Investment banking and consulting top the list of 2015 Wharton graduate career choices

Almost 50 percent of the Wharton School’s Class of 2015 joined the investment banking or consulting industry after graduating, according to Career Services’ October report.

Each year, Career Services at Penn aims to find out post-graduation plans of students by administering a survey via email. For Wharton’s Undergraduate Class of 2015, findings were procured from 588 students out of a total of 642 graduates.

In order to gather numbers for school-specific post-graduation surveys, Career Services sends out emails and sometimes allows their partners in the schools to reach out to students directly.

Although the University of Chicago was named the highest per student alumni representation in the asset management industry, according to their student newspaper, The Chicago Maroon, Wharton sends almost as many graduates into the finance industry.

Investment banking, consulting and investment management are the most popular careers for Wharton graduates, Career Services reported. Technology has also become stronger over the years — for the College of Arts and Sciences and the School of Engineering and Applied Science, as well as for the Wharton School.

The top employer of 2015 Wharton graduates was The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc., with 23 accepted offers. Morgan Stanley, with 22 accepted offers, was the second-most common employer.

Director of Career Services Patricia Rose said that less than 14 percent of 2015 Penn graduates are going directly to graduate school.

“That is a very small number. Our students are enormously successful in finding post-graduate employment,” Rose said. “So a lot of students are able to take a break to work first so they can determine which graduate program is right for them.”

Although Rose said that the percentage of students heading immediately to graduate school is unlikely to drop any lower, she added that such plans can depend on external factors.

“The trend we see, when the economy is as strong as this, is the number of people going directly to graduate school goes down,” she said.

Career Services stays in contact with some students over the summer via email and other means. In September, they do LinkedIn searches for recent graduates. When they see that a recent grad is employed or in graduate school, Career Services reaches out again to confirm students’ post-graduation endeavors.

This process, which is conducted until six months after graduation, contributes to Career Services’ 80 percent response rate, Rose said.

Rose explained that the report shows that recent graduates working in investment banking may have the opportunity to work in an asset management division, while others may work for firms that specialize in asset management.

“We’re delighted that we work with so many employers who are interested in hiring our students [for asset management],” Rose said.

Career Services will also release a report detailing the plans of graduates from all of Penn’s schools.

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