University of Helsinki Graduates Report High Satisfaction and Low Unemployment Rates

The results of the latest University of Helsinki career monitoring survey are encouraging: most respondents are satisfied with their education from the perspective of their careers. The share of satisfied respondents is unchanged from the previous survey.

As in recent years, graduates from the faculties of medicine, law, science and veterinary medicine are the most satisfied with their degree.

Completed in late 2022, the survey targeted University of Helsinki graduates who completed a second-cycle degree, a Bachelor of Science (Pharmacy) degree or an early childhood education teacher degree in 2017 or a doctoral degree in 2019. The survey results help the University develop its education to better meet professional needs.

Two-thirds in permanent full-time employment
Out of all respondents with a second-cycle, Bachelor of Science (Pharmacy) or early childhood education teacher degree, 95% were employed five years after graduation. Just under 2% were unemployed and under 4% were outside the workforce; the latter group includes full-time students, for instance.

Fifteen per cent of the respondents had experienced breaks in employment in the five years since their graduation. Here, variation between the faculties was significant.

“Compared to the previous survey, the share of graduates who had been unemployed for under six months had slightly increased, whereas the figure for graduates who had experienced a longer period of unemployment had decreased,” says Planning Officer Miia Hankonen of the University of Helsinki’s Teaching and Learning Services.

One potential reason for the increase in short-time unemployment after graduation is that the relevant survey question changed in 2021. The coronavirus pandemic may also have played a part, as many respondents had been furloughed, particularly in spring 2020.

Of the employed respondents, 63% were in permanent full-time employment, slightly more than in the previous survey, while 13% were in fixed-term full-time employment.

The importance of knowing how to describe your skills
The graduates of 2017 who took the survey reported that the ability to describe their skills had been the most important factor for their employment. Other significant factors had included work experience, the subject combination of the degree, traineeships included in studies, and contacts and networks, but the significance of these factors varied considerably between the faculties.

“International experience, organisational work or hobbies, and social media activity have been important or highly important for the employment of some respondents, even though these factors don’t stand out at the University level,” Hankonen points out.

The respondents also described the skills they had found to be important in their work. Master’s graduates from five years ago stressed the importance of skills such as the ability to learn and assimilate new information, take initiative and tolerate stress, as well as self-direction, collaboration and problem-solving skills.

Excellent job prospects for doctoral graduates
Out of all respondents who had completed a doctoral degree in 2019, 96% were employed, 1% were unemployed and 3% were outside the workforce. Hence, the share of gainfully employed graduates in the entire workforce was very high: 99%.

Whereas the share of graduates who had been unemployed for under six months was up, the figure for graduates who had experienced a longer period of unemployment was down. A similar trend was seen among the master’s graduates, and possibly for the same reasons, namely, the change in the survey question on unemployment and the impact of the pandemic.

Universities were the key employer sector for doctoral respondents, followed by private companies and the municipal sector. Differences between faculties were significant.

Of the doctoral graduates of 2019, 88% said that they are able to use the knowledge and skills learned at university in their work and that they are satisfied with their degree in terms of their career. In addition, 85% of them stated that their current job requirements match their academic qualifications.

As in previous career monitoring surveys, doctoral graduates felt that a second-cycle degree and the ability to describe one’s skills are key for employment. They also stressed the importance of their doctoral degree, work experience and networks.

The skills considered necessary in the workplace varied widely from faculty to faculty. However, all respondents underlined the importance of learning, problem-solving and self-management skills as well as the ability to think analytically and systematically.