<p>I am currently a rising senior and am very interested in applying to tech! However, a lot of my friends are discouraging me from applying because they say that getting a job after virginia tech is very difficult! I would like some insight on alumni who already have jobs or tech under grads who are going through the job prospects right now---is it very difficult to get a job after receiving a tech education or is it easier to get a job? Thanks and sorry if this question is a little confusing!</p>
<p>I suppose it depends what you study. Any engineering grad from an accredited school (especially one as respected as VT), with decent gpa and internship experience, should have no problem getting good jobs at graduation. If that’s wrong, I would like to hear about it.</p>
<p>What do you plan to study? I am surprised to hear how many Tech students major in psychology, when Tech is not known for that field, and when psychology grads from any university find it difficult to get jobs that pay well. (Of course, there is more to life than earning a high income.) </p>
<p>If you are still in high school, who are these friends that are telling you how difficult it is to get a job and what are they basing it on? Virginia Tech is well thought of by recruiters and has very good career fairs and engineering expos. The more marketable your major is and the better your GPA and interviewing skills are , the better chance you have of landing a job. That is true coming out of any school.</p>
<p>See the attached link and then choose your area of interest. It is the post-graduate survey results provided by VT career svc for various years by major and within each major the employer. Hope this helps, but does not show you how other colleges 'stack up"</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.career.vt.edu/scripts/PostGrad2006/Report/PostGraduationReportByMCU.asp?College=00&Major=ALL&Cohort=2012-2013&SortBy=M”>http://www.career.vt.edu/scripts/PostGrad2006/Report/PostGraduationReportByMCU.asp?College=00&Major=ALL&Cohort=2012-2013&SortBy=M</a></p>
<p>Getting a job after Tech is difficult? The Wall Street journal listed Va Tech as one of the top places to hire students based upon surveys of corporate recruiters. My two sons in CS both had internship offers freshman year. They haven’t graduated yet but it certainly doesn’t look like they’ll have any difficulty getting hired. I graduated a bazillion years ago from Pamplin and had 7 offers out of 8 interviews. Certain majors are more in demand than others. Engineering, Architecture, Business (particularly information systems, accounting and finance) graduates are highly sought by employers. I’m sure the food sciences etc do well but I don’t know any of those graduates. Other majors may be tougher regardless of where you attend university.</p>
<p>I’ve found that being at Virginia Tech is helpful since many employers in the DMV area look upon it favorably and already employ LOTS of Tech alumni. However, it really only helps you when you’re already doing what you should be doing to make sure you can get a job after graduation, such as attending career fairs, seeking internships/externships/co-ops/etc. It’s even a good idea to start looking at career fairs as a freshman or sophomore just to know what to expect as an upperclassman; I know a student who did this and ended up with an summer internship as a freshman. The Virginia Tech name itself won’t necessarily make it easier to have a job if you’re applying as a graduating senior without any prior employment, internship, or extracurricular experience.</p>
<p>It’s also definitely true that some majors at Tech (Engineering, Business, the hard sciences) are more employable than others (Liberal Arts, Psychology) but this is true at any college. I’m a 2013 graduate and basically everyone I knew from college, both friends and acquaintances, are employed a year out of graduation. I know some Psychology majors who had jobs lined up before graduating and some engineers who didn’t find a job until a few months after graduating. It really depends on how much you do as an undergrad, the experiences you get, and how prepared you are going into the job hunt.</p>
<p>As a final note, I’m a Psych major and had several offers and opportunities from very well paying and prestigious places. Lots of Psych majors I know ended up employed or in grad school. Being a Psych major is not that bad! :)</p>