“The interest of Yale students after graduation is extremely broad,” OCS Director Jeanine Dames said. “There is no one area that attracts Yale students as a critical mass.”
According to the OCS numbers, 73.3 percent of the class currently holds a full-time, part-time or short-term position, while others are conducting independent research, traveling, volunteering or performing military service or care work. Job choice, the survey revealed, was not necessarily dictated by field of study: 38 percent of the respondents said that their careers are unrelated to the majors they completed at Yale.
The graduates did, however, gravitate towards jobs with larger employers. Slightly more than half reported a position at companies with more than 500 employees, up from roughly 44 percent of the class of 2013. Other factors that stood out include the time of year in which the students received a formal offer — 61.8 percent of the class secured positions in the spring or later — and the industry and geographic location of the job. Though official salary figures have not been released for 2014, a sample of 262 alumni surveyed by the News revealed 25 percent to be earning less than $20,000 this year. Meanwhile, six percent are already making more than $100,000.
Though the class spread out over a variety of fields, there were still a select few that drew the most graduates — the select few that most have come to expect in recent years.
THE USUAL SUSPECTS
Taking 16.6 percent of the class, financial services was once again the most popular industry for Yale graduates, one year after 14.8 percent entered the field. Goldman Sachs hired the most members of the class of 2014 with 23. McKinsey & Company, Bain & Company, Microsoft and Boston Consulting Group were the other companies that took on the most 2014 grads besides the University, which hired 51 of them. The education, consulting, research and technology sectors yielded similar, but slightly lower numbers from the class, creating a hierarchy that mirrored patterns seen in 2013.As for the actual work that the graduates now carry out, the OCS data delved into job “function,” for which research, finance, consulting and teaching topped the list across the different industries.
Those working in consulting appeared to be the most pleased, according to results from the News’ survey, with 79 percent indicating that they were “highly satisfied” or “satisfied” with their jobs. Financial services and education, meanwhile, were at least satisfactory for 56 percent and 57 percent of their employees, respectively.
Diana Orozco ’16, who interned at the investment bank during the summer after freshman year, said she thinks Yalies are drawn to Goldman Sachs because of its intellectually stimulating environment.
“[Working at Goldman Sachs] is high-reward and relatively low-risk,” Orozco said.
Orozco added that she could see herself working at Goldman Sachs after graduation.
Tech, another marquee industry in Ivy League circles, has also developed a large recruiting presence on campus. Maren Hopkins ’14, a Microsoft employee, said that the majority of Yalies who end up at Microsoft work in software development. There are others, however, who work on hardware like Hopkins, who earned a mechanical engineering degree at Yale.
The Seattle-based company’s recruiters, she added, prioritize Yale because of its strong computer science program.
“I think Microsoft is working hard to recruit on campus because Yale has a strong computer science program, so more students hear about the jobs and get a chance to interview,” she said.
Additionally, nine alumni from the class of 2014 are working in various locations around the country for Teach for America.