Life After McCormick: Where our graduate students go after graduation

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Life After McCormick Where our graduate students
go after graduation?

• Thy Nguyen
• April 30, 2008
• University Career Services

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Objectives

• Provide overview of where our students get jobs
  in industry
• What sectors?
• What parts of the country?
• How much do they make?
• How students found jobs?
• See linkages about students use of resources and
  career outcomes.
• Trends to Consider
• Strategies for your Search
• Address your Questions

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Data Sources

• UCS Graduation Survey
• Employer On-Campus Recruitment Survey

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Our Graduation Survey

• UCS staff coordinate and conduct the survey
• Have IRB approval to collect student IDs,
  potential for longitudinal research
• Each graduating class surveyed in June
  (undergraduate and graduate students)
• Last 3 years survey was administered online with
  follow-up in person at Cap Gown pick up
• Statistical analysis and report by Human Capital
  Research

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Respondents by School of Enrollment
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Northwestern University Hiring by Industry
(Source 2006 First Destination Survey)
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Salary Information Graduate Students
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Mean Graduate Staring Salaries by Job Category

• Business, Finance, Sales, Consulting, N34, 83,
  941
• Technology or Engineering, N44, 72,064
• Medicine and Health, N14, 65,080
• Govt, Public Policy, Politics, N8, 71,875
• Research, Academia, N21, 42, 500
• Education, Teaching, N79, 60, 270

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Geographic Distribution

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Geographic Distribution - International
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How Did Students Find Their Jobs?

• Length of search 45 searched 8 weeks or less,
  31, 9-16 weeks
• of interviews 27, more than 6 employers 80
  had job offers, 50 multiple offers
• Career resources used (in order of use)
• NU job listings, career fair, on-campus
  recruiting, faculty, career services, alumni

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How long does the job search take?

• Weeks of Active Search
• The Graduate School, N142, Mean13.30,
  Median12.0
• MEAS, N221, Mean12.76, Median11.0

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Career Status at Graduation

• Masters Degree Holders
• FT Employed or Offer Pending 53.7
• Continuing Education 10.9
• Unemployed, Seeking Work 15.0
• Voluntarily Unemployed .3
• Self Employed / Free Lance 4.2
• Temporary / Contract Work 3.2
• Internship / Fellowship 4.4
• Employed Part-Time 3.2
• Other 1.5
• Community Service 1.2

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Career Status at Graduation

• Doctoral Students
• FT or offer pending 44.2
• Continuing Education 13.1
• Internship / Fellowship 4.6
• Unemployed, Seeking Work 3.5
• Voluntarily Unemployed .4
• Temporary or Contract Work 2.7
• Other 2.3
• Employed Part-Time .8
• Self Employed / Free Lance .8

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On-Campus Recruiting Statistics

• GRADUATE STUDENTS 2007-2008 OCR
• 128 unique positions through OCR season 2007-2008
  seeking Graduate Students (including doctoral
  students)
• 81 unique companies seeking graduate students
• 108 unique job titles seeking individuals with
  higher education in OCR 2007-2008

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Sampling of UCS Employers and Partners

• BCG, BP, Deloitte, Dow Chemical Company, Eaton,
  Exponent, Sg2, ZS Associates, Allstate, Environ
  Consulting, McKinsey, PEC, Microsoft, Google,
  Intel, ZS Associates, Abbott, Baxter

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Some Position Titles Through OCR

• Research Engineer, Research Scientist,
  Consultant, Technical Analyst, Associate
  Consultant, Senior Analyst, Business Technology
  Analyst, Senior Development Engineer, Automation
  Engineer, Software Developer, Regulatory Affairs
  Specialists, Information Management Leadership
  Program, Financial Analyst, Systems Engineer, R
  D Engineer, Engineer

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Some Interesting Observations

• Graduates of the School of Continuing Studies,
  the McCormick School of Engineering, and The
  Graduate School were most likely to be employed
  full-time after graduation.
• Students who utilized the different career
  resources offered by Northwestern were almost two
  times more likely to have employment upon
  graduation than students who used the career
  services less frequently. Likewise, these
  students earned higher salaries on average.
• About 45 percent of job-searching respondents
  indicated that their search was eight weeks or
  less, and an additional 31 percent of respondents
  indicated a search range of nine to 16 weeks.
  Students in TGS reported the highest mean number
  of active search weeks (13.3) and School of
  Continuing Studies graduates reported the lowest
  (8.3).
• The search methods used most frequently by
  respondents to gain employment were applying
  directly to the employer, internet, professional
  contacts, family and friends, and NU job listings.

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Trends

• Increasing opportunities with small to mid-size
  companies and organizations Florida High-Tech
  Corridor
• The real story is with second stage growth
  companies Phil Gardner, Michigan State
• - Second Stage Companies with fewer than 100
  employees
• While some sectors are down in hiring, the
  economy is more diversified. Demand remains
  strong in some sectors including technology and
  health-care.
• Many employers, particularly large employers will
  remain aggressive in hiring in anticipation of
  pending retirements (Gardner, Michigan State)
• International Students There are some changes
  to OPT that we need to learn more about. These
  could have an impact on your job search.
  Programs to assist will be coming this fall based
  upon these changes.

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Strategies for your Search

• Start your search early (average active search is
  13 weeks)
• Assess your Career Interests and research
  different fields and industries
• What makes you unique as a Ph.D or Masters level
  candidate?
• Revise and refine your resume and cover letters
• Conduct informational interviews
• Schedule mock interviews
• Focus on multiple job search methods
• On-Campus Recruitment, Jobs Fairs, Networking,
  Conferences

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Resources

• CareerCat
• On-Campus Recruiting Be aware of deadlines
  especially in fall and winter quarters
• See what companies are attending UCS Career Fairs
• Look at companies that are NOT recruiting on
  campus
• 4684 registered employers, 980 job postings
• Exclusive NU Resources
• CareerSearch Allows you search companies by
  location, name, size, industry and key-words
• Vault Wetfeet Industry Guides

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UCS Services

• One on one advising in different industry areas
• Graduate student focused career counseling
• Walk-in services during academic year
• Workshops focused on resume writing, interviewing
  and networking

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Questions ??