Lehigh has long since demonstrated a focus on networking to help current students find jobs and internships that will advance their eventual careers.
Different events, such as the Career Fair and the Wall Street Council, allow students to network with Lehigh alumni and other professionals in the field they want to pursue. At these events, however, some career paths are emphasized more than others.
Results from the job recruitment process are recorded each year in the First Destination Report, which is published by the the Center for Career and Professional Development. Lehigh students are able to land jobs because of “Career Services’ ongoing partnerships with faculty, alumni, employers, and volunteers have enabled us to build relationships that directly influence the career journeys of our new alumni,” according to the First Destination report.
Statistics from the report show that some majors are more heavily recruited than others. For example, according to the report, KPMG, Ernst and Young, and PricewaterhouseCoopers have each hired over 200 graduates from Lehigh between 2004 and 2014. These three firms mostly hire accounting majors or other business majors.
Other companies who have hired a large number a Lehigh graduates between 2004 and 2014 include JPMorgan Chase and Co. with 93 hires and IBM corporation with 146 hires. Companies such as the Linde Group, Lockheed Martin Corporation, Prudential Financial and Air Products and Chemicals Inc. hire a handful of Lehigh graduates each year.
These statistics indicate that accounting, finance and engineering majors are most heavily recruited out of Lehigh. The number of graduates who go on to work for the Big Four accounting firms is especially large because most business students do not pursue graduate school after graduation.
According to the 2014 First Destination Report, only six percent of business school students attend graduate school immediately after graduation, compared to 22 percent within the engineering school. The College of Arts and Sciences has the most students pursuing graduate school, at 29 percent.
Lehigh students are able to acquire jobs at these major corporations through applying on LUCIE, interviewing at career services, and at on-campus networking events. On-campus networking events, such as the Financial Services Forum, allow students to make connections with alumni that hopefully will lead to internships and jobs.
“The Financial Services Forum seeks to offer Lehigh students a valuable opportunity to connect with professionals who have made their careers in the financial services industry,” according to an email sent to all finance majors within the business school.
Students who have taken advantage of on-campus recruiting have been able to secure jobs and internships early on in their careers at Lehigh.
“Thanks to recruiting events on Lehigh’s campus during my freshman and sophomore years, I was able to secure an internship with one of the Big Four accounting firms before the start of my junior year,” said accounting major Matt Kleinhenz, ’17. “I have been very impressed with the opportunities provided by the accounting department.”
Other students have not experienced the same level of recruiting at Lehigh because of their majors. Lehigh junior marketing major Scott Blumenfeld, ’17, has been frustrated with the small amount of recruiting events for marketing majors at Lehigh and hopes to start a new club to increase recruiting efforts for marketing majors.
“We have been talking to different faculty members within the marketing department in an attempt to start an advertising club at Lehigh,” Blumenfeld said. “We have faced a few obstacles so far but will keep trying to start a club that we feel will be supported by marketing students at Lehigh.”
Though some students may be frustrated with the amount of recruiting events for their majors, only four percent of Lehigh students are still seeking employment or a graduate school after graduation, according to the 2014 First Destination Report.
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