Mr. Jack Armstrong serves in a dual role as Old Ivy's part-time health and fitness coach and career advisor. In the early afternoon, Roderick goes to see Mr. Armstrong in his office, which is located in the basement of Old Main, between the boiler room and the loading dock.
"Hello, Mr. Armstrong?"
"Yes."
"My name's Roderick and I..."
"Siddown." Roderick sits.
Mr. Armstrong bangs away on the keyboard of a PC that looks like it's about ten years old. He finishes what he is doing and looks up.
"Whaddya want?"
"I came here for some career counseling."
"Okay, well when you graduate you need to get a job."
"What sort of job is right for me?"
"How should I know?"
"Well. what sort of jobs are available to Old Ivy grads?"
"Beats me. They come, they study, they graduate, they leave. That's it. Once they're gone they're not my problem."
"How do I arrange interviews with potential employers?"
"Call or send email. There are lots of listings on Monster. But of course, you're better off attending job fairs." Mr. Armstrong holds up a copy of his book Your Next Job: A Guide to Job Fairs.
"Do we have a job fair here at Old Ivy?"
"No."
"Any other suggestions?"
"Networking is even better than job fairs." Mr. Armstrong holds up a copy of his book How To Network To A Better Job.
"Can you help me get started networking?"
"Talk to your Dad."
"Nice books, where do I get them?"
"Amazon, thirty bucks apiece."
"Any other advice?"
"Do twenty pushups a day and you'll be okay."
Roderick thanks Mr. Armstrong and departs.
In the evening. Roderick opens Facebook and discovers "friend" requests from Emily Scharf and Betsy Whistler, and a personal message from Lily with a link to this article on the fiscal cliff. In his newsfeed, there are three hundred and forty two cat videos posted by Katie Zeppelin.
"Katie's been busy" he mutters out loud. Roderick watches this one, which he likes.
