First Destination Report: 2023-2024 Undergraduate Degree Recipients

College of Liberal Arts and Human 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
%
1092 Total Graduates
627 57% Reported first destination / respondents
465 43% Unreported / non-respondents

Outcome

What are you primarily doing after graduation?
%
226 36% Working
28 4% Military
3 0% Volunteering
143 23% Continuing Education
0 0% Fellowship
191 30% Still Seeking Employment
33 5% Still Seeking Continuing Education
3 0% Not Seeking (traveling, gap year, taking time off, other)

Continuing Education Details

Respondents who indicate continuing education are asked to report their institution, location, degree level, and program of study. View list by undergrad major of continuing education degrees, institution, and locations

Working Details

Respondents who indicate working are asked to report their employer, position title, and location. 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.

%
109 43% Number and percent of working and military who reported salary.
Salary median for full-time working and military: $45915
9 4% Number and percent of working who reported receiving a bonus above $0.
Bonus Median: $5000

Job Source

Question for working respondents

Regarding the job you accepted: Which best describes the way you first made contact with this employer?
%
41 18% Worked / volunteered with this employer in the past.
35 15% Knew / met the employer through someone I know (networking).
3 1% Career fair.
5 2% Handshake.
0 0% On-Campus Interviewing Program (employer interviewed in Smith Career Center).
23 10% Went directly to employer website.
32 14% Used job-seeker website, other than Handshake.
2 1% Information posted or messaged from my academic department.
1 0% Employer spoke at a presentation I attended.
71 31% Did not answer

Job related to Career Goals

Question for working respondents

Do you consider your job to be related to your career goals?
%
92 41% Very
54 24% Somewhat
17 8% Not
63 28% Did not answer

Job related to Major

Question for working respondents

Do you consider your job to be related to your major?
%
77 34% Very
60 27% Somewhat
26 12% Not
63 28% Did not answer

Number of Job Offers

Question for working respondents

As best as you recall, how many job offers have you received?
%
64 28% One
39 17% Two
21 9% Three
3 1% Four
4 2% Five or more
64 28% 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?
%
108 26% Learned most that I needed.
186 45% Learned some, but not all, that I needed.
44 11% Learned nothing, or very little
79 19% Did not answer
If you learned job search skills, where did you learn them? Check all that apply.
%
112 27% Career & Professional Development; advising, presentations, website, resource center.
12 3% Career Planning Guide; booklet free to VT students from CPD.
26 6% Other books, magazines, print materials.
108 26% Websites external to Virginia Tech.
130 31% Academic-credit course in my major or college.
25 6% Not-for-credit program in my major or college.
172 41% Advisors, staff, professors in my major or college.
49 12% Other VT advisors, staff, professors, NOT in my major or college.
183 44% Employers, mentors at jobs, internships.
215 52% Parents, adult relatives, family friends.
142 34% Peers.
100 24% 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.
%
61 43% Professors at Virginia Tech.
49 34% Academic advisors at Virginia Tech.
6 4% Pre-professional school advisors at Virginia Tech.
0 0% Career center advisors at Virginia Tech.
50 35% Professionals working in the field I want to pursue.
46 32% Faculty or staff at the graduate or professional schools I considered.
50 35% Websites of the graduate or professional schools I considered.
0 0% Websites about professions and graduate schools.
59 41% Parents, adult relatives
61 43% Peers.
5 3% Print information: books, magazines, etc.
15 10% Did not answer

Experience During College

Questions for all respondents

Did you have any type of career-related experience during college?
%
401 64% Yes
110 18% No
116 19% Stated prefer not to answer OR did not answer

Types of Experience Other Than Internships

Questions for all respondents.

If you had any of the following types of experience, check all that apply.
%
140 22% Volunteer work
234 37% Part-time job
218 35% Summer job
10 2% Co-op (cooperative education)
87 14% Undergraduate research
123 20% Field study
63 10% Study abroad
232 37% Did not answer

Internship Experience

Questions for all respondents.

Did you have any type of internship during college (including paid, unpaid, or both)?
%
269 43% Yes
123 20% No
166 36% Stated prefer not to answer OR did not answer
Question asked to those who responded “yes” to had internship: How many unpaid internships did you have? ("unpaid" meaning no monetary compensation, such as wage, salary, or stipend)
%
130 21% None
84 13% One
40 6% Two
13 2% Three or more
360 57% Did not answer OR question not applicable
Question asked to those who responded “yes” to had internship: How many paid internships did you have? ("paid" meaning monetary compensation, including wage, salary, or stipend)
%
68 11% None
117 19% One
59 9% Two
24 4% Three or more
359 57% Did not answer OR question not applicable

No Internship; Reasons

Questions asked to those who responded "no" to had internship.

You said you did not have any internships during college. Please check any of the following that are applicable to you.
%
70 11 I did not need an internship. I had other forms of experience relevant to my career goals and/or major
55 9 I did not know all the possible sources to find an internship
46 7 I did not have all the job search skills I needed to secure an internship
49 8 I did not have all the qualifications employers required
51 8 Unpaid internships are the norm in my field, and I could not afford to work without pay
46 7 I could not find an internship in the geographic location I wanted
53 8 I could not find an internship with timing that worked for my schedule
3 0 I was offered an internship, but it was cancelled by the employer (due to economic issues, such as the pandemic, or other causes)
4 1 I was offered an in-person internship at a location to which I could not relocate due to costs
403 64 Did not answer OR question not applicable

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.)

%
71 11% Never
103 16% Don't recall or unsure
301 48% Yes, but not often
53 8% Yes, often
99 16% 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

%
245 39% No. Mostly I did what I needed to achieve my goals.
285 45% Yes. I would do something differently.
97 15% Did not answer

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

%
237 38% Learned more, or earlier, about career options.
127 20% Learned more, or earlier, about graduate or professional school.
166 26% Asked advisors, staff, professors for advice, earlier, or more often.
210 33% Gotten more experience related to my major or career goals.
168 27% Started my job search earlier.
95 15% Used more or different job search resources.
290 46% Did not answer