The University of Hong Kong

Careers Education and Placement Centre

Where did the 1996 Philosophy graduates go?

I.Introduction

The information contained in this paper is extracted from the Graduate Employment Survey of 1996 to answer the following questions about Philosophy majors : -

How were they employed six months after graduation ?
Of those who pursued further studies, what programmes did they follow ?
Of those who were employed full-time, how long did it take them to secure their first job offer ?
In which sectors were they employed ?
How much did they receive in salary ?
How many job offers did they receive ?
Who were their employers and what were their job titles ?

II. Employment Situation in 1996

Of the 20 respondents who reported to major in Philosophy, 16 graduates (80%) were in full-time employment within six months of graduation. 10% (2 respondents) were still seeking full-time employment at the time of the survey in December 1996 and 2 graduates (10%) went on for further studies. (Table 1)

	Philosophy												HKU Overall *
	Total				Male				Female				HKU Overall *
	'96		'95		'96		'95		'96		'95		'96		'95
	No.	%	No.	%	No.	%	No.	%	No.	%	No.	%	No.	%	No.	%
No. of respondents	20	100	26	100	7	100	12	100	13	100	14	100	2139	100	2068	100
F/T employed	16	80	23	88.5	3	42.9	9	75.0	13	100.0	14	100.0	1743	81.5	1726	83.5
P/T employed seeking F/T job	0	0	1	3.8	0	0	1	8.3	0	0	0	0	34	1.6	18	0.9
Unemployed seeking F/T job	2	10	1	3.8	2	28.6	1	8.3	0	0	0	0	34	1.6	36	1.7
Further studies	2	10	1	3.8	2	28.6	1	8.3	0	0	0	0	314	14.7	281	13.6
Emigration/home country	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	6	0.28	1	0.1
Not seeking F/T job	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	8	0.4	6	0.3

Table 1. Employment situation

* HKU overall refers to the figure for the total HKU population and includes M.B.,B.S. and B.D.S. graduates.

III. Further Studies

The two graduates who went on for further studies were enrolled in local tertiary institutions. Table 2 shows the programmes of study pursued, and Table 3 shows the source of finance for further studies.

Field of Study	Academic programme
Field of Study	M.Phil.	Postgraduate Certificate
Arts	1
Social Sciences		1

Table 2. Academic programmes

Source of Finance No. of Graduates
Own Fund 1
Teaching Assistantship/Studentship 1
Table 3. Source of finance for further studies

Source of Finance	No. of Graduates
Own Fund	1
Teaching Assistantship/Studentship	1

IV. Time Taken to Secure Employment

Among those graduates who were in full-time employment, 94% (15 graduates) were able to secure their first job offers before the end of September By October, the figure reached 100%. Compared with the previous year, Philosophy graduates in general were faster in securing employment. (Figure 1)

Figure 1. Time taken to secure employment

V. Employment Sectors

Of the 16 graduates who were employed full-time, 13 graduates (81%) joined commerce and industry, 6.3% (or 1 graduate) each joined the civil service, the education sector and community, social & personal services. (Figure 3)

Figure 2. Employment sectors

Figure 3. Employment sectors by sex

VI. Basic Salary and Gross Income

The remuneration received by 1996 Philosophy is shown in Table 4.

	Basic Salary				Gross Income
	Philosophy		HKU Average *		Philosophy		HKU Average *
	'96	'95	'96	'95	'96	'95	'96	'95
Mean	$10,208	$9,823	$14,457	$14,204	$11,121	$11,308	$15,902	$15,662
Median	$10,000	$9,500	$12,000	$12,000	$10,729	$10,133	$13,542	$13,230
Minimum	$7,500	$3,000	$3,000	$2,000	$9,000	$6,000	$5,500	$3,792
Maximum	$19,535	$21,076	$55,000	$60,000	$19,535	$21,076	$60,000	$60,000

Table 4. Basic salary and gross income

* HKU average refers to the figure for the total HKU population and includes M.B.,B.S. and B.D.S. graudates.

VII.Number of Full-Time Job Offers

All of the 16 graduates reported having received two or more offers (Figure 4).

Figure 4. No. of full-time job offers

VIII. Names of employers and Job titles

The job titles of the 16 graduates who took up full-time employment and the names of their employers are listed below.

Employers :	Job Titles :
CIVIL SERVICE -
* Home Affairs Department	* Executive Officer (General)
EDUCATION -
* The S.A. Ann Wyllie Memorial School (A.M.)	* Certificate Master
COMMUNITY, SOCIAL & PERSONAL SERVICES -
* The Hong Kong Arts Festival Society Ltd	* Customer Services Officer
COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY -
* Chevalier Business Systems	* Consumer Service Administrator
* Chung Hwa Book Co Ltd	* Salesman
* Citibank	* Marketing Assistant
* Contemporary International Ltd	* Project Officer
* Fax Express	* Account Executive
* Foote, Cone & Belding Ltd (FCB)	* Media Buyer
* Fresh Communication Ltd	* Account Executive
* Gallery Ltd	* Account Executive
* Good Target International Finance Co Ltd	* Administrative Officer
* Opal House Ltd	* Administrative Assistant
* Oriental Press Group Ltd	* Reporter
* Snowman International Ltd	* Marketing Assistant
* Organisation's name not reporeted	* Customer Service Officer

Table 5. List of employers and job titles

Note :Some alumni have indicated willingness to talk to individual students about their work. Their contact telephone number can be obtained from counsellors at CEPC.

IX.

Similar information on graduates from other disciplines of study are available for reference in the Careers Library. Please enquire with the CEPC. Careers Education and Placement Centre
3/F Wong Chuang Lai Wah Building
Meng Wah Complex
The University of Hong Kong
Pokfulam Road
Hong Kong

Telephone : 2859 2314
Fax : (852) 2559 5238
E-Mail : CEPC@HKUCC.HKU.HK

Opening Hours :
Monday - Friday (9:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.) Saturday (9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.)

Margaret Lee
Nelson Yip

September, 1997

The analysis is based on information provided by the respondents, and the Careers Education & Placement Centre should not be held responsible for any errors arising therefrom.

No part of this report may be reproduced in any form or by whatever means,
without written permission from the Director of the Careers Education and Placement Centre,
The University of Hong Kong