Biology

*Where did the 1999 Biology graduates go ?*
	Careers Education and Placement Centre

I. Introduction

The information in this paper is extracted from the Graduate Employment Survey of 1999 to answer the following questions about Bachelor of Science in Biology graduates : -

How many were employed six months after graduation ?

Among those who pursued further studies, what programmes were they enrolled in ?

Among those who were employed full-time, how long did it take them to get their first job offer ?

In which sectors were they employed ?

How much salary did they receive ?

How many job offers did they receive ?

Who were their employers and what were their job titles ?

II. Employment Situations in 1999

Of the 52 graduates from this programme, 48 responded to the survey. Their employment situations are listed below.

	BSC(BIOL)				HKU Overall*
	1999		1998		1999		1998
	No.	%	No.	%	No.	%	No.	%
No. of respondents	48	100	59	100	2475	100	2383	100
Employed	33	69	33	56	1928	78	1795	75
Unemployed seeking F/T job	3	6.3	9	15	79	3.2	157	6.6
Further Studies	12	25	17	29	455	18	413	17
Emigrated/Returned to home country	0	0	0	0	4	0.2	3	0.1
Not seeking F/T job	0	0	0	0	9	0.4	15	0.6

* 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
Twelve graduates proceeded to further studies. The tables below show the academic programmes that they pursued and their sources of funds.

*Field of Study*	Academic Programme
*Field of Study*	Ph.D.	M.Phil.	Postgraduate Certificate	Adv.Diploma/ Diploma	Others
Science	1	6
Medical Science		1
Education			1	1	1
Computer Science				1

*Source of Funds*	No. of Graduates
Teaching Assistantship/Studentship	4
Government Grant & Loan	3
Own Funds	3
Scholarship & Teaching Assistantship/Studentship	2

IV. Time Taken to Secure Employment
The time taken for graduates to secure employment is shown below

	% of new graduates who have secured employment
By the end of	1999	1998
May or before	6.7%	6.5%
June	27%	23%
July	47%	26%
August	73%	48%
September	90%	65%
October	100%	81%
November	100%	94%
December	100%	100%

V. Employment Sectors
The majority of graduates in Biology were employed in commerce & industry, while others were employed in educational institutions, community, social & personal services, and the civil service.

	% of graduates
Sector	1999	1998
Commerce & Industry	53%	39%
Educational Institutions	25%	32%
Community, Social & Personal Services	16%	23%
Civil Service	6%	6%

No Response = 1

VI. Basic Salary and Gross Income
The remuneration received by graduates in Biology is shown below.

	Basic Salary				Gross Income
	BSC(BIOL)		HKU Average*		BSC(BIOL)		HKU Average*
	1999	1998	1999	1998	1999	1998	1999	1998
Mean	$10,480	$10,262	$14,480	$15,496	$11,026	$11,100	$15,716	$16,557
Median	$9,600	$10,000	$10,870	$12,300	$10,000	$10,500	$11,917	$13,325
Minimum	$8,000	$5,500	$1,000	$1,000	$8,000	$5,500	$3,000	$5,000
Maximum	$22,000	$17,000	$58,000	$58,000	$22,000	$17,583	$60,000	$59,000

* HKU Average refers to the figure for the total HKU population and includes M.B.,B.S. and B.D.S. graduates.

VII. Number of Full-Time Job Offers
The number of job offers received by graduates in Biology is shown in the following table.

*No. of job offers received*	No. of graduates (% of graduates)
One	13 (43%)
Two	9 (30%)
Three	3 (10%)
Four	4 (13%)
Six	1 (3.3%)

No Response = 2

VIII. Names of Employers and Job Titles
The job titles of graduates in Biology in full-time employment and the names of their employers are listed below.

*Employers*	Job Titles
CIVIL SERVICE -
HKSAR - Education Department		Activity Coordinator
HKSAR - Marine Department		Inspector

EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS -
City College		Certificate Master
Good Hope School		Certificate Master
The University of Hong Kong		Research Assistant
The University of Hong Kong		Research Assistant
The University of Hong Kong		Technical Assistant
Truth Baptist Church Pictoried Kindergarden		Assistant Kindergarden Teacher
Organization's name not reported		Certificate Master
Organization's name not reported		Certificate Master

COMMUNITY, SOCIAL & PERSONAL SERVICES -
Brilliant Learning Centre		Teacher
Hong Kong Amateur Athletic Association		Sports Promotion Officer
Hong Kong International Institute of Educational Leadership		Office Administrator
Salvation Army		Child Care Worker


COMMERCE & INDUSTRY -
Cable & Wireless HKT Ltd		Customer Services Representative
CMG Asia Pension & Insurance Co Ltd		District Secretary
Colby International Ltd		Operation Assistant
Kingtack Wach Ltd		Marketing Executive
Manulife (International) Ltd		Administrative Assistant
McDonalds Restaurant (HK) Ltd		Manager Trainee
Ocean Park Hong Kong		Giant Panda Keeper
On Hing Paper Co Ltd		Marketing Executive
Sam's Co		Sales Manager
Smartone Telecommunications Ltd		Customer Care Officer
The Commercial Press		Sales Assistant
Tottor ELA Architect Ltd		Executive Secretary
TVB.com		Assistant Internet Development Officer
Organization's name not reported		Account Executive
Organization's name not reported		Clerk
Organization's name not reported		System Instructor

No Response = 2

Note : Some of the 1999 graduates indicated willingness to talk to individual students about their work. Contact numbers can be obtained from counsellors at the CePc.

IX. Similar information on graduates from other disciplines is available for reference in the Careers Library. Please contact the CePc for further details.

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 : 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.)

Cindy Chan

August, 2000

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,

unless with written permission from the Director of the Careers Education and Placement Centre,

The University of Hong Kong