There's a fantastic article in today's New York Times that introduces us to some college juniors and seniors who have lost their offers from Bear Stearns. You should be familiar with Bear Stearns' collapse and JPMorgan's subsequent acquisition, but while this affected thousands of investors and billions of dollars of invested money, there's a lot of relevance for college juniors and seniors.
Bear had extended job offers to approximately 300 graduating seniors and 300 internships for rising seniors, and these students quickly found themselves stuck in mud: the seniors were without a job, well after the finance hiring season had ended, and the Wall Street job market was thin. Interns had also let the hiring season (correctly) elapse with their offers in hand.
JPMorgan has extended an offer to the 250 graduates who were expecting to work at Bear: they can keep their signing bonuses if they sign and swear not to sue over this debacle. A number of interns were also offered positions at JPMorgan.
To the author, this is all too familiar. Immediately after graduation, my job offer was rescinded and I was floating on the same raft as every other potential hire. So, in this case, Bear's collapse was one result of the country's subprime mortgage crisis and recession, but it happens outside of finance. Any company can hit a rough financial period at any time, so at any stage of employment, your resume should be updated, you should be aware of other job prospects and you should always be networking. If your prove yourself as a smart, hard-working employee, companies will want to hire you. You may not work in the same field, you may move industries, but perseverance will be rewarded.
