Employment rates for graduates

By Kate Southam

The University of Queensland has claimed boasting rights in the latest research on graduate employment rates around the country.

Research from Graduate Careers Australia (GCA) claims the employment rate for grads between 2010 and 2011 has changed very little indicating the downturn created by the GFC was yet to recover.

Based on a survey of more than 168,000 university graduates, 76.6 per cent of 2010’s graduates had found work by May 2011 compared to 76.2 per cent the previous year. The result is still well below the 85.2 per cent of grads who had found full-time work within four months of graduating in 2008.

The median starting salary for graduates aged less than 25 increased by just $1000 to $50,000 this year but fell to 78 per cent of the male average weekly salary from 79.8 per cent in 2010.

Employment rates were best amongst mining engineering grads with 98.2 per cent in a full time job by May, followed by those graduating from medicine (98 per cent) and then pharmacy (97.3 per cent).

Of the computer science grads surveyed, 77.9 per cent had secured full time work within the survey period while 11.2 per cent were unemployed and 8.8 per cent found some work but were still looking for a full-time role. The least successful were visual and performing arts grads. Only 52.3 per cent had found work within four months.

UQ claims 81.6 per cent of its bachelor degree grads obtained work within four months. Further, UQ says only 6.5 percent of its graduates were unemployed and seeking full-time employment during the survey period. This national rate was 8.7 per cent.

Overall, the Australian Graduate Survey found about one in 10 grads looking for a full time job failed to find any kind of work while the rest opted for a part time job despite searching for fulltime work. Follow up research found that persistent grads found work beyond the four month period with few still unemployed after a year.

UQ reports that 21.7 per cent of its bachelor degree grads went onto further study compared to the national figure of 19.4 per cent.

UQ bachelor degree graduates in their first full-time employment (and under 25 years of age) reported median starting salaries of $52,000 and average starting salaries of $51,700. Of those in their first full-time employment, the higher end starting salaries for UQ grads were:

1. Dental Practitioners – $121,500
2. “Other” Engineering Professionals – $114,500
3. Mining Engineers – $102,500
4. Geologists – $96,000
5. Metallurgists – $93,500

The top ten professions for UQ bachelor graduates by levels of full-time employment were:
Geology – 100 per cent
Mechanical Engineering – 100 per cent
Medicine -100 per cent
Mining Engineering -100 per cent
Pharmacy – 100 per cent
Veterinary Science – 96.7 per cent
Chemical Engineering – 94.9 per cent
Civil Engineering – 94.5 per cent
Dentistry – 93.5 per cent
Occupational Therapy & Physiotherapy – 93.3 per cent
Nationally, grads used a range of strategies to secure employment including following up job ads on the internet, using contacts among family or friends, and using university or college career services.
Female grads faired slightly better than male grads with 76.8 per cent versus 76.1 per cent finding full time employment within four months of graduation.

CareerOne.com.au, December 2011