Lynn Poole discusses the trends in demand for college graduates and the current increased need for graduates in engineering, chemistry, and physics. J. Lyon Rogers, Jr., of the Johns Hopkins University Placement Bureau, lists employment statistics and describes how campus recruitment brings together employers and prospective employees. Clayton Hill, with the Employee Relations Department of DuPont Co., gives a typical employment interview to Hopkins senior John D. Sutherland. Lynn Poole talks with 1956 graduating seniors C. Robert Nicoll, Edward K. Hahn, and Richard C. McShane about their job searches, number of interviews, and professional and military futures. Chemical engineering graduates James L. Hockenberry, Jr. and James A. Halloran talk to Poole about their chances for success and how they are more interested in a satisfying job than its salary. Student Robert B. Burgess, Jr. points out that by signing with a firm before going into the military, his seniority in the company accrues while he's in the service. Senior John W. Leonard, Jr. notes that the average salary for engineers like him is $400-425 per month. Poole asks William H. Schwarz and Harry N. Keller, two students receiving doctoral degrees in chemical engineering, about the time required to get their degrees and the fields and opportunities now available to them. Finally, Poole interviews Ali Arman, a graduating aeronautics student from Istanbul, Turkey, who must become a U.S. citizen before he can be hired by a U.S. business.

"A.R." is a member of the Johns Hopkins University graduating class of 2021. In this interview, she explains how the COVID-19 pandemic impacted her college experience, limiting her social interactions and requiring online coursework. In this interview, she describes growing up and living in Queens, in New York City. She shares what her experiences were like moving with her family to Texas and attending school there. She discusses her decision to transfer to Hopkins and move to Baltimore, and the importance of family and community as she made that transition. She speaks about Bangladeshi culture and food, as well as her academic pursuits in the STEM field of engineering. A.R. includes comments about hobbies and groups she connected with while at Hopkins and she mentions her plans for future employment post-graduation. This oral history is part of the First-generation Students oral histories series.

"J.M." is a member of the Johns Hopkins University graduating class of 2019 who majored in environmental engineering and minored in classics. In this interview, they describe growing up in New York City with their parents and academic opportunities they had growing up which prepared them for college. J.M. goes on to talk about their transition to life on campus and in Baltimore, various jobs they've held as a student, and places they've lived. They also share their interest in environmental engineering and friendships they've made with classmates. J.M. advises other students to stay connected to their roots, get involved on campus, and broaden their horizons. This oral history is part of the First-generation Students oral histories series.

Dr. Karl Alexander is the John Dewey Professor Emeritus of Sociology and Founder and Director of the Thurgood Marshall Alliance. Before joining Johns Hopkins in 1971, he earned his B.A. from Temple University (1968) and Ph.D. in Sociology from the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill (1972). In this interview, Alexander discusses his dissertation work at UNC and contributions to Hopkins' new Center for Social Organization of Schools in the 1970s. He goes on to detail his work in the sociology of education, which drew from field research in Baltimore, as well as his founding of the Thurgood Marshall Alliance, which aims to improve economic and racial diversity in Baltimore schools. This oral history is part of the Hopkins Retrospective oral histories series.