Public service is cool again
Prashanth Gubbala always expected to help save the world 鈥� just not right away.
That鈥檚 why last year he landed his first out-of-college job with the boutique investment-banking firm Canaccord Adams in Boston. He worked 90-hour weeks. He targeted his climb up the corporate ladder as a way to get the financial means and influence to help others.
But when he got a pink slip 鈥� along with other new hires 鈥� and ran into a family acquaintance he鈥檇 met at her going-away-to-the-Peace-Corps party, he was primed to follow his dream, too.
In investment banking, 鈥測ou鈥檙e not doing anything that contributes to the world,鈥� says Mr. Gubbala, who joined the Peace Corps and hopes to consult and teach in Eastern Europe. 鈥淭his was my opportunity to change and get out.鈥�
Gubbala is joining tens of thousands of recent graduates opting to work in public service, part of a generational shift similar to the one seen after President Kennedy called for service and began the Peace Corps in 1961. The Peace Corps, which funnels nearly 8,000 Americans a year to underdeveloped countries for two-year volunteer stints, has seen a 24 percent surge in applications in the first half of 2009 compared with the same period two years ago. Its stateside corollary AmeriCorps and Teach for America, which places college graduates in K-12 teaching positions across the country, have seen even bigger increases. (See chart.)
Though the long recession is a major catalyst for the rising interest in public-service jobs 鈥� traditionally secure, if low-paid, opportunities open to young people 鈥� that鈥檚 not this generation鈥檚 only motivation, say experts who study the subject.
鈥淭his kind of perfect storm hit, in a good way, with the economy and Obama [and] the tarnishing of the for-profit business world,鈥� says Rob Reich, a professor of political science at Stanford University in California. 鈥淭he incentives were just weighted so heavily toward management, consulting. [Now] students see doing public service opportunities as an actual profession ... something that is high-status.鈥�
The boom has momentum, thanks in part to President Obama鈥檚 emphasis on community service. Mr. Obama called for public service during his campaign and, as president, signed the Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act, which will triple the size of AmeriCorps to 250,000 annual positions by 2017. In the three days around his inauguration, applications to the Peace Corps nearly tripled over the same period in 2008.
These economic and social currents are changing the directions students take.
After graduating in May, 海角大神 Seale of Brown University in Providence, R.I., had hoped to return to investment bank Goldman Sachs, where he鈥檇 interned for two summers, and then attend the Harvard Business School, where he鈥檇 already been accepted. But those plans began to change last fall when a dean sent along a note with information about applying for a Fulbright grant to teach English abroad. Then job prospects dwindled with the debacle in the financial industry. 鈥淲hen the financial crisis hit, it kind of solidified my decision for me,鈥� the Spencer, Mass., native says.
Mr. Seale, who speaks Spanish but has never been to Latin America, will spend a year in Barranquilla, Colombia, teaching university students. Then, it鈥檚 off to the Harvard Business School, unless he can launch his real dream: a gym for urban youth without access to exercise facilities. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 my passion, fitness,鈥� he says.
Kathy Choi, a graduate of Duke Uni-versity in Durham, N.C., had looked into working in business after graduation, until canceled interviews and nixed company campus visits made her reassess. Now, she鈥檚 working as a public school administrator.
鈥淎 lot of people [at Duke University] are more open-minded about nontraditional career paths,鈥� says Ms. Choi of Torrance, Calif. There鈥檚 鈥渓ots of empathy and understanding about people鈥檚 situations.鈥�
Even a job offer isn鈥檛 stopping some graduates鈥� move to service. Daniel Carroll of Harvard deferred an offer from the Boston Consulting Group in San Francisco. Instead, the human biology and computer science graduate will be in Denver, teaching physical science for at least two years to eighth graders, under the Teach for America program. 鈥淚 wasn鈥檛 really quite sure what end I wanted to put [my] skills to,鈥� he says. He鈥檚 found one already for his new students: 鈥淚 can make savvy PowerPoints.鈥�
The uptick in public-service interest and activism is similar to the early 1960s 鈥� with a twist, says Doug McAdam, a sociology professor at Stanford who has studied both the Freedom Summer of 1964, when college students traveled to Mississippi to register African-American voters, and the first years of Teach for America. Then, times were prosperous. Knowing that job opportunities were quite good, baby boomers could pursue public service without worrying about compromising their long-term career goals, he says. That鈥檚 not the case today, he adds.
There鈥檚 another connection with the 1960s. It鈥檚 the baby boomers who joined federal service in the 鈥�60s who are now leaving vacancies for new job-seekers, according to Tim McManus, vice president of education and outreach for the Partnership for Public Service.
Roughly one-third of federal employees 鈥� 600,000 鈥� are eligible for retirement in the next four years, he says. 鈥淭his is again a once-in-a-generation opportunity.鈥�
An increasing number of young people are interested in working for the government 鈥� and slightly more actually are 鈥� according to annual surveys by the National Association of Colleges and Employers. (See chart.)
That trend may reverse once the economy recovers, says Mr. McAdam. 鈥淚f people see great opportunities in the private sector, some people are going to seize those opportunities even if they have values in line with service.鈥�
Switching from the private to the public sector involves sacrifice. Mr. Seale is trading what would have been bonuses and a comfortable New York social life for a $900-a-month stipend in Colombia. 鈥淸It] isn鈥檛 incredible, but it isn鈥檛 poverty by any means,鈥� he says.
Mr. Carroll estimates that he鈥檚 giving up $20,000 to $30,000 in annual salary by choosing teaching over consulting now. But he still says that now is the right time to teach.
Waiting to teach after a few years as a consultant and getting an MBA would be 鈥渁 bit silly,鈥� he says, based on how much pay he would then be giving up. 鈥淭he opportunity cost [of teaching] will really be a lot greater later in my life.鈥�
Gubbala, by contrast, is looking forward to the Peace Corps largely because of what he鈥檒l be able to give up. He wants to write letters home, not e-mails, and hopes he won鈥檛 be able to see Facebook.
鈥淚鈥檓 kind of looking forward to getting away from all of this,鈥� he says at a coffee shop just down the street from his old firm. One more perk: 鈥渘ot having a cellphone, hopefully.鈥�
