Bulletin Autumn‧Winter 1981

Appointments Service Much of the value that one may derive from a university education lies in that it enables him to develop his potentials more fully, and therefore to serve his community more ably. I t is the duty of a university to ensure tha t each graduate is properly initiated into the working life, and that he is beneficially employed in a field where his work will be conducive to the welfare of society. The Appointments Service, one of the first student service departments to be established at The Chinese University, has functioned as an intermediary between the students and the employers over the years. In this role, it has always directed its efforts towards helping graduates to make the best use of their training, and enlarging the scope for their career development. The work of the Appointments Service may be broadly divided into three main categories. The first of these consists of services to students and includes the provision of career counselling and related information, and the exploration and development of career opportunities for graduates. The second area of work is addressed to the employers, to whom the Appointments Service regularly renders services such as publicizing information on job vacancies, organizing career talks, collecting applications, and arranging for recruitment tests and interviews. The third area consists of surveys and research projects, from the findings of which the University may derive useful information regarding the career destinations and employment pattern of its graduates. The Appointments Service operates a well- stocked Careers Library. Its collection consists of materials on employment conditions in various career fields; publications of Government departments, business organizations and schools; newspaper and magazine cuttings as well as information on postgraduate studies in Hong Kong and abroad. This is supplemented by a large number of audio - and video- cassette recordings of career talks and simulated interviews. The Library and its various facilities are much utilized by both students and graduates of the University. The large-scale activities that the Appointments Service has recently mounted include workshops on post-graduate studies, an exhibition on career openings in the Civil Service, a series of talks on employment prospects in the business field, and seminars on the teaching profession. Publications produced by the Service during the last three years include several handbooks on career planning, job- seeking techniques and further studies in foreign countries, and a regularly published News Bulletin. The Appointments Service also conducts annual surveys on the first employment of the University's graduates. Results of the 1981 survey revealed that the graduates are, among other things, entering a wider range of professions, getting higher salaries, and giving more thought to career planning. Diversification of career interests, evident among fresh graduates in recent years , is a salutary trend. The Appointments Service believes that a certain degree of diversification in the career destinations of our graduates is desirable, for i t is in keeping with the development of Hong Kong's economy. As the demands of the community vary from time to time, graduating students are always encouraged to assume a more flexible career outlook, and to acquire as comprehensive an understanding of the large variety of career alternatives as possible. According to the survey, the number of first- degree graduates joining the teaching profession continued to drop, from 43.5% in 1979 to 35.1% in 1981 ， although teaching vacancies were on the increase. On the other hand there was a corresponding increase in the number of graduates who entered the Civil Service and the business sector. The percentage of graduates joining the Civil Service a t various ranks rose from 9.5% in 1980 to 13.6% in 1981. This may be attributed to a number of factors, among them the recent implementation of the district administration policy, the expansion of various departments and the improved welfare schemes and scope for development. As for graduates absorbed into the business sector, the percentage (43.9%) exceeded the previous year's figure by 1.6%. The increase was particularly discernible in career fields which called for a broad- based education: administration/ management, 17