The University of Hong Kong

Careers Education and Placement Centre

Where did the 1996 M.S.W. 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 Social Work (M.S.W.) 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 19 M.S.W. graduates, 16 responded to our survey, representing a response rate of 84%. Of these, 94% were in full-time employment within six months of graduation. No unemployment was reported (Table 1).

	M.S.W.												HKU Overall (Taught Masters)
	Total				Male				Female				HKU Overall (Taught Masters)
	‘96		‘95		‘96		‘95		‘96		‘95		‘96		‘95
	No.	%	No.	%	No.	%	No.	%	No.	%	No.	%	No.	%	No.	%
No. of respondents	16	100	6	100	6	100	3	100	10	100	3	100	98	100	77	100
F/T employed	15	93.8	5	83.3	6	100	2	66.7	9	90.0	3	100	88	89.8	74	96.1
P/T employed seeking F/T job	0	0	1	16.7	0	0	1	33.3	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	1	6.3	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	10.0	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, 87% secured their first job offer before the end of September. (Figure 1)

Figure 1. Time taken to secure employment

IV. Employment Sectors

87% of the M.S.W. graduates were employed in the community, social & personal services sector. 7% (or 1 graduate) each joined the civil service and commerce & industry.

Figure 2. Employment sector

Figure 3. Employment sectors by sex

V. Basic Salary and Gross Income

The remuneration received by 1996 M.S.W. graduates is shown in Table 4.

	Basic Salary				Gross Income
	M.S.W.		HKU Average*		M.S.W.		HKU Average*
	‘96	‘95	‘96	‘95	‘96	‘95	‘96	‘95
Mean	$20,469	$24,324	$25,246	$22,948	$20,583	$25,290	$27,483	$25,256
Median	$20,505	$19,045	$24,000	$23,000	$20,505	$23,775	$24,850	$23,900
Minimum	$15,000	$18,132	$10,000	$10,400	$15,000	$18,232	$10,000	$11,267
Maximum	$25,000	$36,400	$70,000	$62,665	$25,000	$36,400	$87,000	$79,655

Table 4. Basic salary and gross income

* income received by taught master graduates

VI. Number of Full-Time Job Offers

53% M.S.W. 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.S.W. graduates and the names of their employers are listed below.

Employers :	Job Titles :
CIVIL SERVICE -
· Social Welfare Department	· Assistant Social Work Officer
COMMUNITY, SOCIAL & PERSONAL SERVICES -
· Against Child Abuse	· Social Worker
· Caritas - Hong Kong	· Assistant Social Work Officer
· Caritas Family Service	· Social Worker
· Hong Kong Family Welfare Society	· Social Worker
· Hong Kong Family Welfare Society	· Social Worker
· Hospital Authority, QEH	· Assistant Social Work Officer
· Kwun Tong Methodist Social Service	· Officer-In-Charge
· Methodist Centre	· Assistant Social Work Officer
· Salvation Army	· Assistant Supervisor
· St. James' Settlement	· Assistant Social Work Officer
· The Society For the Rehabilitation of Offenders, Hong Kong	· Social Worker
· Yan Oi Tong	· Assistant Social Work Officer
· Youth Outreach	· Case Worker
COMMERCE & INDUSTRY -
· United Property Consultant Co	· Administrator

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