Combined Future Plans Surveys and Survey of Recent Graduates:
Academic Year 2011-2012 Graduates
All Respondents

This overview report presents findings from all graduating seniors participating in either the December 2011 or May 2012 Future Plans Survey (FPS) or the follow-up September 2012 Survey of Recent Graduates (SRG). For more information about the survey methods and analysis, see "Future Plans Survey: Introduction, Research Methods, and Response Rates." For a report with responses broken down by college, as well as a copy of the question wording, see the "Table of Contents."

The Future Plans Survey is administered to all graduating seniors in the weeks surrounding December and May graduation. The Survey of Recent Graduates is a follow-up survey conducted in September to reach those graduates from the past year who either did not complete the Future Plans Survey when they graduated, or who did complete it but at the time said that they had not yet found full-time employment, had not yet decided on or been accepted into graduate school, or were still undecided on their plans. A total of 4,529 undergraduate students received baccalaureate degrees from NC State in Fall 2011 (n=1,395) or Spring 2012 (n=3,134). A total of 3,041 of these graduates responded to the December 2011 FPS (n=684), the May 2012 FPS (n=1,459), and/or the September 2012 SRG (n=913), for an overall response rate of 67.1 percent. (To clarify, if a student responded to their FPS in December or May, and then completed the follow-up SRG in September, only their record of responses from the September SRG - - i.e., the most current information - - is included in the combined dataset used in these reports.) An additional 15 students who had applied to graduate in Fall or Spring and completed the FPS at that time did not officially graduate until the first Summer session in 2012. Results from those 15 respondents are also included in these reports.

Plans Following Graduation
Post-Graduation Employment
Further Education
NC State Experiences and Resources
Closing Comments

Plans Following Graduation

At the time they completed the most recent survey (in December 2011, May 2012, or September 2012), slightly more than half of students overall indicated that they had secured some type of employment. Fifty percent reported that they had accepted a job or were currently employed (50.3%; including those who will be starting their own business, or working as a paid intern), 1.5 percent were entering or continuing military service, and 0.8% said they would be/are engaging in volunteer activity. Another 17.6 percent of the graduates said they were currently looking for employment, but had not yet secured a position. Almost 22 percent of respondents anticipated going to or were enrolled in graduate/professional school (16.5%) or going to graduate/professional school and working (5.2%). Most of the remainder said they would be/are taking additional undergraduate coursework (1.3%), or would be engaged in some "other" activity (5.3%). Very few students who completed the FPS in the weeks before and after commencement said their primary plan was to find a full-time position, but that they had not yet started looking for a job (1.5%).

*This response option was not included on the SRG.

Post-Graduate Employment

This section of the report first provides detailed information about those students who indicated they had obtained a full-time position. That is followed by information provided by those who had not yet found a position despite actively looking for employment.

Full-Time Employment

The majority of respondents who said they had secured employment for after graduation indicated they would be/are working full-time (90.8%).

Table 2: Full- or Part-Time Employment (among those securing any type of employment)

	N	%
Full-time	1,537	90.8
Part-time	156	9.2

The Job Search
Overall, when combining the responses to the three surveys, over half of respondents who had obtained a full-time position said they began actively looking for a job six or more months before graduating (52.6%), and another 26.6 percent started looking three to five months prior to graduating. Because the Survey of Recent Graduates is in the field several months after graduation, those respondents were given a longer time frame to tell us when they began their search for a job. Seven percent of those responding to the SRG (which, as a reminder, includes both those who said they had not yet found or started looking for a position when they responded to their FPS, as well as those who did not respond to their FPS) said that they waited more than 4 weeks after graduation to begin searching for work (7.2%).

Over three-fourths of those securing full-time employment had received the job offer for the position they accepted by the time they graduated (76.5%). Most of the remaining said they had obtained the job offer within three months of graduation (18%).

Table 3: When Started Looking for a Job (among those having received a job offer)

	Overall	Survey
		Dec '11 FPS	May '12 FPS	Sept '12 SRG
12 or more months before graduation	14.7%	19.3%	19.6%	6.4%
9-11 months before graduation	13.5%	7.3%	20.5%	8.7%
6-8 months before graduation	24.4%	25.1%	28.9%	18.7%
3-5 months before graduation	26.6%	28.7%	24.9%	27.4%
1-2 months before graduation	11.3%	14.9%	5.1%	16.7%
Less than one month before graduation	3.4%	4.7%	1.0%	5.6%
Within 4 weeks after graduation	3.4%	.	.	9.3%
5-8 weeks after graduation	1.2%	.	.	3.4%
9-12 weeks after graduation	0.9%	.	.	2.4%
More than 12 weeks after graduation	0.5%	.	.	1.4%
Total	1,369	275	591	503

Table 4: When Received Job Offer

	N	%
Upon graduation	1,155	76.5
Within 3 months after graduation	271	18.0
More than 3 months after graduation	83	5.5

A slight majority of those securing a full-time position indicated that they had more than one offer from which to choose. Over 40 percent said that they had one (28.7%) or two additional job offers (15.2%), while 9 percent indicated that they had three or more job offers from which to choose.

Table 5: Number of Job Offers

	N	%
Yes: This was my only job offer	646	47.1
No: I had one other job offer	394	28.7
No: I had two other job offers	208	15.2
No: I had three or more other offers	124	9.0

Students were asked to indicate what resources had proven to be helpful in their job search. Those with full-time employment were most likely to say that an internship/externship had been helpful (29.7%), followed by applying for a job via ePACK (24.4%), networking with family/friends/classmates/co-workers (23.9%), and/or personal connections within the company (21.5%). Note that some resources in Table 6 with small frequencies were not necessarily unhelpful to graduates, but rather that fewer students used them and therefore fewer selected that response (e.g., Student teaching experience.).

Table 6: Helpful Resources*

	N	%
Internship/externship	457	29.7
Applied for job via ePACK	375	24.4
Family/friends/classmates/co-workers	368	23.9
Personal connection(s) within the company	331	21.5
Campus or college career center	326	21.2
Career fair at NC State	298	19.4
On-campus interviewing	214	13.9
Internet	203	13.2
Employer found resume via ePACK	118	7.7
Co-op experience	113	7.4
Faculty member or found job listing in an NC State dept	113	7.4
Professional society	88	5.7
Consultation with Career Counselor/Coach at NC State	87	5.7
Student teaching experience	65	4.2
Employer information session on campus	56	3.6
Staffing agency	43	2.8
Career fair off-campus	27	1.8
Other	139	9.0

*Respondents could select more than one option.

Industry and Occupation
Students having obtained full-time employment were asked to select the type of industry and the occupational classification of the job in which they would be/are working from a list of industries and occupations identified by the U.S. Census. Although the graduates are heading into a wide range of industries, the most common industries in which they will be/are working are professional, scientific, and technical services (15.6%), and manufacturing (12.4%).

Those finding full-time employment were most likely to say they would be/are working in an occupation related to architecture and engineering (18.3%), followed by business and financial operations (9.1%), computer and mathematics (8.3%), and sales (7.2%).

For a complete list of the companies/organizations where graduates obtained full-time employment, click here.

Table 7: Industry

	N	%
Accommodation and Food Services	31	2.1
Administrative and Support and Waste Management and Remediation Services	2	0.1
Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing, and Hunting	60	4.0
Arts, Entertainment, and Recreation	59	3.9
Construction	56	3.7
Educational Services	112	7.5
Finance and Insurance	89	5.9
Health Care and Social Assistance	95	6.3
Information	50	3.3
Management of Companies and Enterprises	52	3.5
Manufacturing	186	12.4
Mining, Quarrying, and Oil and Gas Extraction	4	0.3
Other Services (except Public Administration)	29	1.9
Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services	234	15.6
Public Administration	19	1.3
Real Estate and Rental and Leasing	11	0.7
Retail Trade	57	3.8
Transportation and Warehousing	29	1.9
Utilities	29	1.9
Wholesale Trade	7	0.5
Other	260	17.3
Not sure	31	2.1

Table 8: Occupational Classification

	N	%
Architecture and Engineering Occupations	273	18.3
Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media Occupations	76	5.1
Building and Grounds Cleaning and Maintenance Occupations	3	0.2
Business and Financial Operations Occupations	136	9.1
Community and Social Service Occupations	21	1.4
Computer and Mathematical Occupations	124	8.3
Construction and Extraction Occupations	22	1.5
Education, Training, and Library Occupations	105	7.0
Farming, Fishing, and Forestry Occupations	32	2.1
Food Preparation and Serving Related Occupations	23	1.5
Health Care Practitioners and Technical Occupations	39	2.6
Health Care Support Occupations	34	2.3
Installation, Maintenance, and Repair Occupations	7	0.5
Legal Occupations	13	0.9
Life, Physical, and Social Science Occupations	31	2.1
Management Occupations	87	5.8
Military Specific Occupations	44	2.9
Office and Administrative Support Occupations	51	3.4
Personal Care and Service Occupations	7	0.5
Production Occupations	43	2.9
Protective Service Occupations	5	0.3
Sales and Related Occupations	108	7.2
Transportation and Material Moving Occupations	14	0.9
Other	174	11.6
Not sure	22	1.5

Relationship of Job to Academic Major and Satisfaction with Job
While 63 percent of those with full-time employment said their job was directly related to their academic major, 11 percent said that it was not at all related.

About 90 percent of those obtaining full-time employment said they were either very satisfied (54.0%) or satisfied (34.2%) with the job in which they would be/are working. Students obtaining positions directly related to their major were more likely to be very satisfied than were those getting jobs unrelated to their major (60.7% versus 38.4%, respectively).

Table 9: Relationship of Job to Major and Satisfaction with Job

	Satisfaction w/ job					All
	Very Satisfied	Satisfied	Neutral	Dissatisfied	Very Dissatisfied
Directly related (n=945)	60.7%	33.1%	4.7%	1.2%	0.3%	63.1%
Somewhat related (n=388)	44.1%	37.9%	15.5%	2.1%	0.5%	25.9%
Not at all related (n=164)	38.4%	31.7%	22.0%	7.3%	0.6%	11.0%
All (n=1,497)	54.0%	34.2%	9.4%	2.1%	0.4%	100.0%

Job Location
While NC State graduates will be/are employed across the nation, 74 percent of those students having accepted a full-time job said they would be/are staying in North Carolina, with over half working in the Research Triangle area (54.4%).

For a complete list of the countries and states in which graduates will be/are working, click here.

Table 10: Job Location (Top Ten States of Employment)

	N	%
North Carolina	1,090	73.8
Virginia	45	3.0
South Carolina	34	2.3
Georgia	31	2.1
Florida	26	1.8
California	23	1.6
Texas	21	1.4
Maryland	18	1.2
New York	14	0.9
Illinois	13	0.9
Tennessee	13	0.9

Table 11: Job Location (In or Out of the Triangle)*

	N	%
Triangle	763	54.4
Other NC	292	20.8
Outside NC	347	24.8

*Some respondents did not provide the name of the city in which they would be working and therefore region could not be determined.

Compensation
Students with full-time positions were asked to indicate the different ways in which they would be compensated. While about 70 percent said they would be/are getting a salary, and 26 percent said their income would include hourly wages, results indicate that graduates are being compensated through a variety of methods. For example, 48 percent will be/are getting only a salary, 20 percent only hourly, 14 percent a salary plus performance bonuses, 2 percent salary plus commission, and 2 percent salary plus commission and performance bonuses.

Respondents were asked to indicate their annual starting salary, and then, if applicable, their estimated first-year income from performance bonuses and commission. NC State's graduates with full-time employment reported an average annual starting salary of $46,179 and an estimated average annual income of $21,531 from performance bonuses and/or commission. Combining all forms of reported compensation (excluding hourly wages) brings their average income to $50,505, with almost a third expecting to earn $60,000 or more in total income their first year (32.0%). Twelve percent expect to earn less than $30,000 in total income (11.9%). Those getting paid an hourly rate reported earning, on average, $14.47 per hour.

(Note: Despite instructions asking respondents to exclude their salary from performance bonuses and/or commission, it is possible that a few respondents combined all sources of income in their reported bonuses/commission income. As such, reports below on performance bonus/commission and total income may be slightly higher than is actually the case.)

Table 12: Type of Compensation*

	N	%
Salary	1076	70.0
Hourly	397	25.8
Performance Bonuses	316	20.6
Other	96	6.2
Commission	95	6.2
Tips/Gratuity	26	1.7

*Respondents could select more than one option.

Table 13: Type of Compensation, Combined

	N	%
Salary only	722	47.8
Hourly only	301	19.9
Salary plus perf. bonuses	208	13.8
Salary plus commission	31	2.1
Salary plus comm plus perf bonus	30	2.0
Salary plus hourly	27	1.8
Hourly plus perf. bonuses	23	1.5
Commission only	15	1.0
Salary plus perf bonus plus hourly	11	0.7
Hourly plus tips	11	0.7
Hourly plus commission	7	0.5
Tips only	4	0.3
Performance bonuses only	4	0.3
Other comp. only	48	3.2
Other	67	4.4

Table 14: Annual Starting Salary

(Average salary = $46,179)	N	%
Less than $30,000	124	11.8
$30,000 - $39,999	270	25.7
$40,000 - $49,999	182	17.3
$50,000 - $59,999	192	18.3
$60,000 or more	239	22.7
Would prefer not answer	25	2.4
Not sure	20	1.9

Table 15: Estimated 1st-Year Income from Performance Bonuses and/or Commission

(Average salary = $21,531)	N	%
Less than $2,500	67	18.5
$2,500 - $4,999	51	14.1
$5,000 - $9,999	52	14.4
$10,000 - $19,999	31	8.6
$20,000 - $49,999	75	20.7
$50,000 or more	53	14.6
Would prefer not answer	11	3.0
Not sure	22	6.1

Table 16: Total Combined 1st-Year Compensation (salary plus performance bonuses and commission)

(Average salary = $50,505)	N	%
Less than $30,000	126	11.9
$30,000 - $39,999	257	24.2
$40,000 - $49,999	168	15.8
$50,000 - $59,999	171	16.1
$60,000 or more	339	32.0

Table 17: Hourly Wages

Average	Minimum	Maximum	N
14.47	2.13	52.60	352

One-Time Compensation
Thirteen percent of those with full-time employment said they had received a signing bonus. Almost half responded that they received a signing bonus of $5,000 or more (46.3%). Twelve percent of those getting a signing bonus said it was for $10,000 or more (12.0%).

When asked if they were offered a relocation package, 52 percent of the students with full-time jobs said that such a package was 'not applicable,' presumably because they were not relocating any substantial distance for their job. However, 20 percent of all those with full-time employment said they were offered a relocation package.

Table 18: Signing Bonus

	N	%
Yes	179	12.9
No	1,205	87.1

Table 19: Amount of Signing Bonus

	N	%
Less than $500	4	2.3
$500 to $999	3	1.7
$1,000 to $1,999	15	8.6
$2,000 to $2,999	23	13.1
$3,000 to $3,999	30	17.1
$4,000 to $4,999	12	6.9
$5,000 to $5,999	45	25.7
$6,000 to $6,999	2	1.1
$7,000 to $7,999	8	4.6
$8,000 to $8,999	4	2.3
$9,000 to $9,999	1	0.6
$10,000 or more	21	12.0
Would prefer not answer	4	2.3
Not sure	3	1.7

Table 20: Relocation Package

	N	%
Yes	301	20.0
No	422	28.0
Not applicable	785	52.1

Still Seeking Employment

As shown earlier in Table 1, almost one-fifth of graduates responding to the FPS/SRG indicated that as of the time they completed the survey they were currently seeking employment (17.6%). While half of these students had started looking for a job at least three months prior to graduating (50.1%), one-fourth started their job search one to two months before graduating (24.8%), and 13 percent just within the month prior to graduating (13.1%) The remaining 12 percent of those without a job said they began their search after graduation day (12.1%).

Table 21: When Started Looking for a Job (among those seeking but not yet securing a job)

One-fourth of graduates who reported that they had been seeking but not yet found employment indicated that it was not due to lack of offers. About 19 percent said that they had received one job offer (18.7%) and about 5 percent had received two or more offers (4.5%). These students were asked to briefly describe why the job offer(s) they had received had not worked out. Several respondents indicated they were actually still in the process of considering a job offer, or that the details had just not yet been worked out. Reasons given for not accepting a job offer included that the job was not a good fit with one's career goals and/or their educational background, the job location (e.g., did not want to relocate to the area or the commute would be too long), compensation (e.g., salary too low or being solely based on commission), or that the job was only part-time or a temporary position.

Table 22: Received any job offers (among those seeking but not yet securing a job)

	N	%
No	406	75.9
Yes: one	100	18.7
Yes: two	24	4.5
Yes: three or more	5	0.9

Type of Work Seeking
The large majority of job-seekers are looking for full-time work (83.4%), with the remainder indicating they were looking for either full- or part-time work (16.6%). Over 90 percent of those seeking employment said they were looking for a job either directly (37.6%) or somewhat (53.1%) related to their major. The most common occupations in which students were hoping to be employed were architecture and engineering (15.8%), business and financial operations (11.7%) and arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media occupations (8.8%).

Table 23: Looking for full-time or part-time work

	N	%
Full-time	448	83.4
Part-time	8	1.5
Either	81	15.1

Table 24: Relationship of Job Seeking to Major

	N	%
Looking for position directly related to my major	202	37.6
Looking for position somewhat related to my major	285	53.1
Looking for position unrelated to my major	8	1.5
How closely position is related to major is irrelevant	42	7.8

Table 25: Occupational Classification of Job Seeking

	N	%
Architecture and Engineering Occupations	81	15.8
Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media Occupations	45	8.8
Business and Financial Operations Occupations	60	11.7
Community and Social Service Occupations	17	3.3
Computer and Mathematical Occupations	18	3.5
Construction and Extraction Occupations	3	0.6
Education, Training, and Library Occupations	40	7.8
Farming, Fishing, and Forestry Occupations	19	3.7
Food Preparation and Serving Related Occupations	2	0.4
Health Care Practitioners and Technical Occupations	22	4.3
Health Care Support Occupations	9	1.8
Legal Occupations	9	1.8
Life, Physical, and Social Science Occupations	32	6.2
Management Occupations	26	5.1
Military Specific Occupations	1	0.2
Office and Administrative Support Occupations	12	2.3
Personal Care and Service Occupations	2	0.4
Production Occupations	4	0.8
Protective Service Occupations	5	1.0
Sales and Related Occupations	22	4.3
Transportation and Material Moving Occupations	1	0.2
Other	60	11.7
Not sure	23	4.5

Location of Job Seeking
The majority of those still looking for a job at the time of the survey said they were looking only in the United States (80.4%), with about half saying they were only looking in North Carolina (45.8%).

Table 26: Looking for Employment Inside or Outside the U.S.

	N	%
United States	431	80.4
Outside U.S.	2	0.4
Both	103	19.2

Table 27: Looking for Employment Inside or Outside the N.C.

	N	%
N.C. only	195	45.8
Only outside N.C.	30	7.0
Both	201	47.2

Further Education

This section of the report provides detailed information on further education being pursued by NC State graduates. All students who said they were planning on or actually attending graduate/professional school were asked to indicate from a list of options the reasons why they had decided to pursue post-graduate education. The most common reason cited was that the student wants to enhance my knowledge in a particular subject area (67.5%). Other reasons cited by majorities of those planning on attending graduate/professional school include that my chosen career field requires graduate/professional school (62.0%), they will be able to earn a higher salary with an advanced degree (58.0%), and that they want to improve their marketability (53.4%). Just about 7 percent indicated that being unable to find a job was a reason for attending graduate/professional school.

Table 28: Reasons for Attending Graduate/Professional School*

	N	%
I want to enhance my knowledge in a particular subject area	440	67.5
My chosen career field requires graduate/professional school	404	62.0
I will be able to earn a higher salary with an advanced degree	378	58.0
I want to improve my marketability	348	53.4
I have been unable to find a job	43	6.6
My employer is encouraging me to attend	15	2.3
Other	20	3.1

*Respondents could select more than one option.

Over 20 percent of the 3,056 graduating seniors who submitted the FPS/SRG said that they planned on going to graduate or professional school in the coming year or were currently enrolled (21.7%, see Table 1 above). However, at the time they completed the FPS not all of those wanting to attend graduate/professional school had actually been accepted to a program and knew where they would be going. Specifically, while over three-fourths of the May graduates had been accepted and were planning on enrolling in a specific program (78.2%), only about one-fourth of the December graduates definitely knew where they would be enrolling (27.8%). As a reminder, students who indicated that they wanted to go to graduate/professional school but who either had not yet applied, not been accepted, or had not made a final decision as to where they would attend would have been invited to participate in the SRG in an attempt to get updated information. The figures reported in Table 29 for the December 2011 and May 2012 FPS for these latter groups, therefore, only include those graduates who did not submit the SRG when invited to do so. In the SRG (administered in September), respondents were simply asked if they were currently enrolled in graduate/professional school. As reported in Table 1 above, 11.2 percent of the SRG respondents said they were currently enrolled in graduate school. All of them would be listed as currently enrolled in Table 29 below. The remainder of this section on the further education of the AY11-12 graduates focuses exclusively on those respondents who either indicated they had been accepted and definitely knew what school they would be attending or who said they were currently enrolled in a graduate/professional school (N=476).

Table 29: Graduate/Professional School Attendance Status (among those indicating an interest in attending graduate/profession school)

School Attending
The majority of respondents who at the time of the survey knew where they would be/are attending graduate/professional school said they will be/are staying in North Carolina (71.2%), with many enrolling at NC State (48.1%). The majority of those going on to graduate/professional school say will be/are attending their first-choice school (87.1%).

Table 30: State of School Attending (Top 5 most commonly mentioned)

	N	%
North Carolina	339	71.2
Virginia	11	2.3
Georgia	10	2.1
California	9	1.9
South Carolina	9	1.9

Table 31: Name of School Attending (Top 5 most commonly mentioned)

	N	%
NC State University	227	48.1
UNC - Chapel Hill	23	4.9
Campbell University	21	4.4
East Carolina University	14	3.0
Duke University	9	1.9

For a complete list of the graduate/professional schools graduates will be/are attending click here.

Table 32: Attending First Choice School?

	N	%
Yes	411	87.1
No	61	12.9

Degree Seeking
Students committed to attending a specific graduate/professional school in the coming year were asked in what degree program they will be/are enrolled. Over 60 percent of students said they would be/are in a Master's program (62.4%), while 34 percent will be/are in a professional program (16.6%) or doctoral program (23.7%). Finally, some students selected multiple choices, indicating that they would be enrolled in dual degree programs (e.g., Master's and Professional degree programs).

For a complete list of the specific types of degrees programs in which students will be enrolled click here.

Table 33: Degree Program (among those accepted and/or enrolled in graduate/professional school, N=476) *

	N	%
Master's	297	62.4
Doctoral	79	16.6
Professional	113	23.7

*Respondents could select more than one degree type.

Table 34: Top Five Master's Degrees Seeking*

Master's degree enrolled in	N	%
MS	104	35.5
MAC	37	12.6
MA	18	6.1
MAT	15	5.1
ME	14	4.8

*Frequencies are based on the total number of respondents selecting a specific Master's degree, N=293.

Table 35: Doctoral Degrees Seeking*

Doctoral degree enrolled in	N	%
PhD	77	100.0

*Frequencies are based on the total number of respondents selecting a specific Doctoral degree, N=77.

Table 36: Top Five Professional Degrees Seeking*

Professional degree enrolled in	N	%
JD	43	39.1
DVM	24	21.8
MD	12	10.9
PharmD	12	10.9
DDS	5	4.5

*Frequencies are based on the total number of respondents selecting a specific Professional degree, N=110.

Graduate/Professional School Funding/Awards Received
NC State undergraduates going on to graduate/professional school received a variety of funding and/or awards as part of their acceptance into their program. Scholarship (20.6%), Research Assistantships (18.3%) and Teaching Assistantships (14.3%) were most commonly reported.

Table 37: Graduate/Professional School Funding/Awards* (among those accepted and/or enrolled in graduate/professional school, N=476)

	N	%
Scholarship	98	20.6
Research Assistantship	87	18.3
Teaching Assistantship	68	14.3
Fellowship	49	10.3
Honors/Award	14	2.9
Other assistantship	14	2.9

*Respondents could select more than one type of funding/award.

NC State Experiences and Resources

All AY11-12 graduates completing the FPS/SRG were asked about their participation in various work-related experiences, as well as about various career-related resources they might have used while at NC State. This section of the report summarizes the information they shared about these experiences.

Work-Related Experiences
Respondents were asked whether or not they had participated in various work-related experiences while a student at NC State, and if so, for how many semesters/summers they did it, and whether or not it was helpful in securing a job offer. Over half of the students reported having an internship or job related to their major (53.7%). A significant number of students also reported participating in a class project specifically designed to work with a company/organization outside of NC State (22.5%), and/or in a research project with a faculty member (20.4%).

The relatively small number of students having participated in a co-op (6.7%) typically reported having multiple such experiences, with over half saying they had a co-op for either three (33.7%) or four or more (20.1%) semesters/summers. Research w/ faculty and internships/jobs in academic field also tended to be relatively long term, lasting three or more semesters/summers. The majority of those having done a practicum, student teaching, or class project did so for one semester/summer or less.

For the most part, regardless of the type of work-related experience, students who were interested in finding employment (i.e., had/were actively looking for a job, rather than planning on, say, going to graduate/professional school) were very positive about the helpfulness of the experience in securing a job offer. Co-ops were most likely to be viewed as very helpful (71.5%) followed by internships/job in academic field (56.3%) and student teaching (44.7%). Least likely to be helpful in getting a job, according to those with such an experience, was a class project working with an outside company/organization, with 11.1 percent of those working on such a project saying it was not at all helpful in securing a job, and another 21.2 percent saying it was not very helpful.

Table 38: Participation in Work-Related Experiences*

	Yes, participated		# of semesters/summers participated
Participation in work-related experiences	N	%	Less than 1	1	2	3	4+
Work-related experiences: Co-op	200	6.7%	0.5%	25.1%	20.6%	33.7%	20.1%
Work-related experiences: Internship/externship or job in field	1,610	53.7%	3.2%	39.1%	26.1%	14.2%	17.4%
Work-related experiences: Practicum	96	3.2%	2.1%	77.9%	8.4%	2.1%	9.5%
Work-related experiences: Student teaching	280	9.3%	2.2%	62.5%	17.7%	7.6%	10.1%
Work-related experiences: Research w/ faculty	612	20.4%	3.5%	30.8%	24.2%	17.3%	24.2%
Work-related experiences: Class project	674	22.5%	6.7%	57.3%	26.1%	5.1%	4.8%

*Respondents could select more than one experience.

Table 39: Helpfulness of Work Experiences in Securing Employment (among those having had the experience and having looked for employment)

	Mean	4: Very helpful	3: Somewhat helpful	2: Not very helpful	1: Not at all helpful
Co-op (n=186)	3.65	71.5%	23.1%	4.3%	1.1%
Internship (n=1,458)	3.39	56.3%	30.4%	9.0%	4.3%
Practicum (n=81)	3.00	39.5%	33.3%	14.8%	12.3%
Student teaching (n=235)	3.22	44.7%	38.3%	11.1%	6.0%
Research w/ faculty (n=493)	3.15	39.8%	41.2%	13.6%	5.5%
Class project (n=576)	2.82	25.2%	42.5%	21.2%	11.1%

Use of Career Service Offices
Graduating seniors/recent grads were asked how frequently they had used the services of each of the different career offices on campus, and, for those they had ever used, their evaluation of the services provided. While a slight majority of respondents (54.2%) said they had used the Career Development Center, less than ten percent said they used it on a regular basis (2.1%) or many times (5.8%).

Use of college-specific career service offices was, not surprising, lower among respondents overall. Table 41 provides a break-out of use of the different college career service offices by the college from which the respondent graduated. Specifically, it focuses on the combined number of respondents reporting that they had used the given career center either on a regular basis, many times, or several times. Clearly students from a particular college were much more likely than others to use their specific college career center. Graduates from the College of Textiles (COT) were most likely to report using their career center at least several times (69.8%). In comparison, about half of the Poole College of Management (PCOM) graduates used their career center at least several times (48.9%), while about one-third of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (CALS) and College of Design (Design) graduates used their career centers as frequently (34.9% and 31.3%, respectively). Among the students from colleges without a dedicated career services center, those from the College of Engineering (COE) were most likely to have used the University's Career Development Center at least several times (31.4%), and those from the College of Education (CED) least likely (13.7%).

Table 40: Frequency of Use of Career Service Offices

	Mean	5: On a regular basis	4: Many times	3: Several times	2: Just once or twice	1: Never
Career Development Center (n=2,956)	1.86	2.1%	5.8%	13.7%	32.6%	45.8%
CALS Career Services (n=2,864)	1.30	1.2%	1.9%	4.6%	9.9%	82.4%
College of Textiles Career Services (n=2,862)	1.15	1.8%	1.0%	1.3%	1.9%	94.0%
College of Design Career Services (n=2,854)	1.05	0.1%	0.4%	0.8%	1.6%	97.0%
Poole College of Management Career Development Center (n=2,876)	1.29	1.6%	2.7%	3.9%	6.3%	85.5%

Table 41: College Comparison of Those Using Career Services Several Times or More Often*

	Overall	College/School
		CALS	CED	CHASS	CNR	COE	COT	Design	PAMS	PCOM
Career Development Center (n=2,956)	21.6%	12.1%	13.7%	20.4%	16.6%	31.4%	19.9%	6.2%	22.6%	26.6%
CALS Career Services (n=2,864)	7.7%	34.9%	2.0%	1.7%	3.0%	0.9%	0.7%	.	2.7%	1.2%
College of Textiles Career Services (n=2,862)	4.1%	0.6%	1.0%	0.5%	.	0.3%	69.8%	3.8%	0.9%	0.2%
College of Design Career Services (n=2,854)	1.3%	0.2%	2.0%	0.6%	0.6%	0.2%	0.7%	31.3%	.	0.5%
Poole College of Management Career Development Center (n=2,876)	8.2%	0.8%	2.0%	1.1%	0.6%	0.2%	3.6%	.	.	48.9%

*Frequencies include the combined responses of those who reported using the career center either on a regular basis, many times, or several times

Career Service Ratings
Ratings of all career services offices were generally positive - - in no case did more than small number of users rate the services of any given center as poor or very poor. Those who used the College of Textiles Career Services office were most likely to give it a positive rating, with just over half saying their services were excellent (53.6%). One-third of those using the PCOM and CALS Career Services offices rated their respective services as excellent (33.8% and 33.1%, respectively). Although still rated favorably as excellent or good by a majority of users, the Career Development Center and the College of Design Career Services office were less likely than others to be rated as excellent by their users (22.3% and 14.3%, respectively).

Table 42: Rating of Career Offices' Services (among those ever having used the office)

	Mean	5: Excellent	4: Good	3: Fair	2: Poor	1: Very Poor
Career Development Center (n=1,597)	3.93	22.3%	52.5%	21.8%	2.6%	0.9%
CALS Career Services (n=505)	4.10	33.1%	46.7%	18.0%	1.8%	0.4%
College of Textiles Career Services (n=168)	4.31	53.6%	29.8%	12.5%	2.4%	1.8%
College of Design Career Services (n=84)	3.70	14.3%	51.2%	29.8%	0.0%	4.8%
Poole College of Management Career Development Center (n=411)	4.07	33.8%	43.3%	19.5%	2.4%	1.0%

Career Fairs
Graduates were asked whether or not they had attended any career fairs, or used various other specific career-related services while at NC State. Two-thirds of those responding to the FPS/SRG indicated that they had attended an on- or off-campus career fair (66.0%). Career fair attendance, however, varied widely by college. More than three-fourths of the graduates in the College of Engineering (COE; 86.7%) and the College of Textiles (COT; 79.2%) said they had attended a career fair, compared to less than half of those in the College of Humanities and Social Sciences (CHASS; 46.4%), the College of Education (CED; 36.9%), and the College of Design (Design; 31.3%).

As shown in Table 44, college differences in career fair attendance are likely the result of students participating in career fairs organized by their respective colleges. When those having ever attended a career fair were asked to indicate which specific career fair(s) they attended, over 90 percent of the graduates in COE (99.7%), the Poole College of Management (PCOM; 95.6%), and COT (93.2%) said they had attended the career fair in their respective college. The majority of graduates from CALS (84.1%), Design (80.8%), and CHASS (74.4%) who said they had attended a career fair were also most likely to have attended the fair in their respective college. The Engineering Career Fair drew a large number of graduates from College of Physical and Mathematical Sciences (PAMS), with 86.1 percent of the PAMS students who attended a career fair saying they participated in it. Finally, graduates from CED were most likely to have attended a career fair unaffiliated with NC State (47.4%).

Table 43: Career Fair Attendance, by College

Table 44: Specific Career Fairs Attended, by College (among those saying they had attended any career fair)*

	Overall	College/School
		COE	CALS	CHASS	PCOM	COT	CNR	PAMS	CED	Design
CALS Career Expo	20.2%	1.2%	84.1%	7.9%	1.6%	2.5%	18.1%	8.3%	10.5%	0.0%
CHASS Career Fair	13.3%	0.3%	2.3%	74.4%	1.6%	0.0%	6.4%	1.4%	7.9%	3.8%
College of Design Networking Fair	1.2%	0.0%	0.0%	0.6%	0.0%	0.0%	0.0%	0.0%	2.6%	80.8%
Engineering Career Fair	43.8%	99.7%	16.2%	8.8%	14.3%	24.6%	27.7%	86.1%	28.9%	3.8%
Poole COM Career & Internship Fair	18.7%	1.0%	1.3%	10.4%	95.6%	7.6%	13.8%	4.2%	0.0%	0.0%
Textiles Job Forum	6.1%	0.0%	0.0%	1.6%	0.0%	93.2%	0.0%	1.4%	0.0%	19.2%
Law School Fair	3.5%	0.5%	1.0%	15.1%	2.5%	1.7%	3.2%	1.4%	0.0%	0.0%
Health Career Expo	5.8%	0.8%	21.5%	3.5%	1.3%	2.5%	0.0%	9.7%	0.0%	0.0%
Other fair at NC State	8.0%	3.3%	5.3%	12.9%	2.5%	2.5%	47.9%	15.3%	10.5%	19.2%
Career fair at another university	2.5%	0.2%	1.3%	8.8%	1.6%	2.5%	4.3%	1.4%	7.9%	0.0%
Career fair unaffiliated w/ university	4.0%	1.7%	2.8%	5.4%	3.2%	1.7%	5.3%	5.6%	47.4%	7.7%
Don't know/don't remember	2.7%	0.2%	2.3%	6.6%	1.6%	1.7%	11.7%	1.4%	7.9%	3.8%
Total	1,978	601	396	317	315	118	94	72	38	26

*Respondents could select more than one option.

Career Services
In addition to participating in career fairs, a majority of respondents indicated that they had taken advantage of ePACK, the University Career Center's online tool for connecting students with potential employers (69.2%). Less than half the graduates said they had used any of the other career-related services asked about. Over one-third of students said they had visited the NC State Career Development Center website (40.2%) or attended presentations about resume writing, interviewing, and other career skills (36.7%). Respondents were least likely to have participated in mock interviews with a Career Counselor/Coach (11.3%).

Table 45: Career Resources Used at NC State*

	N	%
ePACK	2075	69.2
NC State Career Development Center website	1205	40.2
Presentations about resume writing, interviewing, and other career skills	1100	36.7
Employer information sessions	949	31.7
Joined professional society/organization at NC State in career area	947	31.6
On-campus interviewing with potential employers	783	26.1
Spoke with Career Counselor/Coach	701	23.4
Mock interviews with Career Counselor/Coach	338	11.3

*Respondents could select more than one resource.

Closing Comments

The FPS/SRG closed by asking all respondents to rate their overall satisfaction with the career guidance they had received from their department and/or college while at NC State, and to reflect on how they are feeling about their career. The majority of graduates said they were either satisfied (40.6%) or very satisfied (22.6%) with the career guidance they had received from their academic department/college. While a sizable number were neutral about the guidance they received (26.7%), about ten percent said they were either dissatisfied (7.0%) or very dissatisfied (3.1%).

Table 46: Satisfaction with Career Guidance from Academic Department/College

	Mean	5: Very Satisfied	4: Satisfied	3: Neutral	2: Dissatisfied	1: Very Dissatisfied	N
Overall Satisfaction	3.73	22.6%	40.6%	26.7%	7.0%	3.1%	2,963

Overall, graduates are excited about their futures. When asked which statement comes closest to how they were feeling about their future, half of all respondents said that they were either "very excited" (50.7%) or "pretty excited" (33.9%). Students were less likely to choose "a bit confused/uncertain: I'm really not sure what I want to do and/or what I'm prepared to do" (14.2%). Finally, very few students appear to be feeling at a loss, with just 1 percent selecting the final option, "very confused/uncertain: I just don't feel ready/prepared to move on."

Table 47: Feelings about Future Career Path

Feelings about future career path	N	%
Very excited: Confident this is what I want to do and I'm prepared	1,504	50.7
Pretty excited: Fairly sure this is what I want to do	1,006	33.9
A bit confused/uncertain: Not really sure what I want to do	420	14.2
Very confused/uncertain: Don't feel ready/prepared to move on	38	1.3

For more information on the Future Plans Survey contact:
Dr. Nancy Whelchel, Associate Director for Survey Research
Office of Institutional Planning and Research
Box 7002
NCSU
Phone: (919) 515-4184
Email: Nancy_Whelchel@ncsu.edu

Posted: January, 2013

Return to Future Plans Survey Table of Contents Page

Return to OIRP Survey Page

Return to OIRP Home Page