Life After Vanderbilt: Career Outcomes
In honor of Vanderbilt’s Commencement and our recent graduates, let’s fast forward for a moment. Fast forward past your own high school graduation. Imagine jumping a few years past that to your college graduation. When you walk across that stage, do you see yourself having a job? Traveling the world? Giving back to your community? Or something else? Do you have a specific dream in mind? Or do you have no idea what is even possible?
I know, I know – right about now you’re probably saying, Kim, I’m just trying to figure out where I’m going to college, and now you’re making me think about THE FUTURE?!? Yes indeed, I am. While I love Vanderbilt and I want you to have the time of your life here or wherever you attend college, I also want you to get out there and make an impact on the world. I get asked these questions quite frequently by parents, students, counselors, and curious passers-by: so what are Vanderbilt students doing when they graduate? Where do they go? Do they have a job? How do they get from learner to earner?
Well, my friends, at Vanderbilt you get there with plenty of help from the Career Center. They support students along the way through resume and cover letter reviews, coaching, mock interviews, and many other resources. They’ve recently launched an amazing new resource on Career Outcomes that gives some great insight into what our alumni are doing out in the world. Using their nifty new interactive website, we can see that 95% of the Class of 2017 is either employed or continuing their education. What’s more is that the site allows you to drill down into details, including where geographically students are working, who the top employers are, where students are continuing their education, what degrees those students are pursuing, and more. You’ll notice that there is no one path for any particular field of study – and I’m a perfect example of this! I majored in chemistry before eventually going on to receive my master’s in higher education administration and policy. The Career Outcomes page can give you just a few ideas about what you can do after Vanderbilt.
While you don’t need to decide exactly what career you’re going to have, or even exactly what you want to major in just yet, I hope this shows you that you’ve got lots of options – and lots of support as you explore those options. The Career Center is available to help students out at any point during their time at Vanderbilt. Enough about the future…let’s get back to the present! If you have questions, feel free to reach out to your Admissions Counselor or to the Career Center.
