First destination-survey-class-of-2010

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FirstDestinationSurvey

Class of 2010

Central European UniversityAlumni Relations and Career Services, 2011

CEU ARCS, 2011 - First Destination Survey – Class of 20102

First Destination Survey – Class of 2010

Launched for the first time in 2007 by the Alumni Relations and Career Services team, the FirstDestination Survey is part of our commitment to assessing our students’ career path after graduationand their overall satisfaction with our services. We are offering CEU fresh graduates the chance to tellus about their career and academic activities, and share personal perspectives. The survey isdistributed to fresh graduates of no less than six months after graduation in order to give them sometime to start establishing themselves in the professional world and pursue their goals.

The community benefits from this surveu in a number of ways:

- existing students get a glimpse of “life after CEU”: the challenges and the prospects- prospective students get a clear perspective of the value of a year or more spent at CEU- the Alumni Relations and Career Services Team receives quantifiable feedback in order to

further develop and improve our services to satisfy the real needs of the community- potential employers are accurately targeted so that we may effectively promote talented CEU

candidates on the job market

The data is based on an analysis of the responses to the First Destination Survey – Class of 2010 collected by a web-basedsurvey in December 2010. The report is intended as a short summary of the most interesting results from the online survey. Itwas created for the internal use of CEU members.For further information, please contact the Career Services Office at [email protected].

mailto:[email protected]


Table of contents

INTRODUCTION ____________________________________________________________ 4

Comparative Table of Current Status by Department ___________________________ 5

EMPLOYMENT ____________________________________________________________ 6

Comparative Table of Employment Sector by Department ________________________ 7

Sample List of Fresh Graduates’ Employers __________________________________ 8

CEU’s Reputation on the Job Market _________________________________________ 9

Job Search Resources ___________________________________________________ 9

Reported Duration of Job Search after CEU____________________________________ 10

Salaries, Benefits and Motivation Factors __________________________________ 11

CONTINUING STUDIES _______________________________________________________ 13

Where Do Fresh Grads Continue Their Studies after CEU?_ ______________________ 13

CEU’s Reputation in Academia ______________________________________________13

Study Opportunity Search Resources _________________________________________13

CAREER SERVICES SATISFACTION EVALUATION _________________________________ 14

Use/Awareness/Satisfaction with CEU Career Services __________________________ 14-15


CTIONThis academic year, 186 respondents (almost 50% of the target group) in 2010 took an online survey to tell usfacts about “life after CEU.” They came from various departments:

Current status Responses Response Count

Employed /engaged in a work agreement 59.1% 110Seeking employment or further study opportunities 19.9% 37Continuing Studies 17.7% 33In-between jobs 2.2% 4Voluntary time off 1.1% 2

In addition to updates on theircontact information, we received:updates on their status ofemployment or study 6 monthsafter graduation; information onthe sectors they are working orstudying in; the job searchresources they have used/areusing to find employment; theinformation and/or job searchtools they used at CEU; valuablefeedback to help us improve ourservices.

2

3

5

6

12

14

17

19

20

23

26

27

12

Philosophy

Mathematics and its Applications

Medieval Studies

Nationalism Studies

Gender Studies

Sociology and Social Anthropology

History

Public Policy

Political Science

Environmental Sciences and Policy

Economics

International Relations and European Studies

Legal Studies

1.1%

2.2%

17.7%

59.1%

19.9%

Voluntary time off

In-between jobs

Continuing Studies

Seeking employment or educationalopportunities

Employed /engaged in a workagreement


Comparative Table of Current Status by CEU Department

17% 15%0%

43%

19%

0%

33%

60%

100%

16%6%

33%17%

70%65%

50%

29%

50%78%

67%0%

0%

63%65%

67%

67%

0%0%

0%

0% 4%4%

0%

0%

0%

5%6%

0%

0%

13% 20%

42%

29% 27%19%

0%

40%

0%16% 23%

0%

0%

0% 0%8%

0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0%17%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

ECON ENVS GENS HIST IRES LEGS MATH MEDS PHIL POL DPP SOC NATI

Continuing studies Employed

In-between jobs Seeking employment or education

Voluntary time-off

Current Status

Department Continuingstudies

Employed In-betweenjobs

Seekingemploymentor education

Voluntarytime-off

Department of Economics 4 (17%) 16 (70%) 0 3 (13%) 0Department of EnvironmentalSciences and Policy

3 (15%) 13 (65%) 0 4 (20%) 0

Department of Gender Studies 0 6 (50%) 0 5 (42%) 1 (8%)Department of History 6 (43%) 4 (29%) 0 4 (29%) 0Department of InternationalRelations and EuropeanStudies

5 (19%) 13 (50%) 1 (4%) 7 (27%) 0

Department of Legal Studies 0 21 (78%) 1 (4%) 5 (19%) 0Department of Mathematicsand its Applications

1 (33%) 2 (67%) 0 0 0

Department of MedievalStudies

3 (60%) 0 0 2 (40%) 0

Department of Philosophy 2 (100%) 0 0 0 0Department of PoliticalScience

3 (16%) 12 (63%) 1 (5%) 3 (16%) 0

Department of Public Policy 1 (6%) 11 (65%) 1 (6%) 4 (23%) 0Department of Sociology andSocial Anthropology

4 (33%) 8 (67%) 0 0 0

Nationalism Studies Program 1 (17%) 4 (67%) 0 0 1 (17%)


EMPLOYMENT

Primary employment status Responses Response Count

Employed on a pay-roll 79.5% 89Intern/Trainee Program Participant 15.1% 17Self-employed, freelance 4.5% 5Other 0.9% 1

From those who reported that they are currently engaged in professional and/or volunteering activities, a total of79.5% are regular employees, 15.1% participate in internship or trainee programs, 4.5% are self-employed.Compared to last year, the number of fresh graduates participating in internship/trainee programs have increased,while the number of regularly employed fresh alumni has decreased.

Area of Employment Responses Response Count

Private Sector: Business 30.4% 34Non-profit: Education and/or Research Institution 23.2% 26Non-profit: International Organization 17% 19Public Sector: Government / Diplomatic Service 16.1% 18Non-profit: Public Interest and Advocacy Groups 13.4% 15

This year, the Education and/or Research area is engaging 23.2% of the respondents, the Private BusinessSector is once again the most popular area of professional involvement for fresh graduates, with 30.4% ofrespondents reporting employment in that sector. While more respondents reported Government / DiplomaticService and Public Interest and Advocacy Groups as their area of employment, the ratio of fresh graduatesworking in International Organizations has decreased since last year.

When asked to detail the field that best describes their employer, 18% of respondents indicated that they work inLegal/Law/Human Rights, 10.8% in the Public Administration/Government sector. CEU graduates with 9-9%work equally in Environment, Banking/Finance/Economics/Mathematics and Business/StrategicManagement/Consulting, 8.1% in the field of Diplomacy/International Relations and 5.4% in the area ofSocial Sciences. The fields of Science and Humanities employ 2.7 - 2.7 % of fresh graduates, followed byMass Media, Food Services/Hospitality, Human Resource and Training/Instruction by 1.8 -1.8%. Areassuch as Oil & Energy, Art/Culture, Sales/Business Development, Marketing/Advertising,Building/Architecture/Engineering, IT/Software Development were also selected as employment fields by 0.9– 0,9% of fresh graduates.

13.4%

16.1%

17%

23.2%

30.4%

Non-profit: Public Interest and AdvocacyGroups

Public Sector: Government / DiplomaticService

Non-profit: International Organization

Non-profit: Education and/or ResearchInstitution

Private Sector: Business


Comparative Table of Employment Sector by CEU Department (only among employed respondents)

Current Status

DepartmentNon-Profit:

Education orResearch

Organization

Non-Profit:InternationalOrganization

Non-Profit:Public

Interest orAdvocacy

Group

PrivateSector:

Business

Public Sector:Government/Diplomatic

Services

Department ofEconomics

1 (6%) 1 (6%) 0 12 (75%) 2 (13%)

Department ofEnvironmentalSciences and Policy

7 (54%) 2 (15%) 1 (8%) 2 (15%) 1 (8%)

Department ofGender Studies

3 (50%) 0 0 2 (33%) 1 (17%)

Department ofHistory

1 (25%) 1 (25%) 0 2 (50%) 0

Department ofInternationalRelations andEuropean Studies

2 (14%) 4 (29%) 1 (7%) 4 (29%) 3 (21%)

Department ofLegal Studies

3 (14%) 5 (23%) 4 (18%) 6 (27%) 4 (18%)

Department ofMathematics and itsApplications

1 (50%) 0 0 1 (50%) 0

Department ofPolitical Science

2 (17%) 3 (25%) 4 (33%) 2 (17%) 1 (8%)

Department ofPublic Policy

3 (25%) 1 (8%) 3 (25%) 1 (8%) 4 (33%)

Department ofSociology andSocialAnthropology

3 (43%) 1 (14%) 0 2 (29%) 1 (14%)

Nationalism StudiesProgram

0 1 (25%) 2 (50%) 0 1 (25%)

6%

54% 50%25% 14% 14%

50%

17% 25%43%

0%6%

15%0%

25%29% 23%

0%

25% 8%

14%

25%0%

8%

0% 0% 7% 18% 0%33%

25%0%

50%75%

15%

33%50%

29% 27%50%

17%

8%29% 0%

13% 8% 17%0%

21% 18%0% 8%

33%14% 25%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

ECON ENVS GENS HIST IRES LEGS MATH POL DPP SOC NATI

Non-Profit: Education or Research Organization

Non-Profit: International Organization

Non-Profit: Public Interest or Advocacy Group

Private Sector: Business

Public Sector: Government/Diplomatic Services


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A.T. Kearney Hungary ConsultantBaltic Environmental Forum Lithuania Lithuania Environmental

Communication ExpertCanadian Urban Institute/CIDA Canada Economic Development

OfficerCARE International Sri Lanka Consultant-MonitoringCentral European Management Intelligence Hungary Business AnalystCitibank International Poland AML AnalystCivil Service College Bangladesh Assistant ProfessorDeloitte & Touche Azerbaijan Audit AssistantEU Special Representative in Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina InternEuropean Commission Belgium TraineeEuropean Investment Bank Luxembourg TraineeEuropean Roma Rights Centre Hungary InternFinalyse Budapest Hungary ConsultantGlobal Environmental Institute China Program OfficerGovernment of Kosovo, Ministry of EuropeanIntegration

Kosovo Senior Donor CoordinationOfficer

Helmhotz Centre for Environmental Research Germany Research AssistantHuman Rights and Conflicts Research Institute Armenia Project ManagerHungarian Competition Authority Hungary Regulatory Analyst /

EconomistIBM Global Financing Hungary Business Support Operation

SpecialistMental Disability Advocacy Center Hungary Policy and Advocacy OfficerMSCI Inc. Hungary (USA) AnalystNational Economic and Social Rights Initiative United States Communications

Associate/ConsultantNATO HQ SACT USA InternOECD France ConsultantOmbudsman on the Rights of the Child in Novgorodregion

Russia Assistant of the Ombudsman

Open Society Justice Initiatives Hungary SupervisorOrange Moldova Moldova Credit Risk AnalystOSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina Rule of Law MonitorProcter & Gamble Romania Initiative and Supply

Manager BalkansSt. Mary's University College Ethiopia LecturerState Securities Committee Azerbaijan AnalystStockholm Environment Institute Thailand Research AssistantThe Centre for Legal Empowerment Kenya Program CoordinatorThe Global Mechanism of the UNCCD Italy Regional Resource

Mobilization Expert forCentral Asia

The Regional Environmental Center Hungary TraineeUnited Nations Development Program Croatia Intern, Socio-Economic

Recovery of Lika andDalmatian Hinterland

United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Hungary ContractorUnited Nations Population Fund Malawi Program OfficerVUB Asset Management Slovak Republic Lawyer SpecialistWood and Company Czech Republic Quantitative Strategies

Researcher


CEU’s Reputation on the Job Market

Are you employed in an area specific to thequalification/s you received from CEU?

Responses Response Count

Yes 76.4% 84No 23.6% 26

Has your qualification from CEU been viewedfavorably by your employer?


Yes 80.4% 90No 0.9% 1Not sure 18.8% 21

The majority of fresh graduates are employed in professional areas related to their CEU degree and at the sametime their CEU qualifications made significantly positive influence on employers. Job search sources

Job Search Resources

Primary source of information which led to currentemployment


Personal online research 27.7% 31Networking with friends/family 25.9% 29Former employment/after completing internship 13.4% 15CEU Career Services Office and CEU alumni 10.8% 12Networking with faculty/department 2.7% 3Recruitment agency 1.8% 2Other 17.9% 20

The most effective ways to search for jobs and information are online research and networking withfriends/family, which together succeeded in more than 50% of the cases, whereas 13.4% of respondents eitherreceived full-time job offers after the successful completion of their internships or returned to their formeremployer.

It’s very important to mention that this year 3 times more fresh graduates (10.8%, compared to last year)found their current jobs with the help of the CEU Career Services Office and CEU alumni.

1.8%

2.7%

10.8%

13.4%

17.9%

25.9%

27.7%

Recruitment agency

Networking withfaculty/department

CEU Career ServicesOffice and CEU alumni

Former employment

Other

Networking withfriends/family

Personal online research


Reported Duration of Job Search after CEU

Estimated number of months spent searching for a jobbefore accepting an offer


Employed already prior to graduation 29.1% 323 - 4 months 23.6% 26Less than 1 month 18.2% 201 - 2 months 16.4% 18More than 4 months 12.7% 14

Number of resumes/applications sent before beingoffered a job


Less than 5 43.4% 46More than 15 34.9% 375-10 15.1% 1611-15 6.6% 7

Number of job interviews with different organizationsbefore accepting the present job offer


Less than 3 67.9% 763-7 29.5% 338-15 1.8% 2More than 15 0.9% 1

We are pleased to note that almost 64% ofrespondents were employed either prior tograduation or within less than 2 months aftergraduation. Only 12.7% of respondents neededmore than 4 months in order to secure aposition.

Half of the respondents accepted a job offerafter sending out a maximum of 5 CVs andhaving had fewer than 3 job interviews.

Note: According to the European Student Barometer 2010, an annual survey covering 24 European countriesand incorporating more than 220,000 responses, the students of Hungarian universities expect to submit anaverage of 28.9 applications before securing a job after graduation. When asked about the “expected timeframeof application process in months,” responses by Hungarian students varied between 4 to 7 months. Comparingthe data collected from the CEU First Destination Surveys (2008-10) with the data from other Hungarianinstitutions or from other European countries, the results are very favorable to CEU graduates in regards to theduration of their job search after graduation.

Out of all the respondents…

29,1% were already employed by the graduation

43,4% sent less than 5 resumes before securing a job

67,9% needed less than 3 job interviews before securingtheir job


Salaries, Benefits and Motivation Factors

Initial gross monthly salary range for this job(including benefits)


Up to €600 27.4% 29€601-€1000 32.1% 34€1001-€1500 20.8% 22€1501-€2000 9.4% 10€2001-€2500 5.7% 6€2501-€3500 1.9% 2I am not paid 2.8% 3

The largest group of fresh graduates (more than 50%) reported earnings of up to €1000 per month. Despite thediversity of countries and sectors they are involved in, the initial gross monthly salary of more than 35% of therespondents is between €1000 - €2500 and the monthly income of 1.9 % of respondents is more than €2500.

Information on salaries and benefits in this survey was collected for reference purposes only. CEU graduates areemployed in a wide variety of countries, sectors and practices, which abide by different financial standards.Therefore, based on the survey, we have compiled 2 comparative tables, organized by CEU departments anddifferent employment sectors.

Gross Monthly Salary Range of Respondents by CEU Department

Salary RangeDepartments No

dataLessthan€600

€601 -1000

€1001-1500

€1501- 2000

€2001- 2500

€2501- 3500

Notpaid

Department of Economics 8 5 3 5 1 1 0 0Department ofEnvironmental Sciencesand Policy

7 2 7 1 3 0 0 0

Department of GenderStudies

7 2 1 1 3 0 0 0

Department of History 10 0 1 2 0 1 0 0Department ofInternational Relations andEuropean Studies

12 4 8 1 0 0 0 1

Department of LegalStudies

9 5 4 6 3 0 0 0

Department ofMathematics and itsApplications

1 0 1 0 1 0 0 0

Department of MedievalStudies

6 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Department of Philosophy 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0Department of PoliticalScience

7 5 4 1 0 2 0 0

Department of PublicPolicy

5 5 2 2 1 0 2 0

Department of Sociologyand Social Anthropology

5 1 2 3 0 0 0 1

Nationalism StudiesProgram

2 0 1 1 0 1 0 1


Gross Monthly Salary Range of Respondents in Different Employment Sectors

Salary RangeSectors No

dataLessthan€600

€601 -1000

€1001-1500

€1501- 2000

€2001- 2500

€2501- 3500

Notpaid

Non-Profit: Education orResearch Organization

2 6 13 2 3 0 0 0

Non-Profit: InternationalOrganization

2 3 5 3 2 1 1 2

Non-Profit: Public Interestor Advocacy Group

1 3 1 4 2 3 0 1

Private Sector: Business 1 9 9 11 3 1 0 0Public Sector:Government/DiplomaticServices

0 8 6 2 0 1 1 0

In addition to the above factors, other reasons on which respondents reported to have based their currentemployment choice include:

“For professional experience”“I work in a small law firm which enables me to undergo the mandatory training program for junior lawyers” “Networking and research opportunities”“Commitment to the issues”“Flexibility and personal interest”“I was working at this organization before CEU”

In some cases, the respondents’ current employment was the only available opportunity at the time of jobsearching:

“Economic crisis, unfortunately”“Opportunity, no other job openings”

Factors influencing the job choice (multiple choicequestion)


Opportunity for advancement 68.5% 76Location 39.6% 44Salary offered 26.1% 29Job security 18.9% 21

Other 18.9% 21Training program 16.2% 18


CONTINUING STUDIES

Study program pursued after graduating from CEU Responses Response Count

PhD 83.9% 26Another Master 16.1% 5

31 respondents (17.7% of the total number of survey respondents) are continuing their studies at differentinstitutions around the world with another master or doctoral degree:

- College of Europe (Belgium)- Eötvös Loránd University (Hungary)- Fordham University (USA)- Hebrew University of Jerusalem (Israel)- Humboldt University of Berlin (Germany)- Kyiv-Mohyla Academy (Ukrain)- Leiden University (Netherlands)- Old Dominion University (USA)- Princeton University (USA)- St. Petersburg Institute of History of the Russian Academy of Sciences(Russia)- University of Barcelona (Barcelona)- University of California, Berkeley (USA)

In terms of academic orientation, 45.2% of respondents reported to be continuing their studies in the Humanities;38.7% in the Social Sciences; followed by 16.1% in various other academic fields (e.g. Mathematics,Biology/Biomedical Sciences, Agriculture or Environmental Sciences).

CEU’s Reputation in Academia

How well did CEU prepare you for your subsequentstudies? / By comparison with your classmates, howwell-prepared did you feel for your current studies?


Very well-prepared 83.3% 25Average 16.7% 5Not prepared none none

Study Opportunity Search Resources

How did you discover your current place ofstudy/academic research?


I formerly attended this institution 41.9% 13My own research 22.6% 7Information from CEU alumni 12.9% 4Other source 9.7% 3Information published in the CEU Career Shared Folders 6.5% 2Information from my academic supervisor at CEU 3.2% 1Information from other CEU faculty members 3.2% 1

In almost half of the cases, fresh graduates pursued further studies at institutions they had formerly attended.This number includes those respondents who continued their studies at CEU. Private research has led 22.6% ofthe respondents to discover further study opportunities beyond CEU. In 19.4 % of the cases, the informationwas found via CEU Career Services announcements or from alumni. This figure shows that the number ofgraduates who have found new academic prospects with the help of the CEU Career Services Office andalumni has tripled since last year. This ratio coincides with that of graduates who have found a job using CEUCareer Services and the alumni network. We are pleased to reflect the continuous improvement of our Alumniand Career Services with these figures. An effective study search alternative for fresh graduates was networkingwith CEU faculty members and academic supervisors.

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CAREER SERVICES SATISFACTION EVALUATION

Awareness of CEU Career Services I was aware of thisservice

I was notaware of this

service

ResponseCount

CEU Career Fair 164 (95%) 8 172Workshops organized by Career Services Office 142 (83%) 29 171Employer presentations on campus 139 (82.7%) 29 168Career Shared Folders with job announcements 135 (77%) 39 174Submitted resume for the CEU Resume Book 130 (76%) 41 171Career Services website 122 (71%) 48 170Individual consultation with CEU career advisor 116 (68%) 54 170Other events and/or workshops, advertised byCEU Career Services Office 113 (66.4%) 57 170CV Clinic 100 (59%) 69 169Current opportunities (online job/internship board) 101 (58%) 72 173Alumni speaker events/ Alumni Career MentoringScheme 83 (49%) 86 169

According to the CEU Career Services usage and awareness statistics, 95% of the 2010 graduating class wasaware of the CEU Career Fair. However, the Career Shared Folders service still got the first place in popularityamong students searching for jobs via CEU Career Services. The Career Services Website, EmployerPresentations, Workshops, Individual Consultations and the CEU Resume Book also ranked among themost popular career services.

This year, 39.2% of respondents submitted a resume for the CEU Resume Book and 10% of them were directlycontacted by employers, who had found their profiles in the book. This figure is growing from year to year and theCEU Career Services office is continuously improving the promotion of CEU student profiles on the internationaljob market.

Respondents reported a few different reasons why they did not take full advantage of CEU Career Services whilethey were students:

“Lack of time; I was focused on my studies”“Did not need the service because I was already employed/ I wanted to continue my studies (PhD)”“I was not aware of this service/program”

What types of career services did you use while atCEU?


Career Shared Folders with job announcements 61.4% 108CEU Career Fair 54% 95Submitted resume for the CEU Resume Book 39.2% 69Current opportunities (online job/internship board) 35.2% 62CEU Career Services website 34.1% 60Employer presentations on campus 24.4% 43Individual consultation with a CEU career advisor 22.7% 40Workshops organized by the CEU Career Services Office 21/% 37CV Clinic 16.5% 29Other events and/or workshops advertised by the CEUCareer Services Office 11.4% 20Alumni related CEU careers services 4.5% 8Other (besides the above) 4% 7


6.30%

24.40%

26.70%

29.00%

78.40%

Community Pages(Facebook,Linkedin)

Notice Boardsaround campus

Career SharedFolders

Career ServicesWebsite

Novell Groupwisee-mails

How CEU graduates got informedabout CEU Career Services(multiply choice)

E-mail announcements via CEU’s NovellGroupWise service continue to be themost efficient way of communicating withand informing students about CEU CareerServices and events. However, the CareerServices Website, Shared Folders and on-campus notice boards were also reporteduseful by more than 25-25% ofrespondents.

How well did the Alumni Relations and CareerServices team meet your career needs as a student atCEU?


Exceeded my needs 3.7% 6Met most of my needs 25.8% 42Met some of my needs 56.4% 92Did not meet my needs 14.1% 23

Feedback and suggestions

At the end of the 2010 First Destination Survey, we invited respondents to give “a piece of advice” on how theCEU Alumni Relations and Career Services team can improve services for students, alumni and employers. Wereceived 81 constructive comments, which we have made our priorities in the further development of career-oriented services for students and alumni at CEU.

We would like to thank all survey participants who shared their information and feedback and made this reportpossible. We wish you all the best in your personal and professional endeavors after CEU!