The Graduate Careers Council of Australia`s Graduate Destination Survey 2004 released this week reveals that University of Queensland graduates continue to be highly sought by employers.
Over an extended period, ÎçÒ¹¸£Àû has had 5 percent or less of its graduates recorded as unemployed and seeking full-time employment.
In national figures compiled by the Department of Education, Science and Training, the University has achieved a full-time employment rate for bachelor degree graduates for 2003 of 80.44 percent against the national full-time employment figure of 79.7 percent.
ÎçÒ¹¸£Àû had averaged 84.96 percent over the past four years, 3.94 percent better than the national figure of 81.02 percent in the same time frame.
ÎçÒ¹¸£Àû graduates reported high full-time employment rates in fields such as Medicine (100 percent); Dentistry (100 percent); Mining Engineering (100 percent); Minerals Process Engineering (100 percent); Physiotherapy (97.56 percent); Pharmacy (100 percent); Occupational Therapy (94.28 percent); Veterinary Science (100 percent); Civil Engineering (100 percent) and Law (90.9 percent).
ÎçÒ¹¸£Àû bachelor degree graduates in their first full-time employment (and under 25 years of age) reported starting salaries similar to the national median starting salaries of $39,000 for males and $38,000 for females (ÎçÒ¹¸£Àû figures, $38,000 for males and females).
Graduates also reported above average starting salaries. Of those in their first full-time employment, the higher end salaries included two ÎçÒ¹¸£Àû Dentistry graduates reporting salaries of $100,000 each. Other reported starting salaries included $89,000 by a mechanical engineer, $85,000 by a dentist, a mining engineer and a practice manager, and $80,000 by the following graduates: an associate consultant, a software developer, an exploration geologist, a dentist and a pilot.
The figures for ÎçÒ¹¸£Àû bachelor degree graduates in further full-time study represented 25.38 percent against a national figure of 23.4 percent.
Media: Further information, contact Jan King, telephone 0413 601 248.
