Careers statistics

Owned by Sam Motion (Unlicensed)
Last updated: Aug 31, 2015
2 min read

REVIEW

Availability of information about graduates/alumni

As far as we can tell, University, as a whole, collects very little information about graduates' careers. 

The Careers team do an annual Graduate Destination Survey, which has a generally low response rate. The only information from the survey we can access is the the job titles and general industry/workplace type that responding students reported they were working in. These jobs represent students' first jobs or early careers. 

It's possible that some sections of the University attempt to collect more information about where their alumni end up, but we haven't heard of any yet and likely won't until we go and talk to people in schools. 

This means we're unable to provide statistics about things like:  

  • how quickly Victoria students find employment
  • how much Victoria students make
  • how many Victoria students work overseas and where they work.

Some more general facts we might be able to get from the Faculties and Schools, e.g.: cool places students went on to work (Weta! Google!), students who have ended up in notable roles (Prime Minister! Governor General! CEO! Nobel prize winner!) 

External data sources

In the absence of good internal data, we turn to data not created or managed by Victoria. We are using this on careers pages in a loosely structured way - there will be no 'typical' metrics we turn to (eg. expected salary) and the statistics we use will be the best we can find. 

 

Some external data is good and some is based on low response rate surveys that may paint a misleading picture that comes back to bite us. 

We need to be careful about the sources we use and how we represent the information. 

While Careers New Zealand is generally an excellent source, it's difficult to get to the original source of a lot their data. Salary information, for example, tends to come from professional societies and associations, many of whom don't publish their findings anywhere else, or describe their research methods. Some do: for example, the Law Society, which puts out an annual report on legal salaries based on a survey with a high response rate. 

Usually, the original source link should be made available to the reader. This is as much about crediting sources as it is about protecting the university from appearing to be the source of information that turns out to be bad.

 

Low risk: historical, established facts and figures. These are easy to update and unlikely to go stale, though they may lack impact. 

Medium risk: recent past or current situation facts and figures. These should be carefully sourced to enable easy updating. Should be able to remain relevant for a year.

High risk: predictive, future facts and figures. Take care not to misrepresent or overstate. Should be carefully sourced to enable easy updating. 

Good statistics are: 

  • recent
  • relevant 
  • impressive (this is marketing, after all)
  • sourced at the origin (i.e.: don't source other
  • able to be updated, or won't go stale (eg, historical facts)

Good facts: 

  • are relevant
  • are impressive
  • can be sourced at the origin or in multiple reputable places
  • able to be updated easily, or won't go stale
  • fun!