Young alumni secure employment, education, and service opportunities
The First Destination Report by the LEEP Center’s Career Development Office finds 98% of the Class of 2018 meeting their post-graduation goals.
Since they graduated from Clark University, alumni from the Class of 2018 have been pursuing career, education, and service paths in a broad range of fields. Recent data gathered from the Class of 2018 found that within six months of receiving their bachelor’s degrees, 98 percent of Clark graduates are employed full or part time, participate in voluntary service, serve in the U.S. Armed Forces, or are enrolled in a program of continuing education.
The First Destination Report by the LEEP Center’s Career Development Office finds Clark graduates employed in an array of for-profit and not-for-profit settings, including research, education, human services, marketing, finance, technology, advocacy, and communications. Among their employers are Amazon, Bank of America, Boston Children’s Hospital, Estee Lauder Companies, CBS Television, Bloomberg, American Red Cross, Descartes Systems Group, Morgan Stanley, and Pfizer. Some alumni have started their own companies in technology and marketing.
Clark alumni also are pursuing advanced degrees at prestigious universities like Brown University, the London School of Economics, George Washington University, Boston University, and the University of Pennsylvania. Still others are involved in service programs, including the Peace Corps and AmeriCorps.
Christian Rentsman ’18, a software development engineer for Amazon, majored in math and computer science at Clark, but his minor in comparative literature refined his communication skills, broadened his worldview, and helped him become conversant in Japanese.
“The skills required to craft effective, structured arguments are the same core skills necessary for building well-designed and intuitive programs,” Rentsman says. “Clark puts critical-thinking skills and diverse thinking at its helm. To me, this is deeply important, regardless of industry.”
Management major Emilee Cocuzzo took advantage of Clark University’s Accelerated B.A./Master’s Program to earn an MBA. She has been hired as a management consultant by Booz Allen Hamilton in Washington, D.C., an outcome made possible by a Clark education that offered lessons beyond the classroom.
“Looking back on my time at Clark, I realized that I not only have been equipped with the necessary skills and tools to tackle the world of business, but also have been taught something far more valuable: the importance of leading with empathy,” she says. “Clark has taught me to be a leader, not just a manager; to work for a cause, not just for a salary; and to see people, not just numbers.”
At Clark, Amiel Jaggernauth ’18, majored in biology and worked as part of a research team in Professor Neva Meyer’s lab. His ambition was to merge his science acumen with business studies to shape a career in biotech. As a full-time MBA candidate in the D’Amore-McKim School of Business at Northeastern University, he’s one step closer to that goal.
“Clark provided the opportunity to dig into a specific field of study and understand how to build a career there,” Jaggernauth says. “The faculty in Clark’s Biology Department integrate career opportunities into the coursework, and explain how to translate science into a job.”
From the moment they arrive on campus, Clark students are provided with resources and advising to help shape their academic journeys and chart their professional paths. Through ClarkCONNECT, students establish connections — with alumni, faculty, and/or parents — that create pathways for internships, research collaborations, networking and employment opportunities, advice, and guidance about careers and industries.
“ClarkCONNECT offers students unprecedented access to an array of industry knowledge, connections and opportunities,” says Donna Curry, executive director for alumni and student engagement and ClarkCONNECT. “I always encourage our students, no matter where they are in their career development and exploration, to make connecting with alumni an integral component of their overall education.”
While she was a student majoring in international development and social change, Madelyn Bowers ’18 secured an internship at a Washington, D.C., nonprofit thanks to an alumni networking relationship she’d established through ClarkCONNECT. Today, she’s a research associate at EAB, a Washington-based consulting firm specializing in education issues.
“I got a lot of professional development and support as I moved into my senior year,” Bowers says. “The alumni connection is really important when you’re exploring any type of experiential activity, whether it’s an internship, job mentorship, or post-graduate employment. Those connections can open doors for you that wouldn’t have opened otherwise.”
Utkristaa Shrestha ’20 is one of ClarkCONNECT’s many ongoing success stories. The economics major interned last summer at RXR Realty, which manages $18 billion in commercial real estate properties and investments in New York City and the tri-state area. Company CEO Scott Rechler ’89 and vice chairman and general counsel Jason Barnett ’90 are both Clark alumni.
“RXR was like an extension of Clark for me,” Shrestha says. “If I didn’t understand a concept, people took the time to explain it to me and helped me see how it connected to the bigger picture. They made me feel I added value to the company.
“ClarkCONNECT really makes a difference,” she adds. “When I send out that first message, I get great response because our alumni have joined to help Clark students and give them feedback.”
Clark also makes it easy for students to connect with potential employers through Handshake, an online recruitment tool. Companies post entry-level job and internship postings, news is shared about campus career events and interviews, and students customize their career exploration. Handshake is quickly becoming the standard: more than 700 universities, 250,000 organizations, and all of the Fortune 500 companies use the platform.
The First Destination data were obtained from 82 percent of the Class of 2018 using Clark’s First Destination survey as the primary tool, with supplementary information from LinkedIn, Clark faculty and staff, and others with first-hand knowledge of the alumni’s activities.
