Careers: Silicon Valley Challenging Wall Street for CMC Grads
By KK Streator P'18 P'21
CMC certainly has a sterling reputation for sending graduates to Wall Street, but recent data points to some new trends in student outcomes. Based on the career interest clusters used by the Soll Center for Student Opportunity, graduates of ’16 and ’17 were almost as likely to work in Consulting or Technology and Entrepreneurship as Accounting and Financial Services.
This data represents significant changes from student outcomes just three to four years ago. According to Ursula Diamond, Director of Student Opportunities, “particularly in the Class of 2017, we saw technology catching up to financial services for our students. Add in the consulting sector, and you can see that our student outcomes are now dominated by three industries versus two. This represents a key new finding for our graduates.”
Non-Profit and Government Clusters Show Strong Growth
While changes in data collection make exact comparisons difficult, it appears that CMC students are increasingly working in non-finance sectors. Finance, consulting, and tech dominated student outcomes for the past two years, but there have also been significant recent gains in the Non-Profit and Education and Government, Law, and Public Policy interest clusters. [Note: Until 2016, student employment data was collected at the time of graduation. Based on current best industry practices, data is now collected six months after graduation to give a more accurate picture of student outcomes. Three-year data bands are preferred for sample sizing; however, CMC currently has 6-month data for only two classes: 2016 and 2017. “Interest Clusters” were also introduced in 2016, making exact comparisons to previous classes more difficult.]
More Trends: The Rise of Boutique Firms and Work vs. Grad School
Another recent trend at CMC is the rising number of boutique firms who recruit on campus. This was a conscious strategy by the Soll Center, as they worked to bring in smaller, more niche firms in each cluster in addition to the very large firms that dominate hiring in almost every interest cluster. Per Diamond, “the point is to raise the profile of more middle-size, boutique firms, many of whom are amazing employers that students may not be familiar with. Smaller firms may be able to offer students a job opportunity that combines specific interests, e.g. healthcare and finance. It’s yet another way to open up pathways and opportunities for students.”
Finally, it appears that CMC graduates are increasingly looking to jump into the job pool before obtaining any higher degrees. Nationally, 17.5% of college graduates go directly to graduate school while only 10.8% of CMC grads have chosen that route over the past two years. While many CMCers may eventually attend graduate institutions, the majority seem to take CMC’s mission to solve real-world problems through innovation and entrepreneurial approaches to heart.
As Ursula Diamond says, “The CMC mission is to prepare students to make a difference in the world. We want our students to lead thoughtful and productive lives and this often entails gaining some valuable, real-world experience before embarking on a pathway of higher education.”
Want more information on Student Outcomes? Check out the Outcomes section of the website for in-depth analysis, and the Outcomes Brochure, published by the Soll Center.
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