12 December 2002

University of Queensland graduates under the age of 25 and available for full-time work have again achieved outstanding employment rates and high graduate salaries.

The Graduate Careers Council of Australia’s Graduate Destination Survey 2002 released this week reveals that University of Queensland graduates continued to be highly sought by employers.

In the national performance figures compiled by the Federal Government, the University had achieved a full-time employment rate for bachelor degree graduates for 2002 of 81.6 percent against the national full-time employment figure of 81.3 percent.

UQ had averaged 84.1 percent over the past four years, 2 percent better than the national figure of 82.1 percent in the same time frame.

Over an extended period, the University has had 5 percent or less of its graduates recorded as unemployed and seeking full-time employment in the Graduation Destinations Survey.

In national figures, the University has achieved full-time employment rates averaging 88 percent over the past five years, against a national figure of 78 percent.

UQ graduates reported high full-time employment rates in fields such as Medicine (100 percent); Dentistry (100 percent); Chemical Engineering (100 percent); Pharmacy 98.2 percent); Mining Engineering (100 percent); Physiotherapy (95.1percent); Speech Therapy 96.6 percent); and Veterinary Science 93.3 percent).

UQ bachelor degree graduates in their first full-time employment and under 25 years of age reported starting salaries higher than the national median starting salaries of $37,000 for males (UQ $38,000) and matching the national median of $35,000 for females.

Of those in their first full-time employment, the higher end salaries included investment banking and dentistry, with one UQ Commerce graduate reporting a salary of $120,000 as an analyst for an investment banker.

Media: For further information, contact Jan King 0413 601 248.