Professor James Black and his students have been working with the Vermont Department of Labor this semester to put together a survey and explore the career paths that await Johnson State College students majoring in Business.

JSC students enrolled in the Quantitative Analysis class, BUS-4140, this semester have been reaching out to JSC alumni, approximately ten years after graduation, to get a better understanding of what career opportunities there are for JSC graduates.

The survey asks simple questions like: “What year were you born?” and “Do you currently reside in Vermont?” as well as more elaborate questions such as, “How many years did it take after graduation to obtain a career/education related job?” and “Did you do an internship through Johnson State?” But from these questions students will be able to analyze the results and compare them to the Vermont Department of Labor’s database to discover how easy or how difficult it is to obtain a job with a business degree from JSC.

However, the most intriguing question that many college students wonder about is number fourteen, “Do you still have any outstanding student loans?”

Unfortunately the results from the survey were not as successful as the class had hoped. “The conclusions were a little weak. I am continuing the project to get better data,” said Black.

The survey will help students investigate the steps that it took for alumni to get to where they are today, and follow the paths that they took. “That is what this project is all about,” said Black, ” Figuring out how to graduate Johnson and get into this particular job.”

Although the survey was not as successful as Black had hoped, it is something that he and his future classes will continue to work on to get a better understanding of the future that awaits business students.