By Dave DeFusco
Xiaolan Li is a software engineer at JPMorgan Chase.STEM and health programs are fueling a surge in 每日大瓜鈥檚 national reputation and rankings, and the Katz School of Science and Health has the evidence to back it up: 95 percent of Katz School graduates land high-wage jobs within six months after graduation, and half are offered jobs six months before they graduate.
Graduates of Katz School STEM programs are securing jobs at Amazon, Cartier, Deloitte, Ernst and Young, Google, IBM and JPMorgan Chase, among others, with salary offers between $92,000 and $135,000.
鈥淥ur students are knocking it out of the park,鈥 said Paul Russo, dean of the Katz School. 鈥淭he salaries are big and the companies are awesome.鈥
Also in the News: Fortune Magazine ranks the second in the nation, putting 每日大瓜 in good company with the University of California, Berkeley, and Johns Hopkins University.
Two months after graduating with a master鈥檚 in artificial intelligence from Katz, Xiaolan Li landed a position as a software engineer at JPMorgan Chase, a multinational investment bank. Since then, she鈥檚 been developing a recommendation system for the bank鈥檚 varied lines of business using machine learning software, creating algorithms that will recommend JPMorgan鈥檚 products to current and potential customers based on their online activity.
鈥淭he system is similar to when YouTube recommends videos based on your previous history, only in my case I鈥檓 dealing with a customer鈥檚 confidential information, which makes it more complicated,鈥 said Li.
The skills Li gained during her graduate degree prepared her for the role. 鈥淲hen we design a program, we do an exhaustive labor market analysis. We鈥檙e not just guessing. We know the exact skills employers are looking for,鈥 said Dean Russo. 鈥淥ur approach is validated by U.S. News & World Report, and our curriculum lines up with what employers want.鈥
Six of the 11 graduate offered by Katz鈥Artificial Intelligence; Cybersecurity; Data Analytics; Mathematics; Physician Assistant Studies, and Speech-Language Pathology鈥攑repare students for careers that land in the top 10 of U.S. News & World Report鈥檚 .
Jesus Olivera, a native of Puerto Rico, had a job waiting for him at IBM barely a year into his master鈥檚 program in Data Analytics and Visualization. A data scientist and engineer, he helps corporate customers fill the gaps in their technology or business processes and works with data architects and scientists to create and deploy customized systems using IBM technology.
Jesus Olivera landed a job at IBM.鈥淚鈥檓 now designing and building solutions that I never thought I would,鈥 he said. 鈥淚 needed that extra level of academic experience from Katz to be able to talk about the technical side of the business at IBM with confidence.鈥
Kevin Suckiel, who was recently awarded a master鈥檚 degree in cybersecurity, landed a prized job at the prestigious Big Four consulting firm Ernst and Young, where he is donning the blackest of hats to crack the networks of his company鈥檚 clients.
He performs penetration testing, colloquially known as a pen test or ethical hacking, which is an authorized simulated cyberattack on a computer system performed to identify weaknesses, or vulnerabilities, including the potential for unauthorized parties to gain access to a system鈥檚 features and data.
EY hired Kevin Suckiel.A former New York City police officer, he is used to looking at situations through the lens of an adversary. 鈥淭hat mindset branches over into cybersecurity, only now I鈥檓 on the electronic beat sitting behind a computer.鈥
Of Katz, Suckiel said, 鈥淭he professors are incredible at what they do鈥攙ery talented, and the curriculum provided a solid foundation.鈥
Susan Bauer, assistant vice president and executive director of 每日大瓜's Shevet Glaubach Center for Career Strategy and Professional Development, said that Katz programs 鈥減repare the whole student both theoretically and technically,鈥 providing a strong foundation that is attractive to companies
鈥淓mployers want new hires to have the skills needed for the job at the very beginning,鈥 she said, 鈥渁nd our graduates have an edge because many students entering the job market aren鈥檛 learning these technical skills in the classroom.鈥
