Aalto University graduates valued in the job market

Aarresaari, a career services network of Finnish universities, has conducted a survey on how 2017 master's graduates and 2019 doctoral graduates were employed. 41 percent of master’s graduates and 49 percent of doctoral graduates participated in the survey during autumn 2022.

"The employment of Aalto graduates describes our effectiveness and the quality of education significantly. Therefore, it is crucial for us to have up-to-date information to support our development." says Petri Suomala, Vice President of Education.

Master’s graduates felt respected in work life and were happy with their careers

Master’s graduates have employed well after graduations as 92 percent had a full-time job and only one percent was seeking for a job. 75 percent worked in a large or small company. Seven percent were employed by a university and six percent worked as entrepreneurs. 

More than half of the respondents worked in planning, development or administrative duties. A large number of respondents also worked in consultancy or training, management and supervisory and research duties, while the rest worked in other varied specialist roles in different areas at Aalto.

91 percent of the respondents were satisfied with their career so far and 92 percent were overall satisfied with the degree in terms of their career. 84 percent felt that their studies prepared them well for work life. 93 percent were ready to recommend their degree to others and up to 96 percent of the respondents felt that their degrees were valued by employers.

Master’s graduates of Aalto University emphasized the ability to communicate own skills, previous work experience and the subject combination of the degree as the most important factors in finding employment. The respondents identified the ability to learn and adopt new things, problem-solving skills, analytical and systematic thinking skills and self-direction as the most important skills needed at work that developed during university studies.

Doctoral graduates advanced to more challenging and meaningful work duties

Compared to master’s graduates, doctoral graduates were employed more outside of private companies. 40 percent of the 2019 doctoral graduates of Aalto University were employed by a private companies and one third by universities. 19 percent worked for the public sector and four percent were entrepreneurs or freelancers.

As much as three out of four doctoral graduates worked as experts. Half worked in research, one fourth in development and planning duties. 10 percent worked primarily in management and supervision duties.

63 percent of the respondents felt that their work duties had more become demanding with their doctoral degree and 68 percent felt that their degree had given them more meaningful work.

The respondents felt that they could utilize the skills they learned during their doctoral studies in their work and that the difficulty of their work matched their doctoral degree. They listed analytical and systematic thinking skills, problem-solving skills and ability to learn and adopt new information as the most important abilities in their current job position. The most important skills for work that developed during the doctoral studies were analytical and systematic thinking skills together with knowledge and skills related to the research area.

The most important factors impacting their employment after graduation were the ability to tell about their skills and competences, and the degrees they have completed.

Career monitoring survey is conducted at all universities

The career monitoring survey is a research model that is developed by the Aarresaari network, a career services network of Finnish universities, and used for nationwide career monitoring of people with a higher education (master's or doctoral degree) after graduation. Integration into working life is assessed from the perspective of the employment situation and the quality of employment, as well as the equivalence of work and degrees.

The career monitoring survey started on 2 October 2023. All 2018 master's graduates and 2020 doctoral graduates have been invited to participate in the survey efore 11 December. The invitation to the survey has been sent by email, mail or sms. Thank you to all respondents!