Good chance of great employment for UA grads

Students graduating from the University of Auckland are highly likely to be employed and even to change the world.

The recently released 2020 QS Graduate Employability Rankings place the University of Auckland 59th in the world. This puts it at the top of New Zealand and in the top five Oceania universities.

The ranking system, which has been operating for four years (last year Auckland was rated 71st) considers a number of factors, moderated and weighted to ensure relevant rankings across the international sector. The indicators recognise factors associated with students’ preparation for and successful transition to, the world of work.

The categories include: Employer Reputation –employers identify the institutions where they expect the most competent, innovative, and effective graduates to come from; Alumni Outcomes - the careers of alumni are analysed to see which universities are producing world-changing graduates; Partnerships with Employers determines which universities collaborate successfully with global companies to produce transformative research and which are engaging in work-placement related partnerships; and Employer - Student Connections – the number of employers who are actively present on a university’s campus.

The final category, and the one where the University of Auckland performed particularly well, is the Graduate Employment Rate (30th in the world ), looking at the proportion of graduates seeking work who are employed within 12 months of graduation.

University of Auckland Vice-Chancellor, Professor Stuart McCutcheon, said that getting a good job after completing a degree is an important consideration for many students (and their families), and it was the University’s aspiration to graduate people ready to contribute to the world.

“As a research-led university we are constantly looking at how our academic work contributes to the big global issues, as well as those closer to home.”

“We know that our graduates and alumni can and do play significant roles locally, nationally and internationally which this QS ranking endorses. Our high raking in Alumni Outcomes (No 5 in Oceania and No. 59 in the world) highlights the impact – and the opportunities - that our graduates have.”

The University of Auckland was ranked in the top 200 universities in the recent Times Higher Education rankings. Earlier this year, it was rated first in the inaugural THE Sustainability Ranking, where universities across the world were evaluated against the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals.

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