American college students now shunning dot-coms

American MBA student John Culley entered a competition last month for the best business plan at New York University. Unlike former contestants, his business plan was not on an Internet venture.

On the contrary, it was about breeding shrimps.

Culley is part of the growing group of Americans who now shun Internet companies or the so-called dot-coms and go for more traditional businesses.

"I think most of the great ideas in that area have been mined," said Culley in a New York Times article this week. "I have no aversion to a dot-com or any other technology company. I would do anything if it’s something I’m passionate about."

The New York Times said business school students are now shifting away from the dot-com mania of early 2000 and back to more traditional ideas.

Jeff Freilich, a member of a team of students competing in a business-plan contest at the Massachusettes Institute of Technology, said they are "steering clear of the dot-com bubble" which burst in the last two years.

Jobtrak.com, an online college job listings firm, said more and more college students are avoiding Internet companies and other information technology (IT) startups, fearing that the recent crash will impact their chance for a thriving career.

In a survey of more than 1,000 college students, Jobtrak.com says that only 12 percent of respondents would look to a dot-com or IT startup for a job after graduation, down from 26 percent this time last year, according to a report by Newsbytes, an online news agency.

In this year’s survey, Jobtrak.com found Fortune 1000 companies heading the prospects list for college students at 36 percent, up from 31 percent last year, followed by 35 percent checking out mid-sized companies, up from 27 percent in 2000.

Interestingly, the economic downturn has not affected the self-employed aspirations of college students, according to Newsbytes. This year, Jobtrak.com found that 17 percent of respondents said they would be seriously considering self-employment, up from 16 percent in 2000.

Dr. Richard White, Rutgers University’s director of career services, told Newsbytes that the results of the poll confirmed what his department was already seeing: college students are seeking more stable work environments with established, generally bigger companies.

White also said that employers may even see a new wave of loyalty between employer and employee, following the dot-com and job-jumping frenzy of the late 1990s.