The information contained in this paper is extracted from the Graduate Employment Survey of 1996 to answer the following questions about English majors : -
Of the 102 respondents who reported to major in English, 88 graduates (86%) were in full-time employment within six months of graduation. 7 (6.9%) of them were still looking for full-time employment at the time of the survey in December 1996. The remaining 6.9% (or 7 graduates) took up further studies. (Table 1)
| English | HKU Overall * | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | Male | Female | ||||||||||||||
| '96 | '95 | '96 | '95 | '96 | '95 | '96 | '95 | |||||||||
| No. | % | No. | % | No. | % | No. | % | No. | % | No. | % | No. | % | No. | % | |
| No. of respondents | 102 | 100 | 95 | 100 | 5 | 100 | 8 | 100 | 97 | 100 | 87 | 100 | 2139 | 100 | 2068 | 100 |
| F/T employed | 88 | 86.3 | 86 | 90.5 | 3 | 60 | 8 | 100 | 85 | 87.6 | 78 | 89.7 | 1743 | 81.5 | 1726 | 83.5 |
| P/T employed seeking F/T job | 2 | 2.0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 20 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 34 | 1.6 | 18 | 0.9 |
| Unemployed seeking F/T job | 5 | 4.9 | 3 | 3.2 | 1 | 20 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 4.1 | 3 | 3.4 | 34 | 1.6 | 36 | 1.7 |
| Further studies | 7 | 6.9 | 6 | 6.3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 7.2 | 6 | 6.9 | 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.
Seven graduates (6.9%) took up postgraduate courses. Table 2 shows the academic programmes enrolled. Six graduates (86%) continued their studies in local tertiary institutions. The remaining one graduate left for the U.K..
| Field of Study | Academic programme | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Postgraduate Certificate |
Master (Coursework) |
M.Phil. | |
| Arts | 2 | 4 | |
| Education | 1 | ||
Table 2. Academic programme
| Source of Finance | No. of Graduates |
|---|---|
| Own Fund | 2 | Teaching Assistantship/Studentship | 3 |
| Scholarship + Teaching Assistantship/Studentship | 1 |
| Government Grant + Loan | 1 |
Table 3. Source of finance for further studies
Among the 88 graduates who were in full-time employment, 81 graduates (93%) secured their first job offers before the end of September. Compared with last year, English major graduates were, in general, faster in securing employment. (Figure 1)
No Response = 1
Figure 1. Time taken to secure employment
Of those in full-time employment, 47 (54%) were employed in commerce and industry. 32% (or 28 graduates) joined the education sector and 12% (or 10 graduates) worked in the civil service. 2.3% (or 2 graduates) joined community, social and personal services (Figure 2).
Figure 2. Employment sectors
No Response = 1
Figure 3. Employment sectors by sex
No Response = 1
In general , the average income of 1996 English major graduates was higher than that of their predecessors in the previous year. (Table 4)
| Basic Salary | Gross Income | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| English | HKU Average * | English | HKU Average * | |||||
| '96 | '95 | '96 | '95 | '96 | '95 | '96 | '95 | |
| Mean | $14,013 | $12,709 | $14,457 | $14,204 | $14,960 | $13,535 | $15,902 | $15,662 |
| Median | $11,845 | $10,800 | $12,000 | $12,000 | $14,333 | $11,917 | $13,542 | $13,230 |
| Minimum | $5,000 | $6,800 | $3,000 | $2,000 | $8,500 | $7,800 | $5,500 | $3,792 |
| Maximum | $27,000 | $26,620 | $55,000 | $60,000 | $27,000 | $26,620 | $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. graduates.
Of the 88 graduates in full-time employment, 63 (72%) had more than one job offer. 44% (or 39 graduates) reported having received three or more job offers. (Figure 4)
Figure 4. No. of full-time job offers
The job titles of the English major graduates and the names of their employers are listed below.
| Employers: | Job Titles |
|---|---|
| CIVIL SERVICE - | |
| * Customs & Excise Department | * Inspector |
| * Environmental Protection Department | * Executive Officer II |
| * Labour Department | * Assistant Labour Officer II |
| * Labour Department | * Assistant Labour Officer II |
| * Legal Department | * Temporary Legal Editor |
| * Hong Kong Police Force | * Executive Officer II |
| * Urban Service Department - Space Museum | * Executive Officer II |
| * Urban Council - Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra | * Assistant Manager |
| * a Government Department | * Executive Officer II |
| * a Government Department | * Executive Officer II |
| EDUCATION- | |
| * C.C.C. Mong Man Wai College | * Graduate Master |
| * Concordia Lutheran School | * Graduate Master |
| * Fung Kai Liu Man Shek Tong Secondary School | * Graduate Master |
| * GCC & ITKD Lau Pak Lok Secondary School | * Graduate Master |
| * GCC & ITKD Lau Pak Lok Secondary School | * Graduate Mistress |
| * Heep Yunn School | * Teacher |
| * Heep Yunn School | * Graduate Master |
| * Hong Kong Baptist University | * Executive Officer II |
| * Hong Kong Red Swastika Society Tai Po Secondary School | * Graduate Mistress |
| * Lai King Catholic Secondary School | * Supply Graduate Mistress |
| * Leung Shek Chee College | * Graduate Mistress |
| * Lingnan College | * Research Assistant |
| * Ma On Shan St Joseph College | * Graduate Master |
| * Maryknoll Convent School | * Teacher |
| * Methodist College | * Graduate Mistress |
| * New Method College | * Graduate Master |
| * Po Leung Kuk 1983 Board of Directors’ College | * Graduate Master |
| * SKH Holy Trinity Church Secondary School | * Teacher |
| * SKH Kei Hau Secondary School | * Graduate Master |
| * Sung Tsun Middle School (Sai Kung) | * Graduate Master |
| * The University of Hong Kong | * Executive Officer II |
| * TWGHs | * Graduate Master |
| * TWGHs Lui Yun Choy Memorial College | * Graduate Master |
| * TWGHs Wong Fung Ling College | * Graduate Mistress |
| * TWGHs Wong Fut Nam College | * Graduate Mistress |
| * Yan Chai Hospital No. 2 Secondary School | * Graduate Master |
| * Yenching College | * Graduate Master |
| * Organisation’s name not reported | * Assistant Education Officer |
| COMMUNITY, SOCIAL AND PERSONAL SERVICES - | |
| * Hong Kong College of Radiologists | * Executive Officer |
| * The British Council | * Marketing Assistant |
| COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY- | |
| * American Express International Inc | * Membership Executive |
| * Arnberger, Kim, Buxbaum & Choy | * Legal Assistant |
| * Asia Communications Global Ltd | * Administrative Assistant |
| * Asia On-line Ltd | * Customer Service Officer |
| * Asian Electronics Ltd | * Customer Service Officer |
| * Avery Dennson Soabar (HK) Bv | * Customer Service Representative |
| * B B Creation Co Ltd | * Merchandiser |
| * Bank of East Asia | * Executive Trainee |
| * BOC Credit Card (International) Ltd | * Credit Control Officer |
| * Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd | * Supervisor Trainee |
| * CCI Asia-Pacific Ltd | * Customer Service Executive |
| * CTI | * Customer Service Representative |
| * Denland Company | * Copywriter |
| * Deutsche Morgan Grenfell | * Human Resources Assistant |
| * Dun & Bradstreet (HK) Ltd | * Business Analyst |
| * Famous Horse Manufacturing Co Ltd | * Assistant Merchandiser |
| * First Pacific Davies Property Management Ltd | * Temporary Staff |
| * Global Travel Service | * Secretary |
| * Goodwill Management Ltd | * Administrative Assistant |
| * Hilltop Country Club | * Public Relations Officer |
| * Hong Kong Seibu Enterprise Co Ltd | * Press Officer |
| * Hutchison Telecom | * Project Assistant |
| * I.B.M. | * Procurement Specialist |
| * Inchape Testing Services | * Administrative Assistant |
| * Kao (HK) Ltd | * Translator |
| * Lep International (Far East) Ltd | * Customer Service Officer |
| * Lucent Technologies Asia/Pacific (HK) Ltd | * Public Relations Assistant |
| * Mandarin Offset Ltd | * Account Executive |
| * Marketing Decision & Research Technology Ltd (MDR) | * Research Executive Trainee |
| * Mid-Stream Holdngs (HK) Ltd | * Administrative Assistant |
| * Ming Pao Enterprise Ltd | * Promoter |
| * Mingson Industries Ltd | * Executive Trainee |
| * MTR | * Manual Compiler |
| * ORCA Interior Design Consultants | * Business Development Officer |
| * Pam & Frank Industrial Co Ltd | * Executive Assistant |
| * Prosperity Watch Company | * Marketing Executive |
| * Sila Media Representatives Co Ltd | * Assistant to Chairman |
| * South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd | * Proofreader |
| * Special Happy Ltd | * Marketing Officer |
| * Swindon Book Company | * Administrative Assistant |
| * Swire Resources Ltd | * Administrative Assistant |
| * Television Broadcast Ltd | * Senior External Affairs Officer |
| * The Adsale Group | * Editorial Assistant |
| * Toppan Moore (HK) Ltd | * Secretarial Administrator |
| * United O.A. Ltd | * Marketing Executive |
| * Organisation’s name not reported | * Marketing Co-ordinator |
| * Organisation’s name not reported | * Executive Secretary |
No Response = 1
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.
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