Authors

• Aarresaari network of the Academic Career Services in Finland

Keywords

appointment to job, career development, educational certificates, employment, employment opportunities, graduates, job satisfaction, temporary employment, tertiary education (first stage)

Abstract

The survey charted the career and employment situations of people who had graduated from Finnish universities with a lower (BA/BSc or equivalent) or higher (MA/MSc or equivalent) degree in 2014. The survey was conducted five years after graduation.

The first part investigated the respondents' education and work history. They were asked whether they had, after graduation, participated in job-related training, career guidance or any additional professional qualification or higher education studies. The respondents were asked whether they agreed or disagreed to a set of attitudinal statements regarding their degree and its usefulness for employment. Further questions covered how many employers the respondents had had, whether the respondents had been entrepreneurs, self-employed or freelancers, and whether they had been outside the labour market because of a family leave or unemployment.

The respondents' satisfaction with their career thus far was charted, along with current occupational status, type of employer, and type of current work tasks. The respondents were also asked whether the first job after graduation had required an academic degree, whether it had been commensurate with their qualification, and if not, why they had accepted the job. It was also examined to what extent the respondents had been able to utilise knowledge and skills gained during their university studies. Monthly gross income at the time of the survey was charted.

Next, the respondents were asked which factors had had an impact on their employment after graduation (e.g. major/minor subjects, internship, work experience, personal networks). Questions also covered how important certain skills and know-how were in the respondents' current job and how well their studies had developed these skills (e.g. theoretical or practical knowledge of their field, problem solving, managerial skills, negotiation skills, project management, and communication in English).

Background variables included the respondent's gender, age at the time of graduation (categorised), monthly gross income (top-coded), the university they attended, and information on the degree (field of study, number of credits required for the degree, degree level).