Wildcat Career News – Davidson College

By Nathan Elton, Director of Career Services

I am bringing up this point because the recruiting season for the Class of 2012 has already begun.   I can name six or seven of your fellow classmates who have already accepted job offers after their summer internships in the banking industry.  Davidson also has employers in the banking, consulting and business services industries visiting campus over the next few weeks to recruit you for full-time positions.   This early recruitment creates excitement on campus, but I also pick up on some angst as seniors wonder if it is already do or die time for landing a job.

I want to share some data about your classmates from the Class of 2011.  Roughly 65% of the class have or will be entering the world of work while the remaining 35% have entered graduate school, taken time off to travel, or embarked on some other activity.

Of the 65% of graduates from the Class of 2011 who are or will be employed:

– 12.8% accepted job offers during fall semester

– 62.6% accepted job offers during spring semester – mainly in March, April & May

– 24.6% have or will accept job offers after graduation

The seniors who landed jobs in the fall mainly entered the banking, finance, and consulting fields.  This is typical because many of the larger employers in these fields recruit early in the fall.  A much wider range of employers representing areas such as, but not limited to, the arts, nonprofit and social service, public policy, communications, public health, sciences, consulting, finance and business services recruit throughout the year.

So, what does this mean for you?  Some seniors will land jobs this fall (you may be one of them) but there is a good chance that the employer hiring you may not actively begin recruiting until the spring.  Does this mean that you should put off your job search until January?  NO.   

The most successful seniors from last year started their job search in the fall:

– They met multiple times with the Career Services advising staff who partnered with them to develop and implement a job search plan.

– They connected with helpful Davidson alumni and parents who provided information on employers, offered excellent resume writing and interviewing advice, and helped them to meet additional people who were recruiting seniors for jobs.

– They met with employers visiting campus, participated in the SLAC Recruiting Days and applied for jobs in our recruiting system.

– They treated their job search like an additional class – each week they set small, accomplishable goals, which built confidence and allowed them to shine in every stage of the job search process.

Please know that the staff in the Office of Career Services are your friends and partners in the job search process.  We work in this field because we love to see students succeed in developing, implementing and achieving their goals for life after Davidson.  Stop in to see us soon.