What do Hong Kong graduates want?

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According to, the must know student recruiting trends for 2018 report by WCN and Universum working for an international company or organisation remains the top priority for more than two thirds (67%) of Hong Kong students and more than half (54%) of Singapore's students after they graduate. A deviation from the international report where every country profiled, having a work/life balance and offering security/stability in jobs were ranked as the top two career goals for business students.

Competition for talent is stronger than ever and according to the report, across the applications reviewed for high-volume recruiters,  an average of 50,000 students apply for graduate/campus programs (which have several different positions available across businesses rather than just management traineeships). Of those applying, only approximately 2% make the offers stage, whereas an average of 70% of candidates find themselves screened out from the start.

Despite the high volume of applications hiring for graduate programmes and internships remains particularly difficult in APAC which is home to more than half (55%) of the world's graduate population, yet the region still struggles to recruit top talent. In fact, according to the study, Japan, Taiwan and Hong Kong are three of the top four countries suffering from the worst talent shortage worldwide.

Working in a friendly work environment was the top attraction preference for students in APAC but was much lower in the UK and US where high future earnings (UK) and leaders who will support personal development (US) were most important. Professional training and development appeared in the top 5 for all regions.

In Hong Kong, in general, salary expectations among students declined across all main fields of study, with the exception of business students who expected a range that is relatively similar to 2017. Moreover, the study found that Since 2009, the achievement of work/life balance has been ranked as the number one career goal among Hong Kong students. In fact, itis the number one career goal among students in every single main field of study.

Universally across all regions, students selected social media as the most used and most effective communication channel and Facebook as the best of these websites. Employer websites and career fairs were second and third in every study respectively.

Infographics/supplied

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