As someone involved in recruiting new students to the ESTEEM Graduate Program at the University of Notre Dame, one of my favorite questions I receive from prospective students is, “what do students typically do after graduating?” I always laugh, because as cliché as it sounds, there is really no “typical” path for students post-ESTEEM.
The power of the ESTEEM degree is evident not only in the way students are able to utilize their breadth of experiences in the program to enter a wide variety of industries, but also the strong number of full-time job offers students in the Class of 2020 received even in the midst of a global pandemic.
Despite an increasingly competitive job market during the final months of their year in the program, 73% of ESTEEM students had full-time offers at graduation, with 93% of students receiving offers 120 days after graduation.
The students in the Class of 2020 entered a wide range of different industries:
To highlight a few different paths the Class of 2020 took after graduation:
STARTUPS
27.5% of our students accepted full-time offers at a variety of startups, including their own. For example, Rian McDonnell is working full-time on the company he co-founded, FloWaste, a food analytics platform that utilizes image recognition to help reduce food waste in cafeterias. FloWaste is currently undergoing beta testing, expanding their team and resuming pilots planned pre-COVID.
TECHNOLOGY
25% of the Class of 2020 accepted roles in the technology sector. Katie Shannon’s interest in environmental issues led to her new role as a Project Analyst for AppHarvest, an organization utilizing technology to promote sustainable change in the agriculture industry. Their high-tech greenhouses reduce water consumption and yield larger food harvests.
TRANSPORTATION
Nick Wilt is moving to Las Vegas, Nevada to join the Boring Company as a buyer. The Boring Company, founded by Elon Musk in December 2016, is working on a variety of tunnel infrastructure projects throughout the US.
CONSULTING
33% of the class accepted consulting roles at top firms such as Abbvie, Accenture, Booz Allen Hamilton, Deloitte, KPMG, McKinsey and PwC.
EDUCATION
Several ESTEEM students chose to return to school for further education. Anthony Plochocki is currently a medical student at the University of Vermont Larner College of Medicine, while Sam Pasmann is now pursuing a PhD in Aerospace and ME at the University of Notre Dame.
There is truly no “typical” career path for a student post-ESTEEM. As this year’s class shows, the skills, knowledge and experiences gained through ESTEEM can lead to rewarding careers in multitude of fields! We can’t wait to see how the Class of 2020 will continue to leverage their ESTEEM degree to go out into the world and fix things that matter.