Career-Related Experiences Lead to Strong Placement Success

01/19/2011 10:31 AM

According to the Smith Career Center’s report on 2010 graduates, 91% of new graduates completed a career-related work experience while at Bradley University.

Bradley’s emphasis on students getting real world experience is credited for the high success rate of new graduates. US News and World Report ranked Bradley University as one of the top 15 colleges and universities in the nation to offer internship experiences. 

This career-related experience is one of several reasons credited with maintaining a high graduate placement rate. The University’s five year average for students accepting a job, placement into graduate school, or another activity of their choice within six months is currently 92%.

Director of the Smith Career Center Jane Linnenburger reported that many employers are focusing their recruiting outreach on their own intern pools, resulting in a renewed effort to encourage current students to engage in experiential learning.

“The Smith Career Center has written to parents to encourage their students to attend internship and job fairs,” Linnenburger said. “We also have a strong support network at BU; more and more alumni, parents, and even the Board of Trustees, are behind helping our young people get their start.” Although most students start their internship experience between their sophomore and junior years, Linnenburger said some precocious students begin their first position after the completion of their freshman year. All majors at Bradley University start with core coursework first semester, freshman year.

Linnenburger also reflected on the usage of social media as a recruitment tool. She cited LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook as being three major tools for recruitment, but cautioned that interviewees must be as competent with face-to-face interactions as they are with their electronic communication.

In other news from the report, some graduates are looking beyond Illinois and its neighboring states to get their careers started. Other attractive locations for 2010 grads included New York, Texas, California, and Colorado. Top average starting salaries went to graduates from the College of Engineering and Technology and the Foster College of Business Administration. The United States Bureau of Labor Statistics consistently ranks engineering graduates’ starting salaries among the highest of all college graduates.

Additional positive reflections from the SCC’s report include a 92% placement rate for graduate degree recipients. The SCC also reported a perfect 100% placement rate for the 2010 Doctor of Physical Therapy graduates.