How the Class of 2025 Is Navigating Entry-Level Work

For generations, career success followed a familiar script: earn a degree, land a job and build a career with a single employer over time. But for today’s graduates, the path from education to employment is far less linear. 

New follow-up research from Cengage reveals that many members of the Class of 2025 are approaching their careers with a different mindset — one focused less on finding a permanent destination and more on building skills, gaining experience and creating opportunities for future growth. 

Their early career moves suggest that job changes, upskilling and continuous learning are becoming core components of career readiness rather than signs of instability. 

The First Job Isn’t Necessarily the End Goal 

One year after participating in the 2025 Graduate Employability Report, we followed up with a sample of graduates to hear about their early career experiences. 

Among graduates who have been employed since being surveyed, two-thirds have seen their role change in just a year. Nearly half (45%) received a promotion, title change or expanded responsibilities, while 21% have moved to a different employer altogether. Only about one-third (34%) remain in the same role. 

This mobility reflects how recent graduates are navigating today’s workforce. Rather than viewing their first role as a long-term destination, many see it as an opportunity to gain experience and build toward future career goals. 

In fact, employed graduates are evenly split on how they view their current position. While about half see their role as a long-term opportunity for growth, the same number of students consider it a steppingstone toward a future role. Similarly, 44% say their current position strongly aligns and only 31% say their position generally aligns with where they hoped to be after graduation, while 23% describe it as a steppingstone, but not exactly where they wanted to be. 

The findings suggest that early career success is increasingly measured by progress and development, not simply by landing the “perfect” first job. 

Education Continues to Deliver Value and Career Readiness Doesn't End at Graduation 

As graduates navigate increasingly dynamic career paths, they continue to see clear value in their education. Two-thirds (67%) of employed graduates say their education is very or extremely relevant to their current role, and among those who have been employed since last year's survey, 86% have a positive view of how well their education prepared them for the workplace. 

At the same time, graduates recognize that career readiness is not a one-time achievement.  

As workforce demands continue to evolve, many believe that long-term career success depends on continuously building and acquiring new skills. While more than half (54%) say they feel very prepared for their current role, the majority (86%) still plan to pursue additional education, training or skill development to prepare for future opportunities, and nearly 3 in 5 (56%) say they plan to because they need additional skills to move into a higher-paying role. 

AI Is Accelerating the Need for Continuous Learning 

Graduates are treating skill development as an ongoing career strategy rather than a one-time milestone. And the rapid adoption of AI in the workplace may be reinforcing that mindset. 

Nearly half (45%) of employed graduates say they regularly use applied AI skills in their current role. Yet, among those using AI regularly, two-thirds (67%) report that they have learned or strengthened those skills independently or on-the-job rather than through formal education. 

This highlights the speed at which workplace demands are evolving. New technologies are entering the workforce faster than traditional learning pathways can fully adapt, requiring graduates to develop new skills in real time. 

At the same time, technology skills are only part of the equation. 

Graduates report using foundational workplace skills even more frequently than technical capabilities. Teamwork (95%), critical thinking (90%), oral communication (88%) and problem-solving (85%) rank among the skills they use most often in their jobs. 

The combination of durable human skills and rapidly evolving technical skills may be the defining characteristic of career readiness for today’s graduates. 

A New Definition of Early Career Success 

The entry-level experiences of the Class of 2025 point to a broader shift in how career readiness is taking shape. These graduates are entering a workforce where career growth is increasingly non-linear, where learning continues well beyond graduation and where adaptability may be as valuable as expertise. 

Their early career moves are not signs of uncertainty. Instead, they reflect a generation actively building skills, exploring opportunities and positioning themselves for long-term success in a rapidly changing labor market. 

For the Class of 2025, the first job may not be the destination. But, it is becoming an important starting point for a career built on continuous growth and lifelong learning.