Annual percentage of employed alumni grows

Even following graduation, the Class of 2011 continues to impress as the percentage of alumni employment exceeds previous years, according to the results of the nine-month-out update on the class.  Each graduating class is surveyed three different times: at graduation, three months following graduation and nine months after leaving Elon University.

Out of the 91 percent of graduates that completed the survey, 57 percent are employed and 26 percent are enrolled in or have been accepted to graduate or professional school. Of those employed, 89 percent specified that their position is related to their career objective.

Currently, the national average of 2011 alumni who are employed is 41 percent, but is expected to increase to approximately 44 percent for the 2012 graduates.

Tom Vecchione, executive director of Career Services, said the percentage of employed Elon graduates continues to remain strong and is increasing with every graduating class.

“Elon students seem to understand how to market their skills to get a job,” he said. “It’s remarkable how well students do their first year out of school.”

The survey results indicate of the 57 percent employed, 67 percent of those students got a career lead from an internship, while 48 percent reported a career lead through parents or family and 26 percent landed a career lead through alumni.

The survey revealed the Career Services office was one of the tools that proved to be the most useful to the 2011 graduates. Of those surveyed, 95 percent of the Class of 2011 used Career Services during their time at Elon. The national average, according to the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) is 73 percent.

Career Services continues to contact those graduates who have not responded to the survey or have reported they are unemployed.

Tom Brinkley, executive director of corporate and employer relations at Elon, said the percentage of employed students is higher than the class of 2010 as well as the national average.

“It’s a testament to the quality of our graduates,” Brinkley said.