The University of Hong Kong

Careers Education and Placement Centre

Where did the 1997 M.Sc.(Urban Planning) 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.Sc. (Urban Planning) graduates : -

How were they employed six months after graduation ?
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 16 M.Sc. (Urban Planning) graduates, 12 responded to our survey, representing a response rate of 75%. Of these, 92% (or 11 graduates) were in full-time employment within six months of graduation. Another 8.3% (or 1 graduate) was still looking for full-time employment at the time of the survey in December 1997. (Table 1)

	M.Sc. (Urban Planning)																	HKU Overall
	Total					Male						Female						(Taught Masters)
	‘97		‘96		‘97				‘96		‘97			‘96					‘97			‘96
	No.	%	No.	%			No.	%	No.	%		No.	%		No.	%	No.			%	No.		%
No. of respondents	12	100	13	100			6	100	8	100		6	100		5	100	123			100	98		100
F/T employed	11	91.7	11	84.6			6	100	7	87.5		5	83.3		4	80.0	111			90.2	88		89.8
P/T employed seeking F/T job	0	0	1	7.7			0	0	0	0		0	0		1	20.0	0			0	2		2.0
Unemployed seeking F/T job	1	8.3	0	0			0	0	0	0		1	16.7		0	0	4			3.3	2		2.0
Further studies	0	0	0	0			0	0	0	0		0	0		0	0	5			4.1	4		4.1
Emigration/home country	0	0	1	7.7			0	0	1	12.5		0	0		0	0	0			0	1		1.0
Not seeking F/T job	0	0	0	0			0	0	0	0		0	0		0	0	3			2.4	1		1.0

Table 1. Employment situation

III. Time Taken to Secure Employment

Among those graduates who were in full-time employment, 70% secured their first job offer before the end of September. The percentage increased to 100% by the end of December. (Figure 1)

figure1.gif (15692 bytes)

IV. Employment Sectors

Most (80% or 8 graduates) of the 1997 M.Sc. (Urban Planning) graduates were employed in commerce & industry. 10% (or 1 graduate) each joined the civil service and the education sector. (Figures 2 & 3)

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V. Basic Salary and Gross Income

The remuneration received by the 1997 M.Sc. (Urban Planning) graduates is shown in Table 2.

	Basic Salary							Gross Income
	M.Sc. (Urban Planning)			HKU Average*			M.Sc. (Urban Planning)				HKU Average*
	‘97	‘96	‘97		‘96	‘97			‘96	‘97		‘96
Mean	$15,450	$14,734	$22,388		$25,246	$16,841			$15,326	$24,481		$27,483
Median	$15,000	$15,135	$24,000		$24,000	$16,250			$16,000	$25,000		$24,850
Minimum	$13,500	$10,000	$10,000		$10,000	$14,500			$10,000	$10,000		$10,000
Maximum	$18,500	$20,000	$69,000		$70,000	$20,042			$21,667	$86,000		$87,000

Table 2. Basic salary and gross income

* HKU average refers to the income received by taught master graduates.

VI. Number of Full-Time Job Offers

Of those in full-time employment, 55% of the graduates had more than one job offer. 9.1% reported having received three job offers. On average, each graduate received 1.6 job offers. (Figure 4)

figure1.gif (15692 bytes)

VII. Names of Employers and Job Titles

The job titles of the M.Sc. (Urban Planning) graduates in full-time employment and the names of their employers are listed below.

Employers :	Job Titles :
CIVIL SERVICE -
HKSAR		Planning Officer

COMMERCE & INDUSTRY -
City Planning Consultants Ltd		Assistant Town Planner
Edaw Eartheasia Ltd		Town Planner
Glad Link Properties Ltd		Assistant Town Planner
MVA (Asia) Ltd		Graduate Transport Planner
MVA (Asia) Ltd		Graduate Transport Planner
Nomo Metnoic Planning & Design Consultant		Project Officer
Planning Team (HK) Ltd		Assistant Town Planner
Urbis Ltd		Assistant Town Planner

No Response = 2

Table 3. 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.

VIII. 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