How to find out about alumni success?

[MathCat]

I'm looking into a school, and I'm trying to gauge whether or not graduates of this program are generally successful in finding positions as researchers in univerisities. Is there any good way to find this information in general, or should I ask the department? I haven't found anything helpful on their website about recent graduates beyond their thesis titles. The school is in Canada, if relevant.

[Vene]

Most people are on linkedin, search there for the title of the degree and the university and you can probably find alumni.

[MathCat]

Is it possible to search without creating an account?

[Victoris]

For all of my prospective programs, I emailed these two questions:

1. What is the attrition rate (how many students leave the program; voluntary vs involuntary)?
2. Do you know the placement percentage (ability to get a job upon graduation)?

 

The programs coordinators forwarded my email to the Chairs of the department because the coordinators could not answer my questions.  I received answers from all of the Chairs.  Having your school in Canada should not make a difference.  If you want straight forward (some were relatively long) answers, I would suggest that you email the programs directly.  The turnaround time for my emails were roughly a week.  

Edited December 24, 2014 by Victoris

[rising_star]

If we're talking PhD programs, it would help to contact your POI and/or his/her current students to get some of this info. There can be wide variation in the success of different professors at helping their students land good positions. For example, in my department, some professors are known for helping their students get jobs at research-intensive universities (RU/VH or R1) while others are known for helping their students land jobs as researchers at institutes or in the government. These differences are important because they totally affect your career path and the training you receive while in the program. So, check LinkedIn, check people's websites (many advisors list their previous students on their site), google names to try to track down people's current positions, and, of course, ask wherever possible.

[MathCat]

If we're talking PhD programs, it would help to contact your POI and/or his/her current students to get some of this info. There can be wide variation in the success of different professors at helping their students land good positions. For example, in my department, some professors are known for helping their students get jobs at research-intensive universities (RU/VH or R1) while others are known for helping their students land jobs as researchers at institutes or in the government. These differences are important because they totally affect your career path and the training you receive while in the program. So, check LinkedIn, check people's websites (many advisors list their previous students on their site), google names to try to track down people's current positions, and, of course, ask wherever possible.

I am applying to Masters programs in Canada, but planning on continuing to a PhD. So, I am not currently applying to work with any specific professor (it not common to do so for a math Masters here, but not unheard of). I think I will just ask the coordinator after the university reopens, and go from there.

[TakeruK]

I think it's best to talk to the department themselves, because they are the most invested in knowing where their alumni goes. After all, it looks great on them if they can say that "X% of our MSc students went on to PhD programs" or "Y% of our PhD graduates work for ......"

[shadowclaw]

Even though you are not looking to work with a specific POI, I have found that many professors list former lab members and their current positions either on their lab websites or CVs. Many programs have lists of faculty by interest, so you might be able to look at the lab websites of some professors in your areas of interest and see what their former students are up to.