Career Readiness

At Purchase College, we don’t prepare you for a single career, we prepare you for a lifetime of careers.

Let’s face it, the world changes quickly.

What you now plan to do when you graduate, may change before you leave Purchase, not to mention over your lifetime. In studying the liberal arts, you’ll learn how to learn, so you’ll be prepared for whatever comes next.

We value study within the context of a liberal arts educational model.

That’s why we emphasize the skills you’ll need to succeed at any time, in any field:

using creativity to solve problems
collaborating across disciplines
thinking and analyzing critically
communicating clearly

We believe in listening with your head and your heart and contemplating how you play a role in making a positive impact on the community you live in and beyond.

And Employers Agree

In a comprehensive survey of business executives and hiring managers by the Association of American Colleges and Universities, the skills they deem most important include “oral communication, critical thinking, ethical judgment, working effectively in teams, written communication, and the real-world application of skills and knowledge.”

We’re on the same clearly written page.

Our career experts are ready to help.

We offer robust services through our Career Development Center to help you craft your resume, polish your interview skills, find an internship, and land your first job. Their services are also available to all alumni.

Learning is never confined to the classroom at Purchase.

We know the lessons of the classroom become ingrained when put into practice. Read more about Hands-On Learning at Purchase.

Our graduates are working.

That’s according to statistics gathered in our most recent Life After Purchase: First Destination Survey

92%

2022 graduates are employed, enrolled in graduate or professional school, or both

12.5%

Enrolled in graduate or professional school

86%

Employed full or part-time including self-employment, performance, or artistic freelancing

66.23%

Working in a field directly or somewhat related to their academic study

Fields Where Graduates Found Employment

Field	Percentage
Arts and Entertainment/Visual Arts	22.13%
Business	23.5%
Education/Human Services	16.67%
Public Services and Law	16.94%
Media Arts and Communication	6.56%
Healthcare and Health Services	5.46%
Arts Administration/Management	6.83%
Science, Technology, and Environment	1.91%

“It’s crucial that your children learn how to learn, not just in the classroom but also on a do-it-yourself basis because they’ll need to continuously reskill to keep up with technological change.”

—Alexandra Samuel, “How You Can Raise Robot-Proof Children,” Wall Street Journal (April 2018)