580 people participated in the survey, of which 44% were students and 56% graduates. The ratio of males to females was 41%:59%, respectively, and the average age of the respondents was 28.
Outlook
In the past three years respondents for the annual labour market survey of the BCF Event have shown an increasingly positive outlook on the labour market. This year none of the respondents considered their career perspectives to be very unfavourable, and only 4% considered them unfavourable. Three quarters were positive or highly positive about their career prospects.
Figure 1. Outlook prospects of students in the labour market
More than half of the students intend to find a job within their own field of study after graduation. Compared with last year fewer students are interested in pursuing a PhD. In 2007 27% were interested in a PhD degree, while this year only 15% intend to do so. An equal percentage wants to pursue another (master or bachelor) degree. One out of ten do not yet know what they want after graduation. Only one percent is interested in becoming an entrepreneur.
Figure 2. Classification of plans after graduation
Expected salary
Despite their favourable outlook on the labour market, the students are not presumptuous. On the contrary, compared to starters in general, students in Life Sciences are relatively modest about their expectations for starting salaries. On average they expect to earn a gross monthly salary of 2,050 EUR, that is 150 EUR less than what a starter in general aspires to earn (source: TalentToday – starters monitor).
A little over a quarter expect to gross a monthly salary of between 1,750 and 2,000 EUR, and 19% expect less than 1,750 EUR.
One explanation could be that among the respondents a relatively large percentage intend to pursue a PhD after graduation, and PhD salaries are usually lower than those in the labour market.
Figure 3. Expected gross month salaries for starters
Job search
Nearly all students (92%) plan to orientate themselves on the labour market before they graduate; and over a quarter (26%) start to do this a year or even longer before then. Only 8 percent plan to look for a job after graduation.
Figure 4. Time from orientation to finding a job
Job sites and career fairs are the tools most often used by students to orientate themselves on their career and job opportunities. Nearly three quarters (72%) of the respondents search for employment through job sites, and two-thirds (66%) visit career fairs. Other useful means of job orientation are through personal networks (57%), corporate websites (55%), open job applications (33%) and journals (33%). Seventeen percent of the students are registered with recruitment agencies.
Rating aspects of work
The graduates were asked to name the three aspects that they find most important in their job; and by far the most important is variety. Good growth potential and affinity with the products were both mentioned equally often by 36% of respondents. International career opportunities, organisational culture and job security were cited as the least important aspects. The results of the survey are summarised in the Table below.
Varied work 53% Good growth potential 36% Affinity with product/service 36% Own responsibilities 35% Good income 33% Colleagues 31% Deepening of the knowledge 25% Broadening of the knowledge 22% Training possibilities 19% Travelling time 16% Good fringe benefits 15% Job security 14% Organisational culture 9% International career opportunities 8%
Table 1. Most important features in job
Job preference
The majority of the students aspire to a job in research and development (65%), preferably in a multinational company (28%), or a university or a university medical centre (26%) or a research institute (23%). The remaining 35% want a job outside the lab.
Figure 5. Job preferences desired by students
Figure 6. Employers preferences desired by students
Top-10 most favourite employers
The majority of Dutch Life Sciences companies are small and medium-sized, but despite their numbers they are less popular as employers than larger companies. This preference is reflected in the top-ten of organisations that students consider to be their most favourite employer. The entire top-ten is dominated by multinationals, large research institutes, universities and UMCs. The most appealing employer among respondents this year is TNO, followed by Organon and DSM.
Top-10 most favourite employers
- TNO
- Organon
- DSM
- Universiteit Leiden & LUMC
- Universiteit Utrecht & UMC
- Unilever
- VU & VUmc
- Philips
- AMC
- NKI
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