Ninety seven percent of Bentley University’s recent graduates are employed, attending or planning to attend graduate school, according to statistics from the Class of 2017 six months after their graduation. And Bentley graduates’ salaries are on the rise, with a median starting salary of $57,000, up from $55,000 last year.
Nearly 60 percent of the graduates credited their post-graduation success to Bentley’s nationally recognized Career Services Department, which year after year has been named among the best in the U.S. by the Princeton Review.
Landing a job after graduation is an increasingly important factor for students and their families when investing in a college education. Close to 85 percent of U.S. college first-year students say they attend college to get a better job, according to the Higher Education Research Institute at UCLA.
Members of Bentley’s Class of 2017 were hired by top companies and organizations. In addition to all of the major global accounting firms, Bentley graduates were hired by Boston Scientific, Dell EMC, HubSpot, Thermo Fischer Scientific, HBO, Goldman Sachs, Liberty Mutual, Nasdaq, the Boston Red Sox, JPMorgan Chase & Co., TripAdvisor and Wellington Management.
Other data about Bentley’s Class of 2017 graduates include:
- 314 different employers hired Bentley graduates in 2017
- 30 percent said they obtained jobs as a result of networking efforts
- 56 percent of students said they obtained a job through Bentley’s Career Services Department, which hosts companies on-campus to recruit Bentley students, sponsors career fairs, facilitates faculty and staff referrals that lead to jobs, and arranges internship placements that lead to full-time positions
Students benefit from Bentley’s HIRE education program, a customized four-year approach to developing job search skills that lays the foundation for a lifetime of effective career management. At Bentley, career exploration begins during the first year with a Career Development Seminar in which students begin to discover their professional path and create the career tools they will need including a resume, cover letter, LinkedIn profile and elevator pitch.
Bentley is now bringing its nationally-recognized career-search expertise to new audiences with the launch of a podcast that offers career advice to professionals and job seekers. Counter Offer, “the podcast that helps you love Mondays,” is hosted by Susan Brennan, Bentley’s associate vice president of university career services, and Alyssa Hammond, the university’s director of undergraduate career education and outcomes.
Listen to the Counter Offer podcast.
Bentley’s job placement statistics are compiled through a survey of graduates and research by the university’s Career Services staff. The responses represent 93 percent of Class of 2017 graduates, which is a higher and more accurate rate than many universities compile about their students’ post-graduation careers.
Learn more about Bentley’s career education program.
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