Bulletin Spring‧Summer Autumn‧Winter 1999

commerce and industry sector, the public utilities and the social and public services organizations were $9,245, $9,196, $7,037, $8,250 and $9,114 respectively. About 23 per cent of the graduates had their remuneration packages supplemented by annual bonuses; 59.3 per cent were entitled to medical coverage; 62.3 per cent were entitled to superannuation or pension; and 11.4 per cent enjoyed housing benefits. Time to Start Work Some 70 per cent of the graduates started work by the end of August 1989. About 27 per cent started work in September. Job Satisfaction Fifty-six per cent of the graduates were substantially satisfied w i t h their current employment. Over 90 per cent of the respondents indicated that they were interested in their jobs and had cordial working relationships wit h their colleagues. However, about 20 per cent of the respondents were not satisfied with the management style of their employers and the fringe benefits they enjoyed. Some 17 per cent were concerned about the prospect for advancement and close to 23 per cent were dissatisfied with the training opportunities provided. Compensation and job interest ranked highest as factors fo r job satisfaction among graduates employed by the government. Although most o f the graduates working in educational institutions were contented with the salaries they received, some wer e not happy w i t h the l imi t ed fringe benefits and training opportunities available and were anxious about advancement prospects. Most of the graduates working in the business sector were happy with their work and enjoyed good working relationships with their colleagues. Some of them were, however, not satisfied with the salaries they received and the training opportunities available. Some also had complaints about the management style of their employers. Source of Job Information As i n the past years, the University's Appointments Service was the major source of job information for the graduates, for 55.5 per cent of the respondents had learnt about their current jobs through the service . Advertisements in the newspapers ranked second, having provided job information for about 30 per cent of the respondents. Abou t nine per cent of the graduates secured their jobs through the assistance of friends, relatives or teachers. The average number of first interviews attended by each respondent was 8.8 ， same as in 1988. About 93 per cent of the respondents had their first appointment offers by the end of August, while 33.8 per cent of the respondents received their first offers before June. The overall average number of job offers decreased slightly from 2.6 in 1988 to 2.5 in 1989. About 68 per cent of the graduates in employment received two or more offers. Further Studies For the fourth year since 1985, the percentage of graduates who p r oceeded to f u r t h e r studies showed a decline, at 11.4 per cent. Among the 20 graduates who left Hong Kong for postgraduate studies, eight went to the United States, four to Canada, three to France, two each to Japan and Australia, and one to the United Kingdom. Some 16 per cent of the graduates in employment pursued part- time studies after graduation. The major reasons for such pursuits included interest (64.3 per cent), job requirement (49 per cent) and the attainment of useful qualifications (23.1 per cent). Part-time First-Degree Graduates A total of 97 valid questionnaires were collected from 106 part-time first-degree graduates. Of the 97 respondents, 90 were engaged in full-time employment, five had emigrated abroad and two were working overseas. Some 71 per cent of the music graduates worked in the education sector, whereas more than 50 per cent of the business administration majors were employed in the business sector. About 46 per cent of the Chinese-English graduates and 47 per cent of the social work graduates became civil servants. Generally speaking the major career fields were social work (28.9 per cent), teaching (20 per cent), administration/ management (15.6 per cent), banking (9 per cent) and translation (7. 8 per cent). The majority of the part-time degree graduates had extensive employment experience ranging from one year to over 14 years, the average being 10.5 years. About 34 per cent of the graduates changed their employers after graduation. Of those who remained with the same employers, 11.9 per cent were promoted. The median monthly salary of these part-time degree graduates was $12,277. About 88 per cent of them were either very or fairly satisfied with their jobs. They were interested in their work and were happy w i t h their remuneration S T U D E N T S 21