Job search, expectations and preferences of accountancy and business undergraduates

Abstract

The objective of this report is three-fold. It determines and compares the job search behaviour, job expectations and preferences of the Accountancy and Business final year students in NTU. It seeks to examine whether these behaviour, expectations and preferences match what the job market has to offer. Data related to the undergraduates were gathered by distributing questionnaires to 120 Accountancy and 110 Business final year students. The areas of emphasis were job search behaviour, such as, length of expected job search period, media relied on, as well as job expectations and preferences, for instance, expected starting salary, preference for public or private sector. Data with reference to the job market were collected through attending the career talks held in NTU, interviewing the company representatives from these talks and analyzing the job advertisements in the local newspapers from the months of August to November. Furthermore, interviews with graduates from Business (NTU) were conducted to supplement the information gathered (from the Graduate Employment Surveys) about the graduates from Business Administration (NUS). The analysis of findings revealed that the Accountancy and Business undergraduates exhibit different job search behaviour but share common job expectations and preferences. The results also showed that both groups of undergraduates are realistic when it comes to searching for jobs as well as their expectations and preferences with reference to their first jobs. They are actually very well-informed about the job market.