The University of Hong Kong

Careers Education and Placement Centre

Where did the 1996 LL.B. 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 LL.B. 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

Out of 152 LL.B. graduates, 138 responded to our survey, representing a response rate of 91%. Of these, 94% went on for further studies, and 2.9% were in full-time employment. The remaining 2.1% (or 3 graduates) were still looking for full-time employment at the time of the survey in December 1996. (Table 1)

	LL.B.												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	138	100	128	100	61	100	51	100	77	100	77	100	2139	100	2068	100
F/T employed	4	2.9	13	10.2	0	0	8	15.7	4	5.2	5	6.5	1743	81.5	1726	83.5
P/T employed seeking F/T job	2	1.4	0	0	1	1.6	0	0	1	1.3	0	0	34	1.6	18	0.9
Unemployed seeking F/T job	1	0.7	2	1.6	0	0	1	2.0	1	1.3	1	1.3	34	1.6	36	1.7
Further studies	129	93.5	113	88.3	60	98.4	42	82.4	69	89.6	71	92.2	314	14.7	281	13.6
Emigration/home country	1	0.7	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	1.3	0	0	6	0.28	1	0.1
Not seeking F/T job	1	0.7	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	1.3	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

All the graduates who went on for further studies were enrolled on law courses. The majority (99%) stayed in Hong Kong for further studies, while the remaining 1% went to the U.K..

Field of Study	Academic programme
Field of Study	Master (Coursework)	Postgraduate Certificate
Law	1	124

No Response = 4

Table 2. Academic programmes

Source of Finance	No. of Graduates
Own Fund	86
Teaching Assistantship/Studentship	1
Full Scholarship	1
Scholarship + Own Fund	2
Government Grant & Loan	34

No Response = 5

Table 3. Source of finance for further studies

IV. Time Taken to Secure Employment

Among the 4 graduates who were in full-time employment, 50% secured their first job offer before the end of August. By September, the figure increased to 100%. (Figure 1)

Figure 1. Time taken to secure employment

V. Employment Sectors

All of the 4 graduates in full-time employment were female graduates. 50% were employed in the civil service. (Figure 2.)

Figure 2. Employment sectors

VI. Basic Salary and Gross Income

On the whole, the 1996 LL.B. graduates received a higher income than their predecessors in the previous year. (Table 4).

	Basic Salary				Gross Income
	LL.B.		HKU Average **		LL.B.		HKU Average **
	'96	'95 *	'96	'95	'96	'95	'96	'95
Mean	$23,616	$14,712	$14,457	$14,204	$24,475	$15,842	$15,902	$15,662
Median	$24,618	$13,000	$12,000	$12,000	$24,618	$15,000	$13,542	$13,230
Minimum	$14,000	$9,000	$3,000	$2,000	$17,433	$10,250	$5,500	$3,792
Maximum	$31,230	$26,200	$55,000	$60,000	$31,230	$26,200	$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.

Note : The 1995 figures represent 144 graduates.

VII. Number of Full-Time Job Offers

50% of the graduates in full-time employment had more than one job offer (Figure 3). The average number of job offers per graduate was 1.5, compared with 2.0 last year.

Figure 3. No. of full-time job offers

VIII. Names of employers and job titles

The job titles of the graduates and the names of their employers are listed below.

Employers :	Job Titles :
CIVIL SERVICE-
* Home Affairs Branch	* AO/Assistant Secretary for Home Affairs
* Regional Services Department	* Assistant Secretary (Executive Officer II)
EDUCATION-
* Vocational Training Council	* Lecturer (Graduate)
COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY-
* Yien Yieh Commercial Bank	* Bank 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

August, 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