First Destination Report: 2017-2018 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
5619 Not Applicable Total Graduates
3901 69% Reported first destination / respondents

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

1640 42% No
1800 46% Yes, one to less than three full months
276 7% Yes, three to less than six full months
172 4% Yes, six months to less than a full year

FIRST DESTINATION AFTER GRADUATION

135 3% U.S. military service commitment.
135 3% Service/volunteer program (non-military).
34 1% Self-employed or working in a family-owned business.
2012 52% Employed or have accepted a job offer (not employed by self or family).
109 3% Have job offer(s), but undecided on accepting.
447 11% Seeking employment, but don't yet have a job offer.
119 3% Plan to seek employment later.
693 18% Admitted to continuing education.
150 4% Plan to continue education, but details not firm yet.
125 3% Both seeking employment and applying to continue education.
24 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

843 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)?

76 10% Print information such as books or magazines.
529 68% Websites / online information.
433 56% Professors at Virginia Tech.
328 42% Academic advisors at Virginia Tech.
109 14% Pre-professional school advisors at Virginia Tech.
411 53% People who work in the field or profession I'd like to pursue.
360 46% Parents and/or other adult relatives or family friends.
352 45% Peers such as friends and/or brothers or sisters.
92 12% Career & Professional Development.
234 30% Faculty or staff at graduate or professional schools you considered.
16 2% Other

Employment:

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

2233 57% Number / percent of respondents reporting they are employed (Employed, Self-employed, Volunteer and Military)
2098 97% Number / percent of total employed who are employed full-time (if indicated)
62 3% Number / percent of total employed who are employed part-time (if Indicated)

SALARY DATA for graduates who accepted FULL-TIME employment

1891 84% Number / percent of employed reporting salaries
Not Applicable Not Applicable 25th percentile (25% make this amount or less): $45000
Not Applicable Not Applicable 50th percentile (50% make this amount or less; 50% make more): $60000 (Median)
Not Applicable Not Applicable 75th percentile (75% make this amount or less; 25% make more): $70000
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?

1975 88% Number / percent of employed who reported whether or not they received bonuses
706 36% Yes
1269 64% No
Not Applicable Not Applicable 25th percentile (25% of bonuses were this amount or less): $3000
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): $8000
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?

1590 75% VERY related to career goals
483 23% SOMEWHAT related to career goals
33 2% NOT related to career goals

Employment RELATED to MAJOR

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

1423 68% VERY related to major
512 24% SOMEWHAT related to major
169 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?

571 28% Worked for or volunteered with this employer in the past.

Referral or contact through:

91 4% Current or former employer.
64 3% Professor or other faculty or staff member in your department.
167 8% Friend or family member.
29 1% Alumnus/alumna (a graduate) of Virginia Tech.
32 2% Fellow member of club, sorority or fraternity to which you belong.
39 2% Email or posted information from your academic department.
525 25% Career fair or job fair.
142 7% On-Campus Interviewing Program or Hokies4Hire.
141 7% The employer's website.
140 7% Website for job seekers (such as Monster.com, on-line classifieds, etc.).
1 0% Print publication (newspaper, etc.).
124 6% 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 2017 graduates
82 25% During spring semester 2017 (more than 6 months prior to degree completion)
92 28% Summer 2017 (4-6 months prior to degree completion)
98 30% September or October 2017 (2-3 months prior to degree completion)
46 14% November or December 2017 (0-1 month prior to degree completion)
9 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
893 47% Between July and October 2017 (more than 6 months prior to May commencement)
500 26% Between November 2017 and January 2018 (4-6 months prior to May commencement)
341 18% February or March 2018 (2-3 months prior to May commencement)
131 7% April or May 2018, prior to May commencement (0-1 month prior to commencement)
29 2% May commencement to August 2018 (0-3 months after commencement)
3 0% 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.)

935 43% One
625 29% Two
386 18% Three
121 6% Four
104 5% Five or more

WHEN OFFER RECEIVED

About when did you receive the job offer you accepted?

December 2017 graduates
103 41% Before September 2017
63 25% September or October 2017
68 27% November or December 2017
15 6% January, February or March 2018
0 0% After March 2018
0 0% Other
May - summer 2018 graduates
887 54% Before January 2018
311 19% January 2018 through Spring Break 2018
403 24% After Spring Break 2018 - May 2018
42 3% June, July or August 2018
11 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)?

3409 93% Yes
268 7% No

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

3377 87% 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+
1331 39% Volunteer work 380 314 199 76 362
1442 43% Part-time job 679 437 186 70 70
1566 46% Summer job 692 490 246 90 46
628 19% Unpaid internship 482 107 27 5 4
1967 58% Paid internship 993 631 269 49 23
220 7% Co-op 124 50 31 11 3
890 26% Undergraduate research 540 221 84 19 24
426 13% Field study 294 116 7 4 5
102 3% 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..

1295 36% Most job search skills I needed.
1576 44% Some job search skills, but not all I needed to know.
750 21% 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.

1092 34% Career & Professional Development programs, publications, website, advising, workshops, etc.
1334 42% Academic-credit course or seminar in your major department or college.
194 6% Not-for-credit programs or seminars in your major department or college.
1473 46% Advisors, professors or staff in your major department or college.
501 16% Other faculty or staff in the university, but not in your major department or college.
1932 61% Parents and/or other adult relatives or family friends.
1840 58% Peers such as friends and/or brothers or sisters.
1272 40% Websites with job search advice (other than Career & Professional Development).
279 9% Books, magazines or other print materials.
141 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?

686 19% Never
580 16% Don't recall or unsure
2072 57% Yes, but not often
288 8% 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?

1639 45% No. For the most part, I did what I needed to do to achieve my goals.
1968 55% 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...

711 36% Learned more about graduate or professional school earlier.
1108 56% Gotten more experience related to my major or career goals.
992 50% Learned more about career options and/or learned earlier.
754 38% Started my job search earlier.
458 23% Used more or different job search resources.
799 41% Asked professors and/or other advisors for advice (more often, earlier, or at all).
139 7% Other