Graduate Job Research Articles

Effect of Construction Management Instructors’ Degree and Industry Experience on Construction Management Graduate Job Readiness

ABSTRACT This study investigates the impact of faculty education and industry experience on the work readiness of Construction Management (CM) graduates within their first three years’ post-graduation. This research hypothesized that the educational background and industry experience of CM faculty significantly influence graduates’ preparedness for the construction industry. Employing a mixed-methods approach, this study surveyed 465 full-time faculty members across 30 ACCE-accredited CM programs, evaluating their degrees and relevant industry experience. Recent graduates and industry leaders were surveyed to assess perceived readiness to work. The demographic findings revealed only 7% of faculty hold doctoral degrees in CM and 47% lack work experience in the field. The results also indicated that there is a linear relationship between programs with higher levels of industry experienced faculty and doctoral degrees in CM with enhanced career preparedness. The study proposes the Construction Faculty Qualifications (CFQ) Score, a metric combining academic and industry experience to evaluate and improve faculty qualifications comprehensively. The CFQ Score aims to drive accreditation requirements toward a more balanced combination of academic achievement and practical experience. This research underscores the necessity for CM-specific educational backgrounds and significant industry experience to enhance the quality and effectiveness of CM education.

Employability skills and jobs for graduates: learning from job advertisements

We use 2812 online job advertisements from 21 European countries to identify attributes demanded by employers and explore economic and labour market characteristics associated with the set of required skills. Whereas some employers clearly target ready-to-work candidates for high skilled occupations, others do not even specify skill requirements. The latter are from countries that are moderate or modest innovators with varying levels of high-tech employment activities, a high level of youth unemployment and a low job vacancy rate. The findings suggest employers have raised hiring criteria and have therefore contributed to credential inflation.

Optimalisasi Komunikasi Digital dalam Penerapan Visual Sosial pada Desain atau Layout Website Company Profile

This research is needed to provide the latest views on the Public Relations and Digital Communication Study Program through online media, namely the website. In addition, in order to increase interaction with the community, especially prospective new students who are looking for information about the Public Relations and Digital Communication study program, as well as to help agencies to continue to adapt to technological developments as an implementation of the implementation of digital communication. This research is a qualitative research with a constructivist approach. The researcher uses constructivists to find out the maximum response of website visitors in disseminating information in the community related to the Study Program through the website. In addition, the constructivist approach was chosen so that researchers have a deeper understanding, not just mere knowledge but are expected to be able to build knowledge and understanding through direct experience and reflection on websites. The implementation of the website development strategy to strengthen the profile of the study program in improving the brand image as one of the applied undergraduate study programs at the State University of Jakarta is a sustainable task and requires continuous efforts to brand this study program to the general public, Personal and Historical Approach to Websites, and Engineering and Aesthetics in the Application of Digital Communication, as well as the Management and Maintenance of Website Development of the Study Program Displaying topics of interest, namely the latest curriculum, topics about curriculum lecturers and topics of graduate job prospects.

Relationship between Art and Design Students’ Technical and Managerial Skill Traits and Their Entrepreneurial Skill Traits

The unavailability of jobs for graduates has become a gross concern in developing countries such as Nigeria, which is not necessarily contingent on graduates from any specific course of study, including art and design education. It is thus evident that proficiency in artistic or creative talent alone is insufficient to guarantee a thriving art and design career and the need to develop the required entrepreneurial propensity. This study, therefore, aims to evaluate the entrepreneurial skills and traits of art and design students in Nigerian higher education institutions (HEIs) as a remedy for stimulating their entrepreneurial tendencies. The hypothesized model of art and design students’ entrepreneurial traits was developed based on the theoretical framework developed from the literature as a three-factor construct (Model 1.0) comprising technical/soft skills, managerial skills, and entrepreneurial skills. Data was obtained using a structured Likert scale questionnaire of 36 items adapted from Yilzman & Sunbul’s entrepreneurial scale from a sample of 186 art and design students. Data was analysed using descriptive statistics and thecovariance-based structural equation modelling (CB-SEM) via the IBM SPSS Statistics 26 and IBM SPSS Amos 26 Graphics software. The model fit results reveal that the goodness-of-fit statistics indexes fell within the acceptable range. The results of the hypotheses testing of the model show that no significant association exists between art and design students’ technical and entrepreneurial skill traits. However, there is a significant association betweentheir managerial and entrepreneurial skill traits. The outcome of this research has implications for TVET institutions in the arts and design field further to promote the development of students’ inherent entrepreneurial traits to boost their entrepreneurial tendencies.

What is ‘research-led teaching’ and how can we deliver it in University STEM degrees?

ABSTRACT Universities advertise STEM degrees as being delivered via ‘research-led teaching’. We worked with students at the University of Liverpool to ascertain what students understood ‘research-led teaching’ to mean , and how it could be improved. We found that most students considered it important to be taught by active researchers and expected that their lecturers be experts in their fields. We found that students craved a more practical, research-based curriculum. Students believed that a research-heavy degree would better prepare them for future employment and provide skills that are more difficult to attain through lecture-based courses, but those who had commitments outside of the University were more hesitant. Our findings highlight the importance of considering underserved communities such as carers and single parents in course design. Overall, we found that the way in which teaching is delivered has a critical impact on students’ confidence and future career choices. We also report that students’ confidence and perceived learning opportunities have been significantly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. We propose that this is something that needs to be factored in when recruiting for postgraduate degrees and graduate jobs to protect future opportunities for students whose degrees were completed during the pandemic.

NAVIGATING THE JOB MARKET: A MULTIPLE CASE STUDY ON SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATES IN JOB SEARCHING

This multiple case study aimed to discover and understand the experiences of Senior High School graduates in job searching in Davao Region. The data were taken from the three (3) participants and three (3) informants whose responses were collected through in-depth interviews. Using the thematic analysis, essential themes were extracted from the participants’ responses. On the lived experiences related to job searching, the results revealed nine (9) major themes: preference for college graduates over SHS graduates, difficulty in job application process, stress and pressure in job searching, sense of unfulfilled career potentials despite K to 12 training, job instability and short-term opportunities, impediments to self-confidence and job security, importance of preparation before a job interview, economic insecurity, and deprivation of field experience during the work immersion. Furthermore, on how they overcome their struggles from job searching, six (6) themes emerged: preventing burnout from rejections through leisure activities, earning income through side hustles, intensifying self-reliance and independence, cultivating positive mindset, seeking advice and preparing for interviews, and applying for an industry that accept SHS graduates. Moreover, from the insights gained by the participants, six (6) major themes emerged: disregard the educational-based bias, nurture job resiliency, enhance the job readiness skills for practical experiences, call for work immersion opportunities for SHS students, meet the demands of the industry, and invest in career guidance programs. Cross-case analysis were also utilized to determine the similarities and differences of the themes that transpired. The results of this study were deemed significant to senior high school graduates, parents, teachers, school administrators, DepEd authorities, and future researchers. KEYWORDS: job searching, multiple case study, senior high school graduates

Housing Vulnerability, Shared Housing, Informality, and Crowding: The Housing Strategies of China’s Recent College Graduates

ABSTRACT Mirroring developments elsewhere, for recent college graduates in China the transition to employment is increasingly protracted and, for some, precarious. Case studies of individual strategies and cities indicate a diversification of housing pathways, where economic precarity is rendering at least some vulnerable. Based on original survey data collected in 2019, I investigate the housing choices of Chinese college graduate job market entrants and ask who is vulnerable and whether adverse outcomes are mere market entry strategies or lasting. I find that recent graduates generally find housing in central locations, close to their work. However, to achieve favourable locational outcomes on low budgets, many resort to sharing. High-density room sharing of three or more people is illegal but prominent and dominates in first-tier cities. The findings highlight how urbanization interacts with housing vulnerability and contribute to theorizing on the housing crisis, the Global North-South binary, and the very nature of home sharing.

Transforming the experiential learning of sport management graduates into transferable employability signals

ABSTRACT Graduate employability plays a critical role during job recruitment and selection. Practical experience provides a strong foundation from which sport management graduates can signal their employability. Our Australian-based mixed-method study explored signals that managers seek from sport management graduate-entry applicants during job recruitment and selection. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 10 sport managers. Interview transcripts were deductively coded using the Experiential Learning Cycle and thematically analysed. An online employability survey, guided by Employability Dimensions, was distributed and gained responses from 166 sport managers. Analysis was conducted using non-parametric statistics. Findings revealed 10 observed signals: to assist sport management graduates indicate their employability during job recruitment and selection and for sport managers to recognise employable graduates. The observed signals comprise multiple signal indicators, developed to guide theoretical knowledge and practical application of the employability signals for graduate job applicants.

Intrapreneurial ecosystems in academia and their overlooked outputs: Graduate employability and wellbeing

The aim of this paper is dual: a) to elaborate a systemic concept of intrapreneurship in academia which will be reflective of complexities and idiosyncrasies of the University as a multi-mission multi-function organisation; and b) to empirically test this concept in the context of relatively neglected outputs of academic intrapreneurship such as graduate employability and graduate wellbeing. Guided by an intrapreneurial ecosystem framework, our analysis is based on a combination of administrative and survey panel data for 141 UK higher education institutions. We arrive at several contributing findings. These suggest that the intrapreneurial ecosystem within academia is increasingly predisposed towards enhancing the quality of graduate outcomes rather than simply promoting raw measures such as graduate jobs or the number of graduate start-ups. Furthermore, we reveal the critical role of University national stakeholder networks for graduate career satisfaction, start-up generation, and undergraduate employment. Finally, our empirical exercise and its results demonstrate the practical value of the proposed concept of the intrapreneurial ecosystem for University management and practitioners, not least because it systematically identifies areas for an immediate, medium- and long-term action.

Job-seeking narratives: in search of graduate capitals acquired during student placements

Being a graduate is no longer sufficient to secure a fulfilling and rewarding graduate role. This paper drew on Tomlinson’s Graduate Capital Model to analyse the job-seeking narratives of recent computing graduates searching for a graduate job. Participants (n = 38), drawn from a national placement programme, were interviewed up to 12 months after they had graduated. Narrative interviews were analysed using the five graduate capitals of the Model, providing empirical evidence of the acquisition and application of graduate capitals, in particular through experiences of student work placements. The study found strong claims of human and cultural capital, arising from placement experience, while social and identity capital acquisition was found, but to a lesser extent. Fragile psychological and identity capitals were eroded by multiple unsuccessful job applications. This work empirically tested the Graduate Capital Model, contributing to understanding of capitals and their interplay.

Insight into the demand for digital skills at the workplaces of agricultural engineering graduates in Vietnam

This study aimed to investigate the demand for digital skills in the workplaces of agricultural graduates to shed light on the specific requirements of digital skills in their jobs. The study employed a qualitative approach and conducted a total of eight semi-structured interviews with graduates from two departments of an agricultural university in Vietnam. The obtained data, processed through thematic coding techniques, successfully revealed insights into digital skills’ demand in the jobs of selected participants. Firstly, digital skills were found to be compulsory requirements for jobs for agricultural graduates, although the specific requirements for digital skills varied from job to job. Secondly, the findings revealed that different jobs require different types and levels of digital skills. Thirdly, the performance of digital skills depends on the availability and management of workplaces’ digital technology. The study also found that graduates may have the opportunity to obtain jobs that are not directly related to their learning programmes but require digital skills associated with their speciality. The study recommends applying the findings to multiple stakeholders, including government policymakers, higher education policymakers, employers, and higher education students, to bridge the gap between the higher education supply and the market demand for digital skills.

Survey of UK veterinary students' perceptions about a career in equine practice

SummaryBackgroundWorkforce shortages are challenges facing veterinary practice. Anecdotal evidence suggests that veterinary students are less interested in entering equine practice than previously.ObjectivesInvestigate veterinary students' perceptions about equine veterinary education and about working in equine practice.Study designObservational study: online survey.MethodsSurvey distributed via social media to veterinary students in the United Kingdom. Open and closed questions to document intended career path of students and evaluate perceptions about careers in equine practice.ResultsSeven hundred and forty‐four students completed the survey—from 10 veterinary schools. 88.8% intended to work in clinical practice (32.9% mixed; 25.3% small animal; 20.2% equine; 10.9% farm; 10.7% other/undecided). Factors considered most important for their first job included: mentoring and support (47.0%), team and practice culture (26.2%), working hours (including out‐of‐hours; 9.2%), location (6.6%), salary and benefits (5.7%) and familiarity with the practice (3.1%). 55.2% felt there were barriers to entering equine practice. 46.9% had ridden a horse regularly; 14.2% had never ridden. Respondents in clinical years rated their university training in equine practice as ‘Excellent’ (10.0%), ‘Good’ (45.9%), ‘OK’ (35.3%), ‘Poor’ (7.0%) and ‘Rubbish’ (1.8%). 48.9% of respondents felt extra mural studies (EMS) had contributed most to their equine training. Statistical associations were identified between the following variables and intention to work in equine practice: owning a horse, having ever ridden a horse, confidence in handling horses, student membership of BEVA and desire to undertake an internship.Main limitationsPotential selection bias.Conclusions20% of students reported an intention to work in equine practice, but risk of selection bias. The results indicate a potential mismatch between the number of students interested in equine practice and the availability of equine jobs for new graduates. Students with pre‐existing equine interest/experience are more likely to want to enter equine practice. EMS appears important for students' training in equine medicine.

Farming support must switch to black smallholders: Focus on urban elite amounts to rural State Capture

Job creation in South Africa is an urgent and paramount project and one of the target areas has to be the agricultural sector. Other targeted economic sectors can deliver jobs for urban matriculants and graduates, but JOHN MATISONN argues farming and agro-processing have the potential to provide hundreds of thousands of new jobs for black citizens in rural areas without advanced education as well as for graduates.

Role of self-efficacy and its antecedents on graduates job satisfaction

Role of self-efficacy and its antecedents on graduates job satisfaction

Decision Support System in Determining the Job Waiting Period for Graduates of Unimed Using the Mamdani Method of Fuzzy Logic

During the job search period as an educated unemployed person, it takes time to be accepted into the world of work. The time required to look for a job is a matter of uncertainty. So, we need a system that can be used as a reference in determining the job waiting period for graduates. The graduate job waiting period is when someone has not found a job after graduation. Several factors influence this. In this research, the factors used as job waiting period variables are GPA, length of study and achievement. Every graduate certainly has a different job waiting period. This research aims to determine the job waiting period for Graduates of Unimed by designing a decision support system using the Fuzzy Mamdani method. This research uses quantitative methods. Data was obtained by distributing questionnaires to Graduates of Unimed. It is hoped that the decision support system for determining the job waiting period can encourage students, especially Universitas Negeri Medan students, to improve their quality before entering the job. With the help of Matlab software, a decision support system using the Mamdani method can be used to determine the waiting period, where the result is that the job waiting period for Graduates of Unimed is fast in the 0-3 month category.

Helicopter mobility: Changing habitus without challenging structural inequalities, experiences of an international elite education programme

AbstractThis original study followed up ten beneficiaries of a UK charity‐led programme that supported disadvantaged students in applying to elite US universities. First interviewed in 2015 during their early university days in the United States, in our 2019 follow‐up all participants had graduated. Six remained in the United States and four had returned to the United Kingdom, with only one returning to their pre‐university community. They reported benefitting immensely from their international opportunities and were nearly all in high‐paying graduate jobs or high‐profile graduate programmes. Drawing on Bourdieu's concept of the ‘cleft habitus’, which can result from rapid and substantial shifts in field, we found that this was rare. Rather, the majority had undergone a ‘wholesale escape’, replacing their originary habitus with one that was consistent with their new field. The significance of the study is that the findings allow us to propose the concept of ‘helicopter mobility’ to describe individualised approaches to social mobility, whereby those considered to have merit are removed from their communities without questioning or affecting wider structural inequalities.

Forward Chaining Algorithm on Informatics Graduate Job Recommendation System Based on MBTI Test

The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) is a method for identifying an individual's personality type based on the psychological theory of Carl Gustav Jung. In the context of computer science students, they often face challenges in planning their academic journey and determining the direction of their career development during their studies, causing confusion when it comes to choosing a career path in the field of computer science in the future. To address these challenges, the researcher has developed a web-based expert system using the PHP programming language. This expert system is designed to make decisions based on a collection of user responses, which are processed using the forward chaining method, ultimately providing the user's personality type along with suitable career choices. The primary objective of the expert system is to assist students in making decisions regarding their studies and future careers. Through this research, the researcher has produced a functioning website capable of efficiently processing user responses and generating decisions regarding personality types and career options. Thus, this study provides a solution to aid computer science students in planning their academic and career paths.

The Effect of Foreign Investment, Employment Rates, and Total Population on Educated Unemployment in Indonesia

Unemployment has significant economic and social impacts, especially educated unemployment. The increase in the number of educated unemployed is a major problem. As of February 2022, BPS RI data indicates 8.4 million people or 5.83% of the workforce are unemployed. Educated unemployment, such as High School, Diploma, and Bachelor graduates, has the potential to support economic growth which is unfortunate if it is not handled properly. As of February 2022, according to data from the Indonesian Central Bureau of Statistics, the total number of educated unemployed in Indonesia has reached 62.4% of the total number of unemployed in Indonesia. The projection of the demographic bonus in Indonesia, Cipta Kerja Law which has the aim of overcoming employment problems by supporting foreign investment and creating jobs through ease of licensing and the fluaction of employment rates which are influenced by economic growth is the background of this research. This study analyzes the effect of foreign investment (FDI), employment rates, and total population on educated unemployment in Indonesia. The method used is the quantitative method and multiple linear regression analysis using SPSS 25. The results show that the employment rates and population have significant effect on educated unemployment while foreign investment (FDI) does not have significant effect in this study. Encouraging the quality of foreign investment remains an important role. The government should prioritize policies that support investment in potential sectors to create jobs for educated graduates. Managing population growth is also important in order to prevent increases in educated unemployment.

A Study of Reciprocal Job Recommendation for College Graduates Integrating Semantic Keyword Matching and Social Networking

With the surge in college graduate numbers, a disparity has emerged where the supply of jobs falls short of demand, intensifying employment pressures annually. College graduates, due to their lack of historical employment data compared with job seekers in the broader society, encounter a ‘cold start’ issue in the job recommendation process. Additionally, the nature of job recommendations, which differs fundamentally from unilateral recommendations, requires consideration of reciprocity between both parties involved. This article introduces a new approach to job recommendations using college graduates as the object of study. In the screening stage, a semantic keyword iterative algorithm is applied to compute the similarity between the resume and recruitment texts. This algorithm enhances the intersectionality of keywords in the calculation process, maximizing the utilization of resume information to enhance the accuracy of text similarity calculations. The ranking phase utilizes in-school data to build a social network between college graduates and graduated students and solves the system’s cold-start problem using the social network to recommend jobs for college graduates where graduated students are employed. We introduce a dual-dimensional matching approach that incorporates both specialty and salary, building upon the amalgamated semantic keyword iterative algorithm and the social network job recommendation method, to enhance the reciprocity of job recommendations. The job recommendation method introduced herein outperforms other methods in terms of the average satisfaction rate (AR) and normalized discounted cumulative gain (NDCG), thereby confirming its superior ability to meet the job-seeking preferences of graduates and the recruitment criteria of employers. This job recommendation method offers effective assistance to graduates lacking employment experience and historical employment data, facilitating their search for more suitable job opportunities.

Why students engage in simulation and how it prepares them for work

In the future, learning will take the shape of a story, a play, a game; involving multiple platforms and players; driven by dialogue and augmented with technology, an interplay of immersive experiences, data, and highly social virtual worlds (Lee et al., 2021). Employers seek graduates who demonstrate attributes that organisations require to develop in the future. As students transition out of higher education, they should have the ‘abilities and capabilities to maintain employment’ (Asiri et al., 2017 p. 2). The transition out of university can be perceived as particularly stressful, with uncertainty about what is required for a successful career (Jackson and Tomlinson, 2020). This is exacerbated in the post Covid-19 environment when, even as the graduate job market has started to recover, students’ confidence about finding a job after graduation remains low (Curnock Cook, 2022). Our simulation methods are aligned to the theories that underpin these transitions, and designed to support students ‘becoming’ professionals in their field. Simulations can be designed for cognitive absorption, the psychological concept of flow and deep absorption in learning (Kukulska-Hulme et al., 2022). Premised on the innovation of best learning moments, the student tasks shared in this workshop engender deep involvement, through memorable learning activities. This reflects the ‘ways of working’ of the Learning Development (LD) community, and evidence suggests that reflective practice, learning complex skills and scaffolding learning are the transferable aspects of these technologies (Chernikova et al., 2020). Widening participation research has provided evidence that students’ movements in and out of experiences such as care, work and studies are dynamic, non-sequential and context-dependent (Holley and Priego-Hernández, 2021). With the move to hybrid learning, students want their learning materials to be well-designed. However, 43% of students do not perceive their learning materials to be engaging/motivating (Killen and Didymus, 2022). Immersive technology and simulation may offer the solution to this disconnect, as simulations offer an immersive and embodied experience (Bayne 2004; Bayne et al., 2019). Signature pedagogies (Thomson et al., 2012) for professions can provide a means for institutions to achieve the requirements of Office for Students’ B3 (2022) which is now assessing student continuation, degree outcomes, including differential outcomes for student characteristics, and, framing this workshop, graduate employment and progression to professional jobs and postgraduate study. Learning Developers have a pivotal part to play operationalising actions that result into students’ graduate outcomes, and responding to this, our workshop invited participants to experience three types of simulation: a) a business game; b) a mass casualty evacuation; and c) a community project responding to a scenario.