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Many colleges have a pre-professional track they are known for that students often consider when applying. At a school like Vanderbilt, students are obviously driven, motivated, and intelligent people, but what is it exactly that these students are driven towards? What careers are Vandy grads drawn to and which industries are looking for them?
As someone who wanted to keep as many options as possible open after college, this wasn’t a huge factor in my personal decision process. However, after arriving on campus and listening to the various internships, future plans, and job prospects students were exploring, my curiosity about Vandy’s signature pre-professional track grew.
Business & Consulting
According to a survey of the Class of 2023, the biggest industry pulling fresh Vanderbilt graduates was Business & Consulting with about 30% of students entering this field. The Vanderbilt Career Center broke down more specific areas of work listing Accounting & Finance, Computer & IT, Education & Research, and Consulting & Management as the four most popular. Many of these industries fall under the broad categories of Consulting and Business. Consultants provide guidance in many areas of expertise and general business entails many different roles and specialties within the world of business.
The survey results were hardly surprising, given the amount of buzz from students looking to secure roles at places like Deloitte, McKinsey, and Goldman Sachs, but I was still curious as to why so many of these business-minded students chose to attend Vanderbilt, how the school prepares them for these careers, and what a Vandy degree signifies to employers in these fields.
The HOD Major
Fittingly, Vandy’s most popular major – Human and Organizational Development (HOD) – aligns well with the school’s most popular post-grad career outcome. The HOD program is housed within the Peabody School of Education and teaches students skills such as collaboration & interpersonal communication, written & oral communication, critical thinking, group leadership, and organizational development & management. Students have expressed how HOD helps them learn how to address societal problems and be instrumental in a variety of organizational roles. Additionally, the program includes a capstone internship where students intern full time in a choice of six different cities allowing them to apply the skills they have learned to the real workforce. HOD students have gone to law, business, and medical school. They have also become consultants and investment bankers, and even go on to work with non-profits or in education.
If HOD is so versatile and can lead to many different paths, how is it more strongly linked to business and consulting than other fields? Just as HOD is such a broad, multidisciplinary major, both business and consulting are broad, multidisciplinary fields. Consultants provide advice about areas of expertise to organizations, but their specialities can cover a wide variety of topics such as operations, management, finance, HR, IT, marketing, and many more. Additionally, the roles one can take on in the general domain of business are even more widespread including jobs in finance, accounting, sales, business development, and all areas above on which consultants can provide advice. HOD prepares students to tackle a wide variety of issues, work well with others, communicate effectively, and contribute to the progress of their organization. While these skills are valuable for any job, the interdisciplinary and interpersonal nature of jobs in the business and consulting realms makes them uniquely suited to students with HOD degrees.
There’s More
However, just as HOD majors end up in fields outside of business and consulting, there are students in many other programs who also end up in business and consulting jobs. Whatever they may specialize in, no student walks away from Vanderbilt without wide-ranging knowledge and skills. Components of Vanderbilt’s AXLE core curriculum such as the writing, perspectives, and social and behavioral sciences requirements cultivate skills like communication, effective writing, and critical thinking that make students great candidates for business and consulting jobs. Additionally, Vandy is a school where almost every student I know is engaged in multiple ways both in and out of the classroom. My peers participate in various clubs, athletics, volunteering, and social engagements which help develop cooperation, teamwork, community, and social skills that are also vital preparation for many business and consulting roles.
Conclusion
Consulting, finance, and business careers may be the most popular career choice for Vanderbilt graduates, but it is far from drawing the majority of students. The Career Center’s Survey listed over 15 other industries where students found employment with another 25% of the Class of 2023 going on to graduate school. Those who graduate from Vanderbilt are multifaceted and skilled people. These qualities make them great candidates for business and consulting fields, but students can and do use their integrative, well-rounded education to be successful on whatever path their future takes.
