The University of Hong Kong

Careers Education and Placement Centre

Where did the 1996 M.Sc. (Computer Science) 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 Master of Science (Computer Science) graduates : -

• 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 8 M.Sc. (Computer Sc.) graduates, 7 responded to our survey, representing a response rate of 88%. All of them were in full-time employment within six months of graduation. (Table 1)

	M.Sc. (Computer Science)												HKU Overall (Taught Masters)
	Total				Male				Female
	'96		'95		'96		'95		'96		'95		'96		'95
	No.	%	No.	%	No.	%	No.	%	No.	%	No.	%	No.	%	No.	%
No. of respondents	7	100	6	100	5	100	6	100	2	100	0	0	98	100	77	100
F/T employed	7	100	6	100	5	100	6	100	2	100	0	0	88	89.8	74	96.1
P/T employed seeking F/T job	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	2.0	1	1.3
Unemployed seeking F/T job	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	2.0	1	1.3
Further studies	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	4	4.1	0	0
Emigration/home country	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	1.0	1	1.3
Not seeking F/T job	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	1.0	0	0

Table 1. Employment situation

III. Time Taken to Secure Employment

Among those graduates who were in full-time employment, all the graduates were able to secure employment before the end of August. (Figure 1)

Figure 1. Time taken to secure employment

IV. Employment Sectors

57% (or 4) of the M.Sc. (Computer Sc.) graduates were employed in commerce & industry, and 43% (or 3 graduates) in the education sector. (Figure 2)

Figure 2. Employment sectors

Figure 3. Employment sectors by sex

V. Basic Salary and Gross Income

The remuneration received by 1996 M.Sc. (Computer Science) graduates is shown in Table 4.

	Basic Salary				Gross Income
	M.Sc. (Comp.Sc.)		HKU Average *		M.Sc. (Comp.Sc.)		HKU Average *
	‘96	‘95	‘96	‘95	‘96	‘95	‘96	‘95
Mean	$19,450	$12,784	$25,246	$22,948	$19,936	$13,906	$27,483	$25,256
Median	$18,000	$12,950	$24,000	$23,000	$18,958	$14,069	$24,850	$23,900
Minimum	$15,000	$11,750	$10,000	$10,400	$15,000	$12,729	$10,000	$11,267
Maximum	$24,850	$14,055	$70,000	$62,665	$24,850	$15,167	$87,000	$79,665

Table 4. Basic salary and gross income

* income received by taught master graduates

VI. Number of Full-Time Job Offers

43% M.Sc. (Comp. Sc.) graduates in full-time employment had more than one job offer. (Figure 4)

Figure 4. No. of full-time job offers

VII. Names of employers and job titles

The job titles of the M.Sc. (Comp. Sc.) graduates and the names of their employers are listed below.

Employers :	Job Titles :
EDUCATION -
* The University of Hong Kong	* Assistant Computer Officer
* The University of Hong Kong	* Assistant Computer Officer
* The University of Hong Kong	* Research Assistant
COMMERCE & INDUSTRY -
* Hong Kong Telecom	* Assistant Engineer
* NCR Manufacturing (HK) Ltd	* Assistant Engineer
* Necco Consultants Ltd	* Programmer
* Schroder Securities Asia Ltd	* Analyst/Programmer

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.

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