The members of the class of 2018 plan to pursue a variety of career paths after graduation, whether it be through full time employment, graduate school or other occupations.
Although data on the senior’s post-graduation plans will not be available for another year, director of Undergraduate Career Services Bridget Kibbe said she expects the class of 2018 to be similar to the class of 2017.
Within six months of graduation, 65 percent of the class of 2017 found full time employment, up from the 64 percent of the class of 2016, according to an email from Kibbe. 22 percent were enrolled in graduate or professional school, 7 percent were involved in a service program and 2 percent were serving in the military, also up from 1 percent from the previous year. 2 percent reported other plans and 2 percent were still seeking employment.
“We can offer some of the organizations and company names that some members of the current class of 2018 have shared with us,” Kibbe said in an email. “The small sampling ... certainly reflects the diverse interests and tremendous talents of our Notre Dame students.”
Kibbe said the graduates with full time jobs will work with a wide variety of corporations, including jobs designing for Newell Rubbermaid, consulting for McKinsey or working for “The Late Show” with Stephen Colbert. Kibbe said she believes the Center for Career Development has adapted to meet the needs of a diverse student body with a variety of interests.
“The new structure of our Employer Engagement team has allowed us to be much more intentional in locating new employers and organizations that match the diverse interests and talents of our students,” Kibbe said.
Graduating senior Jack Cahill, a Program of Liberal Studies major with a business and economics minor, will be completing a business rotational program before being formally employed by Anheuser-Busch, a position he first learned about through the Center for Career Development.
“What sparked this whole interest in the business rotational program was the Career Center and a meeting that I had there,” he said. “I went in for the industry specific appointment, and that was with Ray Vander Heyden. I can’t remember exactly what the industry I chose was, but it was sales, marketing, accounting, all that business stuff. He had direct experience working with business resumes, having connections with companies. It was more of a concrete, helpful discussion.”
Cahill said he’s excited for the upcoming year because it will provide him with a fun introduction to the business world.
“The first six weeks are going to be in St. Louis at their headquarters, and then there’s going to be a six-month rotation. There’s a capstone project that we present to some executives, and when that’s over, there’s a guaranteed offer at one of the offices,” he said. “It’s a general introduction to the company and what sales is. I’m going to be working in teams of five or six people, with kids my age, for a beer company. You know, it’s not a bad thing.”
Graduating senior Paula Hastings, a neuroscience and behavior major with a minor in theology, is not planning on entering the work force just yet. Instead, she’s spending the next year volunteering with Bon Secours Volunteer Ministries, a Catholic volunteer network located in Baltimore, Maryland.
Hastings said she found the organization last semester through a post-grad fair put on by the Center for Social Concerns. Though she met with many organizations and applied to three, she said she thought that Bon Secours Ministries was the right fit for her.
“I found out I got into the program over spring break, and I committed right away. I knew I was going to be doing a service year since freshman year,” Hastings said. “I knew I this is the time in my life when I can dedicate an entire year to service before I get roped into a job or something.”
