First Destination Report: 2017-2018 Undergraduate Degree Recipients

College of Agriculture and Life Sciences

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
%
695 Total Graduates
442 64% Reported first destination / respondents

Taking time off after graduation (more than 1 month, less than 1 year)
%
227 52% No
153 35% Yes, one to less than three full months
26 6% Yes, three to less than six full months
33 8% Yes, six months to less than a full year

First destination after graduation
%
4 1% U.S. military service commitment.
4 1% Service/volunteer program (non-military).
10 2% Self-employed or working in a family-owned business.
136 31% Employed or have accepted a job offer (not employed by self or family).
8 2% Have job offer(s), but undecided on accepting.
43 10% Seeking employment, but don't yet have a job offer.
11 2% Plan to seek employment later.
155 35% Admitted to continuing education.
35 8% Plan to continue education, but details not firm yet.
25 6% Both seeking employment and applying to continue education.
4 1% 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
%
190 43% Plan to attend OR have accepted admission.

Advice Sources About Continuing Education

From what sources did you seek advice about graduate or professional school (or other additional education)? Check all that apply.
%
19 11% Print information such as books or magazines.
117 68% Websites / online information.
77 45% Professors at Virginia Tech.
71 41% Academic advisors at Virginia Tech.
41 24% Pre-professional school advisors at Virginia Tech.
114 66% People who work in the field or profession I'd like to pursue.
88 51% Parents and/or other adult relatives or family friends.
85 49% Peers such as friends and/or brothers or sisters.
26 15% Career & Professional Development.
65 38% Faculty or staff at graduate or professional schools you considered.
5 3% Other

Employment

View list by undergrad major showing employer /job title / location
%
160 36% Number / percent of respondents reporting they are employed (Employed, Self-employed, Volunteer and Military)
143 93% Number / percent of total employed who are employed full-time (if indicated)
11 7% Number / percent of total employed who are employed part-time (if Indicated)

Salary Data for Graduates Who Accepted Full-Time Employement

%
112 70% Number / percent of employed reporting salaries
25th percentile (25% make this amount or less): $30000
50th percentile (50% make this amount or less; 50% make more): $40000 (Median)
75th percentile (75% make this amount or less; 25% make more): $47500
(Percentiles not reported if fewer than 12 graduates reported salary)

Bonus with Job Offer

Did your job offer include a signing bonus?
%
133 83% Number / percent of employed who reported whether or not they received bonuses
19 14% Yes
114 86% No
25th percentile (25% of bonuses were this amount or less): $2000
50th percentile (50% of bonuses were this amount or less; 50% make more): $2750 (Median)
75th percentile (75% of bonuses were this amount or less; 25% make more): $5000
(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?
%
108 72% VERY related to career goals
37 25% SOMEWHAT related to career goals
5 3% NOT related to career goals

Employment Related to Major

Do you consider your job to be related to your college major?
%
100 67% VERY related to major
31 21% SOMEWHAT related to major
19 13% 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?
%
43 29% Worked for or volunteered with this employer in the past.
Referral or contact through:
%
15 10% Current or former employer.
5 3% Professor or other faculty or staff member in your department.
16 11% Friend or family member.
3 2% Alumnus/alumna (a graduate) of Virginia Tech.
4 3% Fellow member of club, sorority or fraternity to which you belong.
5 3% Email or posted information from your academic department.
11 7% Career fair or job fair.
1 1% On-Campus Interviewing Program or Hokies4Hire.
13 9% The employer's website.
21 14% Website for job seekers (such as Monster.com, on-line classifieds, etc.).
0 0% Print publication (newspaper, etc.).
11 7% Other.
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 2017 graduates
%
7 20% During spring semester 2017 (more than 6 months prior to degree completion)
9 26% Summer 2017 (4-6 months prior to degree completion)
8 23% September or October 2017 (2-3 months prior to degree completion)
10 29% November or December 2017 (0-1 month prior to degree completion)
1 3% January, February or March 2018 (0-3 months after degree completion)
0 0% After March 2018 (4 or more months after degree completion)
0 0% Not applicable; I obtained an offer without an active job search.
May and Summer 2018 graduates
%
23 18% Between July and October 2017 (more than 6 months prior to May commencement)
48 38% Between November 2017 and January 2018 (4-6 months prior to May commencement)
37 29% February or March 2018 (2-3 months prior to May commencement)
17 13% April or May 2018, prior to May commencement (0-1 month prior to commencement)
1 1% May commencement to August 2018 (0-3 months after commencement)
1 1% September 2018 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.)
%
68 45% One
50 33% Two
24 16% Three
7 5% Four
2 1% Five or more

When Offer Received

About when did you receive the job offer you accepted?
December 2017 graduates
%
8 35% Before September 2017
4 17% September or October 2017
7 30% November or December 2017
4 17% January, February or March 2018
0 0% After March 2018
0 0% Other
May and Summer 2018 graduates
%
27 26% Before January 2018
29 28% January 2018 through Spring Break 2018
45 43% After Spring Break 2018 - May 2018
3 3% June, July or August 2018
1 1% After August 2018
0 0% Other

Career-Related Learning and Experience During College

Did you have any kind of career-related experience prior to graduation (types listed)?
%
391 96% Yes
18 4% No

Types of Career-related Experience

What kind of experience did you have? (check ALL that apply) How many of each?
% Number of Experiences
1 2 3 4 5+
244 63% Volunteer work 62 55 33 19 75
237 61% Part-time job 109 69 37 10 12
234 61% Summer job 99 69 45 17 4
100 26% Unpaid internship 73 19 3 2 3
142 37% Paid internship 93 37 12 0 0
3 1% Co-op 2 1 0 0 0
114 30% Undergraduate research 76 17 18 0 3
102 26% Field study 67 34 0 1 0
12 3% Other

Extent to Which Graduates Learned Job Search Skills

If you did learn job search skills,where do you believe you learned them? Please check all that apply.
%
129 32% Most job search skills I needed.
187 47% Some job search skills, but not all I needed to know.
86 21% Nothing or very little.

Sources of Learning Job Search Skills

If you did learn job search skills,where do you believe you learned them? Please check all that apply.
%
137 38% Career & Professional Development programs, publications, website, advising, workshops, etc.
188 53% Academic-credit course or seminar in your major department or college.
22 6% Not-for-credit programs or seminars in your major department or college.
194 54% Advisors, professors or staff in your major department or college.
62 17% Other faculty or staff in the university, but not in your major department or college.
219 61% Parents and/or other adult relatives or family friends.
189 53% Peers such as friends and/or brothers or sisters.
120 34% Websites with job search advice (other than Career & Professional Development).
25 7% Books, magazines or other print materials.
13 4% 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?
%
75 19% Never
66 16% Don't recall or unsure
236 59% Yes, but not often
25 6% Yes, often

Regrets

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

%
165 41% No. For the most part, I did what I needed to do to achieve my goals.
235 59% Yes. I wish I had done something differently.

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

%
115 50% Learned more about graduate or professional school earlier.
123 53% Gotten more experience related to my major or career goals.
124 54% Learned more about career options and/or learned earlier.
71 31% Started my job search earlier.
43 19% Used more or different job search resources.
95 41% Asked professors and/or other advisors for advice (more often, earlier, or at all).
12 5% Other