Survey of UB grads reveals student job success
Report on Class of 1997 shows 80 percent of job hunters found work within six months

By MARA McGINNIS
News Services Editor

A recent survey of UB graduates has found that about 96 percent of graduates of the Class of 1997 responding to the survey reside in New York State and 80 percent who sought employment secured jobs within six months of graduation.

Conducted by the Office of Career Planning and Placement, the study was the first in more than 25 years on the post-graduation activities of UB degree recipients. It surveyed 4,863 graduates from the Class of 1997 residing in the United States in the summer of 1998-one year after graduation.

Of those surveyed, 3,000 were bachelor's-degree recipients and 1,864 had received graduate and professional degrees. The response rate was 41 percent.

The median starting salary for bachelor's-degree recipients in the Class of 1997 was between $30,000 and $35,000, according to the study, which also reported "no statistically significant difference in salary between genders." The median salary for graduate and professional-degree recipients was in the $35,000-$40,000 range.

"For the first time in recent history, we have some hard data to bolster our anecdotal evidence that students are successful in both their employment and pursuit of further education. This information will help our career counselors and academic advisors as they work with students who are uncertain about how different degrees can be practically applied," said Dan Ryan, director of career planning and placement.

Approximately 96 percent of respondents were New York State residents, while 3.9 percent lived outside of New York, with the largest number residing in North Carolina, New Jersey and Florida.

The study also revealed that most graduates were working in a position related to their field of study at UB. Of the graduates with bachelor's degrees working full time, 53.4 percent considered their position closely related to their academic preparation, while 28.2 percent considered it somewhat related and 18.4 percent considered their position unrelated to their academic preparation.

"We also intend to use the data to measure our effectiveness as an office, adding new programs where needed, and marketing our services to students in those majors who have not fully utilized our services," added Ryan.

UB resources were reported as the most useful to graduates in their job search, followed by want-ads, networking with family and friends, employment agencies, direct mail to employers, professional associations and the Internet.

The study also found that one year after graduation, 96.8 percent of undergraduate-degree recipients were working full time or were enrolled in graduate or professional programs, with 68.3 percent employed and 28.5 percent going to school.

About 33 percent of working respondents found their jobs within one month of graduation, while about 60 percent found their position within three months, according to the study. About 26 percent relocated for their current position.

The highest percentage of employed respondents-36.9 percent-reported working for companies or institutions with more than 1,000 employees.

Results from the study also found that about half of working undergraduate-degree recipients believe that they likely would earn an advanced degree at some point in the future.

Ryan said the Office of Career Planning and Placement intends to survey a smaller sample of graduates in 2000 to establish trending data, and then the full population of graduates again in 2001.