matter one year from now, because those jobs might be filled with people who were once in the same boat. They just decided they'd skip the training and learn it all in a condensed, informal way. And it isn't just J-School that is becoming less important for career tracks. This trend is stretching across all of higher education.

Want to become a teacher? You don't need a master's degree -- we'll teach you everything you need to know about a subject in one summer, and you can start in the fall. How about investment banking? No worries -- you can work for us for a few years right out of school, and then maybe you'll head to business school on our dime in 2007. Sure, we think it's cute that you want to do it the way your parents did and show up for work on day one, fully qualified for your job. But unless you're going to be a lawyer or a doctor, we don't really care how many degrees you have.

It's even reached the point where many graduate schools would rather you go out and work in your field of choice for a few years before you apply. They don't want to teach babyfaces -- they want work force veterans who don't ask to be nurtured through every step of the process.

All of this must make graduate school extremely unappealing for students looking for help before they take on their professional goals. Take it from me -- unless you're planning to go into law, medicine or academia, you're going to get funny looks and a handful of laughs when you tell people you're planning to go to grad school when you finish at Penn. (In fairness, I get those same looks when I tell people I'm a comm major. But that's another column.)

And yet, I couldn't be happier about delaying my foray into the professional world for a year. I'm fortunate to be able to attend graduate school this fall, and I'm jumping at that opportunity. I might be the exception to this increasingly popular trend, but I think I actually need to go to graduate school. It may not help me get a job in the short run (although it would be nice if it did), but from a career standpoint, it will certainly help me in the long run.

So I applaud Mike Hall for earning a contract from ESPN right out of college, and I'll be watching him on SportsCenter all year from my dorm room. Hopefully, with the training I get over the next year, Mike and I will become colleagues somewhere down the road.

Steve Brauntuch is a senior communications major from Tenafly, N.J., and former editorial page editor of The Daily Pennsylvanian. Statler and Waldorf appears on Wednesdays..

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