Survey produced for the AAGE by: High Fliers Research Ltd King s Gate, 1 Bravingtons Walk, London, N1 9AE, UK T: +44 20 7428 9000 F: +44 20 7428 9111 E: enquiries@highfliers.co.uk Australian Association of Graduate Employers Ltd. T: +61 3 9893 0188 F: +61 3 9893 0188 E: info@aage.com.au W: www.aage.com.au Photographs by Rex Features & DesignWise All information contained in this report is believed to be correct and unbiased, but the publisher does not accept responsibility for any loss arising from decisions made upon this information. High Fliers Research Limited and the Australian Association of Graduate Employers 2007. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher.
Contents Executive Summary 5 1. Introduction 7 Survey Methodology Participating Employers 2. Graduate Vacancies 11 Profiling Graduate Vacancies in 2008 Changes in Graduate Vacancies in 2008 Shortfalls in Graduate Recruitment and Pre-graduate Recruitment Vacancies by size of organisation and outlook for 2009 3. Graduate Starting Salaries 21 Profiling Graduate Salaries in 2008 Changes in Graduate Salaries in 2008 Bonuses and Benefits Salaries by size of organisation and outlook for 2009 4. Graduate Recruitment Marketing 31 Targeting Universities and Faculties Careers Fairs and On Campus Activities Marketing Spend on Activities in 2007 5. Recruitment and Selection 43 Applications & Assessment Spending on Staff, Selection and Overheads Cost per Joiner 6. Graduate Programs and Retention 59 Graduate Programs and Retention Rates Salary Progression 7. Summary 69 Summary Tables
About the AAGE The Australian Association of Graduate Employers (AAGE) is the peak industry body representing organisations that recruit and develop Australian graduates. Our current membership list comprises over 180 organisations, including a variety of large and small employers across a wide range of industries in both the private and public sectors. The AAGE is a not-for-profit body that has been in existence since 1988. It does not receive government funding; rather its activities are entirely supported by members, by way of subscriptions, events and services provided to the graduate recruitment industry. The Association is led by a dedicated committee of volunteers who donate their spare time to help manage and sustain our member offering. All our committee volunteers have day jobs as graduate recruitment leaders at one of the AAGE s member organisations. The AAGE is therefore the only representative body in the Australian graduate recruitment market that is run by employers for employers. We believe that this structure gives the AAGE a unique ability to provide our members with valuable and relevant services. The AAGE provides a range of benefits to its members: Relationship building The AAGE provides members with regular opportunities to meet with a range of people from the graduate recruitment industry, including employers, university careers advisers and service providers. Information The AAGE provides its members with both formal and informal opportunities to learn about the industry, share information and develop their skills. Advocacy and support As a representative body, the AAGE communicates the views of its members to other stakeholders in the graduate recruitment market. The AAGE also provides its members with support and advice on industry best practice.
Executive Summary About the Survey The AAGE Employer Survey 2008 is based on research conducted for the AAGE by High Fliers Research with 180 graduate employers during August and September 2007. The survey is produced to provide AAGE employers with the very latest information on: Vacancy levels for graduates commencing work in 2008 Salary levels for new graduates starting work in 2008 Application levels and selection processes used by recruiters in 2007 Marketing spend for events and activities in 2007 Graduate Vacancies The survey shows that the number of graduate vacancies on offer from employers is rising: Graduate vacancies increased by 11.2 per cent for 2008, compared to the number of vacancies on offer in 2007. Vacancy levels have increased in 13 out of 18 industry groups and are unchanged in two others. Sixty per cent of organisations had not filled all their 2008 vacancies by the time the survey took place. Graduate Salaries The survey shows that starting salaries are increasing at healthy levels: Graduate starting salaries have increased by five per cent in 2008, when compared to the rates paid by employers in 2007. The median starting salary for 2008 is $48,000. The highest starting salaries in 2008 are for roles in investment banking, legal work and chemical engineering. Nearly half of all survey participants plan to increase their 2009 starting salaries by more than a cost of living raise. Graduate Recruitment Marketing Employers spend on graduate marketing activities has been profiled for 2007: Employers spent a median of $6,000 on their own recruitment literature and a further $5,000 on their graduate website. Organisations spent a median of $4,500 on online promotions in 2007. Recruitment advertising in directories, newspapers and journals had a median spend of $13,000. The median spend on careers fairs was $5,000 with an extra $7,500 being spent by employers on their own campus events.
Recruitment and Selection Recruiters selection techniques were reviewed alongside budgets required for staffing, application processes and recruitment overheads: Over three-fifths of organisations actively promote their vacancies to women, with half actively targeting indigenous students. The median number of full-time equivalent staff working in graduate recruitment is 1.85. Behavioural based interviews are used by 93 per cent of survey participants. The median cost per joiner in 2007 was $6,700. Graduate Programs and Retention Graduate programs were examined, along with retention rates. The median salary for recent hires was also collected: Two thirds of employers operate graduate programs that last either two or three years. Over half of survey participants only have one start date per year. A quarter of organisations provide more than 25 days training in the first year. Two-fifths of employers have retained over 90 per cent of graduates who started with them in 2006. Employers are most satisfied with their applicants analytical and IT skills.
Chapter 1 Introduction The AAGE Employer Survey 2008 High Fliers Research Limited Researching the Graduate Market Welcome to The AAGE Employer Survey 2008, the definitive study of graduate employers and their graduate recruitment activities. The The AAGE Employer Survey 2008 Survey Report Produced by High Fliers Research survey is the main source of information about graduate salaries and vacancy levels in Australia and New Zealand. It provides up-to-theminute in-sights into the latest graduate market conditions, along with benchmarking of recruitment practices. This report examines the vacancies and salaries on offer, as well as the selection and assessment processes used by recruiters. It also explores the number of graduates retained by employers, and the graduate recruitment marketing used by each organisation. The Survey is carried out on behalf of the AAGE by the specialist student and graduate research company, High Fliers Research. Survey Methodology Research for The AAGE Employer Survey 2008 took place in August and September 2007, using an online questionnaire accessed via the AAGE website. The questionnaire contained forty questions about employers graduate recruitment activities during the 2007 season, focusing on graduate vacancies and salaries, graduate recruitment marketing, graduate recruitment & selection, graduate development and retention, and challenges in the marketplace. Questions were specifically designed so that the survey results can be analysed by employers industries or business sectors, by the location of their graduate vacancies, and by the career area or business function into which their graduates are recruited. 7
Participating employers High Fliers Research contacted employers to participate in The AAGE Employer Survey 2008. The online questionnaire was live during August and September 2007. A total of 180 employers completed the questionnaire. While some organisations did not want their name displayed, the majority of participating employers are listed in Table 1.1. Table 1.1 Participating employers ABB Australia Pty Ltd Accenture Alphapharm Pty Ltd ANZ Aristocrat Technologies Arup Pty Ltd Attorney-General s Department Auditor-General s Department - SA Australia Post Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID) Australian Bureau of Statistics Australian Capital Territory Government Australian Crime Commission Australian Federal Police Australian Fisheries Management Authority (AFMA) Australian Government Treasury Australian National Audit Office Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) Australian Public Service (APS) Commission Australian Taxation Office AXA Australia BAE Systems Australia Bain Gasteen Baker & McKenzie Bank SA Baulderstone Hornibrook Beca Pty Ltd Bechtel - Mining & Metals BHP Billiton Blake Dawson Waldron BlueScope Steel Limited BOC Ltd Boeing Boyce Chartered Accountants BP Australia Brickworks Limited British American Tobacco Australia Ltd Built Environs Cadbury Schweppes Pty Ltd Chevron Australia Pty Ltd Clough Projects Pty Ltd Coles Group Commonwealth Bank of Australia Computer Sciences Corporation Computershare ComSuper Crane Group Ltd Deacons Defence Science & Technology Organisation Deloitte Department of Agriculture and Food WA Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry Department of Defence Dept. of Families, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs Department of Health and Ageing Department of Immigration and Citizenship Department of Industry and Resources (WA) Department of Industry Tourism & Resources Department of Main Roads WA Department of Primary Industries Dept. of State and Regional Development (NSW) Department of the Attorney General (WA) Dept. of the Environment and Water Resources Department of the Premier and Cabinet (WA) Department of The Prime Minister and Cabinet Department of Veterans Affairs Deutsche Bank Ergon Energy Ernst & Young Services ETSA Utilities Ferrier Hodgson Fonterra Co-operative Group Limited Ford Motor Company of Australia Ltd Freehills Fuji Xerox Australia General Electric Company Australia (GE) George Weston Foods Golder Associates Pty Ltd Goldman Sachs JBWere Google Grant Thornton Hatch Associates Pty Ltd IBM Iluka Resources 8
Table 1.1 (continued) Participating employers Insurance Australia Group (IAG) John Deere Limited Kellogg Brown & Root Pty Ltd (KBR) Konekt Laing O Rourke Lander & Rogers LEK Consulting Pty Ltd Lion Nathan Limited Logan City Council L Oreal Macmahon Contractors Pty Ltd Macquarie Bank Limited Main Roads Queensland Mallesons Stephen Jaques MasterFoods Australia & New Zealand McCullough Robertson McGrathNicol Medicare Australia Melbourne Water MGI Boyd Middletons Lawyers Minara Resources Monadelphous Engineering Associates Pty Ltd Moore Stephens MWH Global National Archives of Australia National Australia Bank Ltd National Foods Newcrest Mining Limited Nexia ASR Nexia Court & Co Chartered Accountants Novozymes GroPep OneHarvest Optiver Derivatives Trading Orica Australia Ltd Pacifica Chartered Accountants PaperlinX Limited Perks Pitcher Partners PricewaterhouseCoopers Services Pty Ltd Procter & Gamble Protiviti Public Transport Authority of Western Australia Qantas Airways Ltd QBE Management Services Qenos Pty Ltd Queensland Audit Office Queensland Purchasing Queensland Transport Queensland Treasury RAC WA - Royal Automobile Club WA Reserve Bank of Australia Roads & Traffic Authority NSW Roche Products SA Water Corporation SARDI Schlumberger Oilfield Australia Pty Ltd Sensis Seymour Whyte Shell Company of Australia Ltd Statistics New Zealand Suncorp SunWater Sydney South West Area Health Service (SSWAHS) Technip Oceania Pty Ltd Telecom New Zealand Ltd Telstra Corporation Limited Thiess Tonkin Consulting Transfield Services (Australia) Pty Ltd TransGrid Unilever Australasia United Group Limited Verve Energy VicRoads Victoria Legal Aid Victorian State Government Victorian Workcover Authority Water Corporation Westfield Westpac Banking Corporation WHK Horwath Pty Ltd William Buck (NSW) Pty Ltd Wimmera Mallee Water Woodside Energy Ltd World Vision Australia
Size of organisation The AAGE Employer Survey 2008 participants vary widely in terms of size of organisation. Just over one fifth have more than 5,000 staff in Australia and New Zealand, while similar numbers have less than 500 people on their payroll (see Chart 1.2). This wide variety in employer size helps ensure results within the survey come from as wide a variety of employers as possible. Where possible, these results are analysed in further detail to look at type of industry, type of role and geographical location of the organisation. Chart 1.2 Size of organisation in Australia and New Zealand More than 5,000 staff 21% 1,001-5,000 staff 37% 501-1,000 staff 20% 500 or less staff 22% Source - High Fliers Research 0 10 20 30 40 50 Percentage of graduate employers 10