In a fall letter to MIT alumni, President Sally Kornbluth wrote: “[T]he world has never been more ready to reward our graduates for what they know — and know how to do.” During her tenure leading MIT Career Advising and Professional Development (CAPD), Deborah Liverman has seen firsthand how — and how well — MIT undergraduate and graduate students leverage their education to make an impact around the globe in academia, industry, entrepreneurship, medicine, government and nonprofits, and other professions. Here, Liverman shares her observations about trends in students’ career paths and the complexities of the job market they must navigate along the way.
Q: How do our students fare when they graduate from MIT?
A: We routinely survey our undergraduates and graduate students to track post-graduation outcomes, so fortunately we have a wealth of data. And ultimately, this enables us to stay on top of changes from year to year and to serve our students better.
The short answer is that our students fare exceptionally well when they leave the Institute! In our 2023 Graduating Student Survey, which is an exit survey for bachelor’s degree and master’s degree students, 49 percent of bachelor’s respondents and 79 percent of master’s respondents entered the workforce after graduating, and 43 percent and 14 percent started graduate school programs, respectively. Among those seeking immediate employment, 92 percent of bachelor’s and 87 percent of master’s degree students reported obtaining a job within three months of graduation.
What is notable, and frankly, wonderful, is that these two cohorts really took advantage of the rich ecosystem of experiential learning opportunities we have at MIT. The majority of Class of 2023 seniors participated in some form of experiential learning before graduation: 94 percent of them had a UROP [Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program], 75 percent interned, 66 percent taught or tutored, and 38 percent engaged with or mentored at campus makerspaces. Among master’s degree graduates in 2023, 56 percent interned, 45 percent taught or tutored, and 30 percent took part in entrepreneurial ventures or activities. About 47 percent of bachelor’s graduates said that a previous internship or externship led to the offer that they accepted, and 46 percent of master’s graduates are a founding member of a company.
We conduct a separate survey for doctoral students. I think there’s a common misperception that most of our PhD students go into academia. But a sizable portion choose not to stay in the academy. According to our 2024 Doctoral Exit Survey, 41 percent of graduates planned to go into industry. As of the survey date, of those who were going on to employment, 76 percent had signed a contract or made a definite commitment to a postdoc or other work, and only 9 percent were seeking a position but had no specific prospects.
A cohort of students, as well as some alumni, work with CAPD’s Prehealth Advising staff to apply for medical school. Last year we supported 73 students and alumni consisting of 25 undergrads, eight graduate students, and 40 alumni, with an acceptance rate of 79 percent — well above the national rate of 41 percent.
Q: How does CAPD work with students and postdocs to cultivate their professional development and help them evaluate their career options?
A: As you might expect, the career and graduate school landscape is constantly changing. In turn, CAPD strives to continuously evolve, so that we can best support and prepare our students. It certainly keeps us on our feet!
One of the things we have changed recently is our fundamental approach to working with students. We migrated our advising model from a major-specific focus to instead center on career interest areas. That allows us to prioritize skills and use a cross-disciplinary approach to advising students. So when an advisor sits down (or Zooms) with a student, that one-on-one session creates plenty of space to discuss a student’s individual values, goals, and other career-decision influencing factors.
I would say that another area we have been heavily focused on is providing new ways for students to explore careers. To that end, we developed two roles — an assistant director of career exploration and an assistant director of career prototype — to support new initiatives. And we provide career exploration fellowships and grants for undergraduate and graduate students so that they can explore fields that may be niche to MIT.
Career exploration is really important, but we want to meet students and postdocs where they are. We know they are incredibly busy at MIT, so our goal is to provide a variety of formats to make that possible, from a one-hour workshop or speaker, to a daylong shadowing experience, or a longer-term internship. For example, we partnered with departments to create the Career Exploration Series and the Infinite Careers speaker series, where we show students various avenues to get to a career. We have also created more opportunities to interact with alumni or other employers through one-day shadowing opportunities, micro-internships, internships, and employer coffee chats. The Prehealth Advising program I mentioned before offers many avenues to explore the field of medicine, so students can really make informed decisions about the path they want to pursue.
We are also looking at our existing programming to identify opportunities to build in career exploration, such as the Fall Career Fair. We have been working on identifying employers who are open to having career exploration conversations with — or hiring — first-year undergraduates, with access to these employers 30 minutes before the start of the fair. This year, the fair drew 4,400 candidates (students, postdocs, and alumni) and 180 employers, so it’s a great opportunity to leverage an event we already have in place and make it even more fruitful for both students and employers.
I do want to underscore that career exploration is just as important for graduate students as it is for undergraduates. In the doctoral exit survey I mentioned, 37 percent of 2024 graduates said they had changed their mind about the type of employer for whom they expected to work since entering their graduate program, and 38 percent had changed their mind about the type of position they expected to have. CAPD has developed exploration programming geared specifically for them, such as the CHAOS Process and our Graduate Student Professional Development offerings.
Q: What kinds of trends are you seeing in the current job market? And as students receive job offers, how do they weigh factors like the ethical considerations of working for a certain company or industry, the political landscape in the U.S. and abroad, the climate impact of a certain company or industry, or other issues?
A: Well, one notable trend is just the sheer volume of job applications. With platforms like LinkedIn’s Easy Apply, it’s easier for job seekers to apply to hundreds of jobs at once. Employers and organizations have more candidates, so applicants have to do more to stand out. Companies that, in the past, have had to seek out candidates are now deciding the best use of their recruiting efforts.
I would say the current job market is mixed. MIT students, graduates, and postdocs have experienced delayed job offers and starting dates pushed back in consulting and some tech firms. Companies are being intentional about recruiting and hiring college graduates. So students need to keep an open mind and not have their heart set on a particular employer. And if that employer isn’t hiring, then they may have to optimize their job search and consider other opportunities where they can gain experience.
On a more granular level, we do see trends in certain fields. Biotech has had a tough year, but there’s an uptick in opportunities in government, space, aerospace, and in the climate/sustainability and energy sectors. Companies are increasingly adopting AI in their business practices, so they’re hiring in that area. And financial services is a hot market for MIT candidates with strong technical skills.
As for how a student evaluates a job offer, according to the Graduating Student Survey, students look at many factors, including the job content, fit with the employer’s culture, opportunity for career advancement, and of course salary. However, students are also interested in exploring how an organization fits with their values.
CAPD provides various opportunities and resources to help them zero in on what matters most to them, from on-demand resources to one-on-one sessions with our advisors. As they research potential companies, we encourage them to make the most of career fairs and recruiting events. Throughout the academic year, MIT hosts and collaborates on over a dozen career fairs and large recruiting events. Companies are invited based on MIT candidates’ interests. The variety of opportunities means students can connect with different industries, explore careers, and apply to internships, jobs and research opportunities.
We also recommend that they take full advantage of MIT’s curated instance of Handshake, an online recruiting platform for higher education students and alumni. CAPD has collaborated with offices and groups to create filters and identifiers in Handshake to help candidates decide what is important to them, such as a company’s commitment to inclusive practices or their sustainability initiatives.
As advisors, we encourage each student to think about which factors are important for them when evaluating job offers and determine if an employer aligns with their values and goals. And we encourage and honor each student’s right to include those values and goals in their career decision-making process. Accepting a job is a very personal decision, and we are here to support each student every step of the way.
