More graduates in the Class of 2025 are employed six months after graduation than the Class of 2024 at the same point last year, according to data from the ’68 Center for Career Exploration’s annual “Destinations After Williams” survey published earlier this month. This comes despite new graduates facing one of toughest job markets since the COVID-19 pandemic.
The proportion of graduates from the Class of 2025 still seeking employment is down nearly two points, at 6.47 percent, compared to 8.24 percent for the Class of 2024 taken six months after graduation. National data suggests Ephs are finding employment at a rate slightly higher than average: The 2025 unemployment rate for 20 to 24 year olds with at least a bachelor’s degree reached 7 percent, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Executive Director of the ’68 Center for Career Exploration Don Kjelleren attributed recent graduates’ success in the job market to the College’s powerful alumni network and the tenacity of the student body. “It’s good news for the Williams graduate that national numbers look challenging, and yet we continue solid employment numbers here at Williams,” Kjelleren told the Record. “That speaks to things like the [alumni] network … the selectivity of Williams students, and their motivation to actually leverage things like internships.”
Ninety-three percent of graduates from the class of 2025 are employed, continuing education, pursuing a fellowship, or serving in the military as of last December, according to the report. The ’68 Center compiled the data from online survey responses, publicly sourced information via platforms like LinkedIn, and data from the fellowship office. This year’s survey has a “knowledge rate” of 74 percent, with 433 out of 586 graduates accounted for.
These post-graduation numbers are consistent with the trend of the past five years, with more than 90 percent of the graduating classes entering the workforce or continuing education. This stability suggests a positive recovery after a dip during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, when only 76 percent of surveyed graduates found full-time employment or continued their education.
Finance and consulting continue to be the most popular industries among recent graduates of the College, making up 23.7 percent and 13.4 percent, respectively, of graduates’ chosen industries. Sometimes referred to as the “West Point of Wall Street,” the College sent a greater proportion of students into finance and consulting than its peer institutions that reported comparable data for the Class of 2025, including Amherst, Middlebury, Tufts, Wesleyan, Yale, and Harvard.
Kjelleren explained the high concentration of these industries in the Class of 2025’s job selection succinctly: “Networks, build networks, right?”
Director of Operations & External Relations Leigh Sylvia similarly suggested that the College’s prevalence in these sectors is self-reinforcing. “There’s a large number of alums that are in those fields, and then we have large numbers of alums that want to come back and recruit at Williams because they know the value of the education,” she said.
Board member of Insight and Williams Investing Group (WIG) Will Iorio ’26 also pointed to the benefit of being able to learn more about the career and recruiting process from alums. “Relative to other NESCAC schools, the sense that I get is that our differentiating factor is really our alumni networks,” he said. “There’s just so many people … junior positions and even some really important people.”
Katerina Papachela ’26 said she feels disappointed by the career choices of some of her peers. “I understand students want to be financially secure, but I’ve been in classes with some of these people where we’ve learned the harm that these big companies do,” she wrote in an email to the Record. “I would hope a Williams education would stir people towards a different path. It feels a bit hypocritical.”
Despite recent graduates’ success in finance and consulting, Kjelleren emphasized that the College is committed to preparing students for a variety of career paths. “If you look at something like the Job and Internship Fair, it’s typically 22 or more industries,” he said. “Much of our recruiting program really focuses broadly on other areas.”
Kjelleren also emphasized the importance of programs like the Alumni Sponsored Internship Program (ASIP) in supporting students’ unpaid or low-pay opportunities, which they use to build their skills and make connections that will help them in their post-graduation job searches.
Sylvia emphasized the vast number of industries that graduates work in. “There’s just such an interesting story of what a Williams degree can do because … people are almost going everywhere and touching on all of these different niches,” she said.
Teaching in particular has seen a surge in popularity. The number of graduates going into K-12 education tripled between 2024 and 2025, with 21 students reporting employment in the field last year, according to the survey. Law and legal services also experienced a significant increase between 2024 and 2025, with 19 students entering the field this past year.
New York City remains the most popular city among new graduates, with 40.2 percent of the Class of 2025 reportedly working in the city after graduation. Since 2022, New York has consistently been the city home to the highest number of new graduates. In 2021, New York tied with Boston, with 30.5 percent of graduates from the Class of 2021 moving to each city.
Despite growing fears of an even tougher job market for this year’s graduates and further artificial intelligence-related changes to the workforce, Kjelleren is confident in the enduring value of a Williams education. “Yes, there will be a lot of disruption. We’ve seen every industry over years, over decades, be disrupted,” he said. “We have students graduating with a broad liberal arts skill set. All of that is not going to go away.”
