First Destination Report: 2018-2019 Undergraduate Degree Recipients

Political Science

View results by whole university, by college, or by major

The number of respondents (N) and percentage of respondents (%) are shown for each topic and question.

Response Rate
%
182 Total Graduates
101 55% Reported first destination / respondents
81 45% Unreported / non-respondents

Outcome

What are you primarily doing after graduation?
%
31 31% Working
16 16% Military
2 2% Volunteering
22 22% Continuing Education
0 0% Fellowship
21 21% Still Seeking Employment
9 9% Still Seeking Continuing Education
0 0% Not Seeking (traveling, gap year, taking time off, other)

Continuing Education Details

View list by undergrad major of continuing education degrees, institution, and locations

Working Details

View list by undergrad major of employers, job titles, and locations

Salary and Bonus

Question for working and military respondents.

Medians are shown when four or more individuals reported salary or bonus.
See Salary Detail Report which includes 25th and 75th percentiles where sufficient Ns were reported.
See Bonus Detail Report which provides more detail on numbers and percentages reporting.

%
34 72% Number and percent of working and military who reported salary.
Salary median for working and military: $39000
2 4% Number and percent of working who reported receiving a bonus above $0.
Bonus Median:

Job Source

Question for working respondents

Regarding the job you accepted: Which best describes the way you first made contact with this employer?
%
1 3% Worked / volunteered with this employer in the past.
5 16% Knew / met the employer through someone I know (networking).
5 16% Career fair.
2 6% Handshake.
0 0% On-Campus Interviewing Program (employer interviewed in Smith Career Center).
3 10% Went directly to employer website.
2 6% Used job-seeker website, other than Handshake.
1 3% Information posted or messaged from my academic department.
0 0% Employer spoke at a presentation I attended.
12 39% Did not answer

Job Related to Career Goals

Question for working respondents

Do you consider your job to be related to your career goals?
%
10 32% Very
7 23% Somewhat
1 3% Not
13 42% Did not answer

Job Related to Major

Question for working respondents

Do you consider your job to be related to your major?
%
7 23% Very
7 23% Somewhat
4 13% Not
13 42% Did not answer

Number of Job Offers

Question for working respondents

As best as you recall, how many job offers have you received?
%
7 23% One
6 19% Two
3 10% Three
0 0% Four
1 3% Five or more
14 45% Did not answer

Career Planning and Preparation

Learned Job Search Skills | Source of Learning

Questions for working and still seeking employment respondents.

Which best describes the extent to which you learned job search skills during college?
%
4 8% Learned most that I needed.
26 50% Learned some, but not all, that I needed.
7 13% Learned nothing, or very little
15 29% Did not answer
If you learned job search skills, where did you learn them? Check all that apply.
%
18 35% Career & Professional Development; advising, presentations, website, resource center.
7 13% Career Planning Guide; booklet free to VT students from CPD.
3 6% Other books, magazines, print materials.
17 33% Websites external to Virginia Tech.
10 19% Academic-credit course in my major or college.
3 6% Not-for-credit program in my major or college.
16 31% Advisors, staff, professors in my major or college.
8 15% Other VT advisors, staff, professors, NOT in my major or college.
19 37% Employers, mentors at jobs, internships.
25 48% Parents, adult relatives, family friends.
16 31% Peers.
16 31% Did not answer

Advising on Continuing Education

Questions for continuing education respondents only.

Where did you get advice about graduate or professional school? Check all that apply.
%
12 55% Professors at Virginia Tech.
8 36% Academic advisors at Virginia Tech.
5 23% Pre-professional school advisors at Virginia Tech.
1 5% Career center advisors at Virginia Tech.
10 45% Professionals working in the field I want to pursue.
7 32% Faculty or staff at the graduate or professional schools I considered.
8 36% Websites of the graduate or professional schools I considered.
8 36% Websites about professions and graduate schools.
10 45% Parents, adult relatives
11 50% Peers.
1 5% Print information: books, magazines, etc.
1 5% Did not answer

Experience During College

Questions for all respondents

Did you have any type of career-related experience during college?
%
63 62% Yes
19 19% No
19 19% Did not answer
If yes, what types of experience did you have? Check all that apply.
%
28 28% Volunteer work
29 29% Part-time job
32 32% Summer job
0 0% Unpaid internship
42 42% Paid internship
2 2% Co-op
16 16% Undergraduate research
2 2% Field study
36 36% Did not answer
If you checked "UNPAID internship," how many did you have?
%
19 19% One
8 8% Two
4 4% Three
0 0% Four or More
70 69% Did not answer
If you checked "PAID internship," how many did you have?
%
15 15% One
7 7% Two
0 0% Three
0 0% Four or More
79 78% Did not answer

Used Career Center

Questions for all respondents.

As you recall: During college did you use any resources provided by Virginia Tech Career and Professional Development)? (could include advising, workshops, publications, website, Handshake, employment interviews, etc.)

%
24 24% Never
6 6% Don't recall or unsure
48 48% Yes, but not often
5 5% Yes, often
18 18% Did not answer

Regrets

Questions for all respondents.

If you could start over in college, is there anything you would do differently related to career planning

%
25 25% No. Mostly I did what I needed to achieve my goals.
57 56% Yes. I would do something differently.
19 19% Did not answer

If yes, please check all that apply. I wish I had...

%
35 35% Learned more, or earlier, about career options.
25 25% Learned more, or earlier, about graduate or professional school.
38 38% Asked advisors, staff, professors for advice, earlier, or more often.
36 36% Gotten more experience related to my major or career goals.
29 29% Started my job search earlier.
17 17% Used more or different job search resources.
39 39% Did not answer