First Destination Report: 2015-2016 Undergraduate Degree Recipients for Whole University

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

First destinations: What grads are doing after graduation:

Number of Respondents %
Category
5670 Not Applicable Total Graduates
3494 62% Reported first destination / respondents

TAKING TIME OFF after graduation (more than 1 month, less than 1 year)

1567 45% No
1542 44% Yes, one to less than three full months
226 6% Yes, three to less than six full months
152 4% Yes, six months to less than a full year

FIRST DESTINATION AFTER GRADUATION

99 3% U.S. military service commitment.
99 3% Service/volunteer program (non-military).
35 1% Self-employed or working in a family-owned business.
1583 45% Employed or have accepted a job offer (not employed by self or family).
125 4% Have job offer(s), but undecided on accepting.
551 16% Seeking employment, but don't yet have a job offer.
89 3% Plan to seek employment later.
607 17% Admitted to continuing education.
171 5% Plan to continue education, but details not firm yet.
183 5% Both seeking employment and applying to continue education.
15 0% Other having nothing to do with employment or continued education.

Continuing education: Graduate, professional school, or other:

View list by undergrad major showing cont. educ. degree / program / institution / location

778 22% Plan to attend OR have accepted admission.

ADVICE SOURCES about continuing education (check ALL that apply)

From what sources did you seek advice about graduate or professional school (or other additional education)?

85 12% Print information such as books or magazines.
501 68% Websites / online information.
422 58% Professors at Virginia Tech.
341 47% Academic advisors at Virginia Tech.
71 10% Pre-professional school advisors at Virginia Tech.
395 54% People who work in the field or profession I'd like to pursue.
336 46% Parents and/or other adult relatives or family friends.
324 44% Peers such as friends and/or brothers or sisters.
79 11% Career & Professional Development.
200 27% Faculty or staff at graduate or professional schools you considered.
22 3% Other

Employment:

View list by undergrad major showing employer /job title / location

1751 50% Number / percent of respondents reporting they are employed (Employed, Self-employed, Volunteer and Military)
1661 97% Number / percent of total employed who are employed full-time (if indicated)
47 3% Number / percent of total employed who are employed part-time (if Indicated)

SALARY DATA for graduates who accepted FULL-TIME employment

1506 86% Number / percent of employed reporting salaries
Not Applicable Not Applicable 25th percentile (25% make this amount or less): $43028
Not Applicable Not Applicable 50th percentile (50% make this amount or less; 50% make more): $58000 (Median)
Not Applicable Not Applicable 75th percentile (75% make this amount or less; 25% make more): $66900
Not Applicable Not Applicable (Percentiles not reported if fewer than 12 graduates reported salary)

BONUS WITH JOB OFFER

Did your job offer include a signing bonus?

1563 89% Number / percent of employed who reported whether or not they received bonuses
564 36% Yes
999 64% No
Not Applicable Not Applicable 25th percentile (25% of bonuses were this amount or less): $2856
Not Applicable Not Applicable 50th percentile (50% of bonuses were this amount or less; 50% make more): $5000 (Median)
Not Applicable Not Applicable 75th percentile (75% of bonuses were this amount or less; 25% make more): $9000
Not Applicable Not Applicable (Percentiles not reported if fewer than 12 graduates reported a bonus)

Employment RELATED to CAREER GOALS

Do you consider your job to be related to your career goals and/or to be an entry-level avenue to reach your career goals?

1282 77% VERY related to career goals
377 23% SOMEWHAT related to career goals
0 0% NOT related to career goals

Employment RELATED to MAJOR

Do you consider your job to be related to your college major?

1116 67% VERY related to major
414 25% SOMEWHAT related to major
134 8% NOT related to major

JOB / EMPLOYER SOURCE

Which best describes the source of your first contact with the employer (organization, company, agency) whose job you accepted?

484 30% Worked for or volunteered with this employer in the past.

Referral or contact through:

71 4% Current or former employer.
49 3% Professor or other faculty or staff member in your department.
146 9% Friend or family member.
31 2% Alumnus/alumna (a graduate) of Virginia Tech.
23 1% Fellow member of club, sorority or fraternity to which you belong.
34 2% Email or posted information from your academic department.
401 25% Career fair or job fair.
135 8% On-Campus Interviewing Program or Hokies4Hire.
92 6% The employer's website.
84 5% Website for job seekers (such as Monster.com, on-line classifieds, etc.).
3 0% Print publication (newspaper, etc.).
81 5% Other.

WHEN JOB SEARCH STARTED

About when did you actively start your job search for your post-graduation job?
(Asked of employed graduates and those with an offer or offers.)

December 2015 graduates
65 26% During spring semester 2015 (more than 6 months prior to degree completion)
52 21% Summer 2015 (4-6 months prior to degree completion)
77 31% September or October 2015 (2-3 months prior to degree completion)
33 13% November or December 2015 (0-1 month prior to degree completion)
17 7% January, February or March 2016 (0-3 months after degree completion)
3 1% After March 2016 (4 or more months after degree completion)
0 0% Not applicable; I obtained an offer without an active job search.
May and Summer 2016 graduates
720 41% Between July and October 2015 (more than 6 months prior to May commencement)
483 28% Between November 2015 and January 2016 (4-6 months prior to May commencement)
366 21% February or March 2016 (2-3 months prior to May commencement)
138 8% April or May 2016, prior to May commencement (0-1 month prior to commencement)
45 3% May commencement to August 2016 (0-3 months after commencement)
2 0% September 2016 or after (4 or more months after May commencement)
0 0% Not applicable; I obtained an offer without an active job search.

NUMBER OF JOB OFFERS

To the best of your recollection, how many job offers have you received?
(Asked of employed graduates and those with an offer or offers.)

760 43% One
535 31% Two
282 16% Three
88 5% Four
87 5% Five or more

WHEN OFFER RECEIVED

About when did you receive the job offer you accepted?

December 2015 graduates
67 34% Before September 2015
47 24% September or October 2015
62 32% November or December 2015
14 7% January, February or March 2016
6 3% After March 2016
0 0% Other
May - summer 2016 graduates
663 50% Before January 2016
239 18% January 2016 through Spring Break 2016
366 27% After Spring Break 2016 - May 2016
56 4% June, July or August 2016
8 1% After August 2016
0 0% Other

Career-related learning and experience during college:

Did you have any kind of career-related experience prior to graduation (types listed)?

3087 92% Yes
266 8% No

TYPES OF CAREER-RELATED EXPERIENCE (check ALL that apply)

3063 88% Respondents to this question: number and percent of total respondents

What kind of experience did you have? (check ALL that apply)

How many of each?

Number of Respondents
%
Category
 1 2 3 4 5+
1248 41% Volunteer work 343 295 172 68 368
1356 44% Part-time job 623 372 210 63 87
1444 47% Summer job 658 402 230 79 73
664 22% Unpaid internship 512 109 29 6 7
1649 54% Paid internship 903 474 210 50 11
205 7% Co-op 125 42 24 8 6
785 26% Undergraduate research 513 189 48 14 19
430 14% Field study 309 97 16 4 4
116 4% Other Not Applicable

EXTENT to which graduates LEARNED JOB SEARCH SKILLS

Which best describes the extent to which you learned job search skills during college?
I learned..

1245 38% Most job search skills I needed.
1505 46% Some job search skills, but not all I needed to know.
554 17% Nothing or very little.

SOURCES of LEARNING JOB SEARCH SKILLS (check ALL that apply)

If you did learn job search skills,where do you believe you learned them? Please check all that apply.

1318 45% Career & Professional Development programs, publications, website, advising, workshops, etc.
1217 42% Academic-credit course or seminar in your major department or college.
211 7% Not-for-credit programs or seminars in your major department or college.
1428 49% Advisors, professors or staff in your major department or college.
420 14% Other faculty or staff in the university, but not in your major department or college.
1675 57% Parents and/or other adult relatives or family friends.
1579 54% Peers such as friends and/or brothers or sisters.
1196 41% Websites with job search advice (other than Career & Professional Development).
266 9% Books, magazines or other print materials.
141 5% Other

USED CAREER AND PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT DURING COLLEGE:

As best as you can recall: During college did you use any the resources provided by Career & Professional Development?

546 16% Never
374 11% Don't recall or unsure
2066 62% Yes, but not often
337 10% Yes, often

Regrets:

If you had to do it over again, is there anything related to planning for life after college that you would do differently?

1400 43% No. For the most part, I did what I needed to do to achieve my goals.
1890 57% Yes. I wish I had done something differently.

If yes, please check ALL that apply. (Percentages are of "Yes" respondents, not total respondents.)
I wish I had...

659 35% Learned more about graduate or professional school earlier.
1058 56% Gotten more experience related to my major or career goals.
947 50% Learned more about career options and/or learned earlier.
761 40% Started my job search earlier.
470 25% Used more or different job search resources.
800 42% Asked professors and/or other advisors for advice (more often, earlier, or at all).
152 8% Other