With almost 80% of graduating seniors reporting their post-graduation plans to the Meruelo Family Center for Career Development (CCD), early results indicate trends for the class of 2022 are similar to previous classes.
According to data collected in a joint effort by the CCD and Office of Strategic Planning and Institutional Research (OSPIR), about two-thirds of students will pursue employment, one-fifth of students will pursue higher education by attending law school, medical school or other graduate programs and about 7% will engage in service.
While these numbers are identical to data reported last year by the CCD, Ryan Willerton, associate vice president for career and professional development, stated in a media report sent to The Observer that seniors are entering a changing workforce following the COVID-19 pandemic.
While two-thirds of students will begin their employment in person, approximately one third of students will have hybrid arrangements. Some — less than 5% of graduates — will have exclusively remote work.
Willerton said graduates have not been bound in their career options by their college or major.
“Academic majors inform, but do not define, what direction our students take,” he said in the report.
Employers hiring at least one student from three or more academic colleges include Deloitte, PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC), KPMG, Epic Systems, Bank of America, Ernst & Young (EY), Boston Consulting Group, Amazon, Citi, Wells Fargo, McKinsey and Company, Oliver Wyman and FTI Consulting.
Willerton highlighted graduates following strong pipelines already in place to select employers, naming Deloitte, PWC, KPMG, Epic Systems, Bank of America, Goldman Sachs and Microsoft, all of whom hired more than 10 seniors.
“We are very proud to see the many ways our students have taken the first step to pursuing meaningful careers. While career success is not defined by the first destination, these first steps provide opportunities for students to leverage their Notre Dame education to serve others in many ways,” Willerton wrote.
He referenced the effect the CCD had on internships students secured during their undergraduate careers. About half of students who have secured employment are returning to employers where they completed a summer internship.
“Our team of career counselors has been supporting students needing assistance with securing their first destination after earning their degrees, and we will walk along every student who needs help,” Willerton said.
Notre Dame graduates in the class of 2022 will be arriving in destinations “coast-to-coast and around the world,” Willerton said in the report.
“Our graduating seniors have secured outcomes from coast-to-coast and around the world. From New Orleans to Detroit, New York City to Kansas City, Atlanta, Chicago, and Los Angeles, our graduating seniors will find fellow Domers in the cities where they are starting their careers.”
Seniors pursuing further education have accepted offers to dentistry programs at Harvard, Michigan and Pennsylvania; advanced engineering programs at Purdue, Stanford and Penn State; advanced degrees in sciences at Cambridge, Duke and Ohio State; medical programs at Indiana, LSU and Northwestern; and law degrees at the University of Chicago, Cincinnati, Illinois, Pittsburgh, UCLA and Wisconsin.
The Alliance for Catholic Education (ACE) continues to be the most popular opportunity for graduates who complete post-graduate service.
Willerton said the variety of post-graduation outcomes is a success.
“We encourage our students to pursue a career that aligns with their values, interests, and skills. Based on survey data, we are seeing this.”
He attributed graduate professional outcomes to the strong presence various members of the Notre Dame community have on each other.
“None of this would be possible without admissions counselors, financial aid staff, healthcare professionals, rectors, academic advisors, professors, deans, Student Affairs staff, dining hall workers, custodians, landscape staff, ND alumni clubs, benefactors, and many, many more,” Willerton said. “We talk a lot about community at Notre Dame, and it is humbling to think about how many people have made a Notre Dame experience possible for our seniors to take the next steps in their professional careers.”
