J.P. Mischkot graduated in December of 2003 from the University of Oregon with an economics major AND a new job in hand. In the spring of 2003, he began talking with the company his brother worked for, States Industries. He networked through his brother to get an “in” with the company. After a few interviews J.P. was offered a job, under the circumstance that he finish in Winter term rather then Spring. He took summer school and got the credits he needed to be a term ahead and in Winter he was finished. When the time came around for his to start work the company tried to tell him that since the market was so poor they could not hire him. J.P. felt they had broken the agreement and he was determined to get the job that he was offered only six months before. After talking with them he persuaded them that they could not go back on their word and he then started working for them.
J.P. is now working States Industries in their sales department. States Industries makes wood products like doors, cabinets, etc... J.P. is still in the training stages of the company as of this writing and a typical day for him includes going out with senior salesmen to companies, going to the mills to understand the companies products, and also studying the way that the company does business.
Before J.P got out of college he worked for the famous College Works Painting. It is appealing to students because some of the employees have made over then thousand dollars in one summer. However, most of the time it isn't that way and Mischkot's experience was not any different, in fact he said he didn't make any money that summer. He did though, get experience though it, being his own boss, working with the financial aspects of business operations and he recommends it to students to get the same experience that he did.
J.P.'s success in obtaining his job is a great lesson in the importance of starting the search early, being flexible, and gaining experience through internships. As J.P. explained in a recent Economics Career Day at UO, academic achievement is only one factor that employers look at in search of employees. In today's age a undergraduate degree is pretty standard, but personality, attitude, and involvement play a big a part as well in that initial job search.
Profile by Andrew Wills (2004)