Zhang Qian

    zhqcindy@163.com

    A RECENT survey showed that graduates from Shenzhen University (SZU) in 2016 were earning an average monthly income of 4,977 yuan (US$419.47), over 1,000 yuan more than in 2014, and a record high for SZU graduates.

    The Career Development Center of Shenzhen University released a survey about new graduates’ employment status in December last year. A total of 5,931 graduates, except overseas students from other countries, Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan areas, obtained graduate certificates in July 2016.

    Based on data collected by the center, the average monthly income of the employed graduates was 4,977 yuan. The figures for 2014 and 2015 were 3,860 and 4,567 yuan, suggesting that SZU graduates have been earning more in recent years.

    In particular, as much as 89.45 percent of SZU graduates chose to work in Shenzhen after graduating. The employed graduates now working in Shenzhen earn 5,014 yuan per month, slightly more than the average income of all graduates.

    So, which majors reported having an easier time finding employment, and how much were they earning at their first job? The survey disclosed that students who majored in education were the most employed, and graduates from the School of Foreign Languages earned the most on average after graduation.

    The rate of employment that was provided by the survey, which excluded those who chose to further their education with master’s degrees in China or programs abroad, suggested that graduates from the Normal College topped all students as of Aug. 31, nearly two months after graduation, with an employment rate of 98.23 percent.

    Graduates from the College of Architecture and Urban Planning and the College of Economics followed in the ranking with employment rates of 96.84 and 96.33 percent respectively.

    However, statistics also showed that the architecture and urban planning college had the most graduates working in the field of their major.

    Although graduates from the School of Foreign Languages did not rank at the top in terms of employment rate after graduation, their average monthly income was recorded as the highest at 6,195 yuan, a narrow margin over their counterparts who were seeking teaching jobs at the Normal College.