For many Harvard students, the prospect of finding a job and a place to live after Commencement is a daunting one.

Students may face countless pressures--whether from parents or peers--to go to graduate school or to medicine, law or business.

Many may feel pressured to leave the friendly and familiar Boston area and secure that coveted high-salary investment banking job on Wall Street.

In recent years, however, many Harvard grads have opted to turn away from such career tracks, choosing instead to follow their dreams of working in such fields as public service, journalism and technology.

And many have chosen to settle within miles of Fair Harvard.

According to Director of the Office of Career Services (OCS) Bill Wright-Swadel, over the past decade, the percentages of graduates taking jobs in various sectors have remained relatively stable.

But more recent OCS statistics may show a trend away from the business world and into the public service sector.

"There seems to be a beginning trend...of students who are talking about non-corporate careers," Wright-Swadel said.

Many students who seek advice at OCS are hesitant to break the mold and stray away from high-paying, and often high-status careers in business, medicine or law.

"One of the things that we hear...are students who are interested in doing something non-corporate, but feel either financial or peer pressures to do otherwise," Wright-Swadel said.

But some ignore the pressure.

And those who were simply happy in the Boston area, and decided to stick around, pursuing a career for enjoyment--and not the dollars--offer a perspective often unheard around these parts.

A 'Hired Nerd'

When he first came to Harvard from Florida, Albert Elia IV '96 had not ever considered the possibility of living around Boston after college.

Four years later, after concentrating in applied mathematics and computer science, Elia began the search for a job.