For the last few weeks, I’ve been filling out applications for summer internships in software development, which is what I’m currently pursuing in school.
In hopes of expanding my options, I called the Duke University Career Center, which I utilized on a number of occasions as an undergrad. I called because although I’m a graduate, I needed information about undergraduate programs, and the standard Duke program for that (eRecruiting) is only available for active undergraduates.
When I asked them about this, they asked me what year I graduated. “2006,” I said. “I’m sorry, but our services are no longer available to you. Since you graduated more than 4 years ago, you’re no longer considered a recent graduate. Try the alumni network or graduate job posts.” (Incidentally, jobs for graduates are not what I need, and few of the available Duke alumni services members work in the IT industry. Been there, done that, no dice.)
Great. So for $200K and a nearly 10-year sacrifice of time and effort, I’m now left out in the cold and denied basic career advising services. Thanks a lot, Duke University. I can see I’m really getting my money’s worth.
The Ivy Lie 
Stanford’s career center used to offer ongoing career service advising for its alumni, for a fee, and then, about five years back, it changed its policy and discontinued that service altogether. I suppose they realized that they simply aren’t really all that well-equipped to help people who haven’t just recently graduated find suitable work. But what does that say about the value of a Stanford degree, that the school’s career services office is so overburdened with alumni that it can no longer afford to accommodate them? (To be fair, there was a huge recession going on at the time, but still.)
Very nice poost