On the road to pursuing their dreams, someone made the direction clear early. Like Ann Duraid Shwaita, she knew she wanted to be a pharmacist before she finished college.
"I've always had a passion for healthcare and wanted to be able to help others," she says, "and it's been a dream I've had since I was a kid." ”
According to Australian media on September 10, Shwaita obtained a bachelor's degree in pharmacy with honors at RMIT University in Melbourne in 2022. After last year's internship, she now works five days a week at two pharmacies and also works as a temporary pharmacist. And her ultimate goal is to be able to run a pharmacy on her own.
When it comes to employment, pharmacy graduates like Shwaita are on the move. In most cases, they can easily find a job after their internship is over.
Shwaita once said, "I don't even have to apply. With my connections and referrals from acquaintances, job opportunities came to me and the job search process went smoothly for me. ”
According to Australia's recognised statistics, a whopping 98% of pharmacy graduates last year successfully secured full-time employment within just six months of receiving their degree. However, despite the rapid pace of employment, the results of the annual Quality Indicators for Learning and Teaching survey show that pharmacy graduates earn the lowest starting salaries among all professions, earning just $55,500 per year.
In stark contrast, dentists earn a whopping $94,400 in starting salaries, while the median salary for Australian university graduates is $71,000.
In this latest survey, funded by the Australian Department of Education, we also found some other interesting phenomena. In addition to pharmacy, undergraduates in medicine (95.6%), rehabilitation in related health fields (95.6%) and veterinary medicine (92%) are also highly likely to find full-time employment within six months of graduation.
At the other end of the spectrum of employment, only 53% of creative arts majors and 65% of communication graduates are offered full-time jobs within six months of graduation.
Overall, more than half of the 21 subject areas covered in the survey showed an upward trend in subject employment. Among them, the employment rate in tourism, hospitality, personal services, sports and leisure has risen significantly, jumping sharply from 65% in 2022 to 73% last year.
Looking ahead to the future of employment, Professor Janine Dixon, Director of the Centre for Policy Studies at the University of Victoria, said that in the coming years between now and 2033, graduates pursuing careers in healthcare and social assistance will find that the demand for their professional skills will only increase. This trend will be even more pronounced for nursing and allied health graduates.
Professor Dixon further elaborated: "In terms of employment trends over the next 10 to 15 years, there are three main directions: first, face-to-face nursing work; second, work related to the transition to renewable energy; The third is the field of information and software engineering, which is anything related to digital skills and digital literacy. ”
Across Victorian universities, survey data reveals the employment status of different universities. Between 2021 and 2023, Monash University had the highest percentage of undergraduate graduates in full-time employment, at 77.6 per cent. La Trobe University (76%) is also above the national average (75%), followed by Swinburne University (73%) and RMIT University (69%).
La Trobe University, for example, found full-time employment within six months of all nursing graduates last year, and early childhood education (94 percent) and secondary education (90 percent) were also well employed.
The University of Victoria is showing a similar trend. A spokesperson for the university said that graduates in nursing and related health fields consistently ranked high in terms of employability, and that teaching and education graduates performed equally well.
At Australian Catholic University, Professor Julie Cogin, vice-chancellor for academics, revealed that all of the university's computer technology graduates and 96% of business administration graduates in 2023 were successfully employed after completing their undergraduate degrees.
A spokesperson for RMIT University said the university has the highest employment rate for nursing graduates, followed by social work and business administration.
Swinburne University undergraduates are actively involved in internships and industry-related projects, which often lead to valuable job opportunities. "More than a third of students who completed the internship program and 20% of those who participated in the internship received a job offer," a spokesperson for the university said. We know that this real-world industry experience greatly expands students' industry network, strengthens their professional capabilities, and significantly improves their employability. ”
The situation at the University of Melbourne is slightly different. A spokesperson for the university said that due to the peculiarity of the curriculum structure, nearly half of the students will complete one of the seven undergraduate degrees before entering the workforce, and then pursue a professional graduate degree, which has affected the university's undergraduate employment statistics to a certain extent.
From the employment situation of different majors to the employment data of various universities, we can clearly see the diversified picture of the employment of Australian college graduates. Healthcare-related majors have a clear advantage in terms of employment speed, while majors such as creative arts face certain employment challenges. Different universities also have their own advantages in terms of employment outcomes, which are closely related to factors such as the professional setting and the practical opportunities that the school provides to students.
For students who are about to enter a university campus or are in the process of studying at university, these data and information are undoubtedly of great reference value.