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, The University of Queensland 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.
UQ 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.
UQ 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).
UQ 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 (UQ 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 UQ 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 UQ 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.
