The University of Hong Kong

Careers Education and Placement Centre

Where did the 1997 M.Phil. graduates go?

I. Introduction

The information contained in this paper is extracted from the Graduate Employment Survey of 1997 to answer the following questions about M.Phil. 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 1997

Out of 116 M.Phil. graduates, 73 responded to our survey, representing a response rate of 63%. Of these, 75% (or 55 graduates) were in full-time employment within six months of graduation. 1.4% (or 1 graduate) was still looking for full-time employment at the time of the survey. 22% (or 16 graduates) went on for further studies. (Table 1)

	M.Phil.																		HKU Overall
	Total					Male							Female						(Research Postgraduates)
	‘97		‘96		‘97				‘96			‘97				‘96			‘97		‘96
	No.	%	No.	%			No.	%		No.	%			No.	%		No.	%	No.	%		No.	%
No. of respondents	73	100	83	100			43	100		57	100			30	100		26	100	143	100		148	100
F/T employed	55	75.3	66	79.5			30	69.8		48	84.2			25	83.3		18	69.2	117	81.8		124	83.8
P/T employed seeking F/T job	0	0	4	4.8			0	0		1	1.8			0	0		3	11.5	2	1.4		5	3.4
Unemployed seeking F/T job	1	1.4	1	1.2			1	2.3		0	0			0	0		1	3.8	4	2.8		5	3.4
Further studies	16	21.9	12	14.5			11	25.6		8	14.0			5	16.7		4	15.4	19	13.3		13	8.8
Emigration/home country	0	0	0	0			0	0		0	0			0	0		0	0	0	0		0	0
Not seeking F/T job	1	1.4	0	0			1	2.3		0	0			0	0		0	0	1	0.7		1	0.7

Table 1. Employment situation

III. Further Studies

Eleven graduates who pursued postgraduate studies were enrolled in local tertiary institutions, while three graduates studied abroad, in U.K. and U.S.A. Of these, twelve graduates took up a Ph.D. programme and one graduate took up a master (coursework) programme. Table 2 shows the academic programmes M.Phil. graduates were engaged in and Table 3 shows the source of finance.

	Academic Programmes
Fields of Study	Ph.D.	Master (Coursework)
Arts	3
Science	3	1
Social Sciences	1
Computer Science	1
Civil Engineering	1
Electrical & Electronic Engineering	1
Others	2

No Response = 3

Table 2. Academic programmes

Source of Finance	No. of Graduates
Own Fund	2
Teaching Assistantship/Studentship	8
Full Scholarship	1
Scholarship & Own Fund	1
Scholarship & Teaching Assistantship/Studentship	1
Government Grant & Loan	1

No Response = 2

Table 3. Source of finance for further studies

IV. Time Taken to Secure Employment

Among those graduates who were in full-time employment, 92% secured their first job offer before the end of September. The figure increased to 100% by the end of December. (Figure 1)

figure1.gif (15692 bytes)

V. Employment Sectors

49% (or 27 graduates) of the M.Phil. graduates were employed in the education sector, followed by 35% (or 19 graduates) in commerce and industry and 15% (or 8 graduates) in the civil service. The remaining 1.8% (or 1 graduate) joined the community, social and personal services (Figures 2 & 3)

figure1.gif (15692 bytes)

VI. Basic Salary and Gross Income

The remuneration received by the 1997 M.Phil. graduates is shown in Table 4.

	Basic Salary				Gross Income
	M.Phil.		HKU Average*			M.Phil.		HKU Average*
	‘97	‘96	‘97	‘96		‘97	‘96	‘97	‘96
Mean	$22,616	$22,974	$27,070	$28,280		$24,102	$24,831	$30,400	$32,056
Median	$20,135	$21,000	$24,000	$22,548		$20,568	$21,667	$25,000	$23,833
Minimum	$9,500	$10,800	$9,500	$10,800		$9,500	$12,600	$9,500	$12,600
Maximum	$50,000	$60,000	$85,000	$77,000		$67,190	$70,000	$111,000	$106,000

Table 4. Basic salary and gross income

* HKU average refers to the income received by research postgraduates.

VII. Number of Full-Time Job Offers

Of those in full-time employment, 42% of the graduates had more than one job offer. 16% reported having received three to eight or more job offers. On average, each graduate received 1.7 job offers. (Figure 4)

figure1.gif (15692 bytes)

VIII. Names of Employers and Job Titles

The job titles of the 1997 M.Phil. graduates in full-time employment and the names of their employers are listed below.

Employers :	Job Titles :
CIVIL SERVICE -
HKSAR	Analyst Programmer II
HKSAR	Analyst Programmer II
HKSAR	Education Services Specialist
HKSAR - Agriculture & Fisheries Department	Ecological Assessment Officer
HKSAR - Agriculture & Fisheries Department	Forestry Officer
HKSAR - Civil Engineering Department	Civil Engineering Graduate
HKSAR - Education Department	Technician
HKSAR - Urban Council Public Libraries Office	Assistant Librarian

EDUCATION -
Buddhist Ma Kam Chan Memorial English Secondary School	Graduate Master
Cheung Chuk Shan College	Graduate Mistress
City University of Hong Kong	Executive Officer II
City University of Hong Kong	Technician
Heep Yunn School	Graduate Master
HKMA K S Lo College	Graduate Master
Hong Kong Baptist University	Teaching Instructor
Hong Kong Institute of Education	Lecturer
Hong Kong Pui Ying Secondary School	Graduate Master
Hong Kong Shue Yan College	Lecturer
St Paul’s College	Graduate Master
Tang King Po School	Certificate Master
Tang Shiu Kin Secondary School	Graduate Master
The Chinese University of Hong Kong	Assistant Computer Officer
The Chinese University of Hong Kong	Teaching Assistant
The Hong Kong Polytechnic University	Assistant Professor
The Hong Kong Polytechnic University	Assistant Professor
The University of Hong Kong	Research Assistant
The University of Hong Kong	Research Assistant
The University of Hong Kong	Senior Technician
The University of Hong Kong	Tutor
The University of Hong Kong	Technician
The University of Hong Kong - Pediatric Department	Research Assistant
TWGHs Secondary School	Graduate Master
Ying Wa Girl’s School	Graduate Mistress
Organization’s name not reported	Graduate Mistress
Organization’s name not reported	Graduate Mistress


COMMUNITY, SOCIAL & PERSONAL SERVICES -
International Social Service	Social Worker

COMMERCE & INDUSTRY -
Apple Daily	Interpreter - Foreign News Section
Armitage Computer System Ltd	Programmer
B Braun Medical (HK) Ltd	Product Executive
C A Pacific Group Ltd	Assistant Option Dealer
Chinese Television Network Ltd	Graphics Designer
Colliers Jardine	Senior Property Officer
Cyber Base Inapplenet Ltd	Project Manager
ENPAC	Environmental Scientist
Fai Tak Engineering Ltd	Senior Project Engineer
Hana Technologies Ltd	Facilities, Environmental & Safety Manager
Hong Kong Airport Services Ltd	Assistant Quality Control Manager
Maunsell Asia Consultants Ltd	Graduate Engineer
Merck, Sharp & Dohme (Asia) Ltd	Medical Affairs Associate
Micro-world Electronics Co	Project Engineer
Poppe Tyson Interactive	Production Assistant
Television & Entertainment Licence Authority	Entertainment Standard Control Officer
Organization’s name not reported	Business Analyst
Organization’s name not reported	Environmental Scientist

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.

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

Homepage : http://www.hku.hk/cepc

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

July, 1998

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