This Is What Students Want Professionally

2023 Author: Hannah Pearcy | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-08-25 03:36

Instead of concentrating on their careers at their future employer, the students prefer to concentrate on their private environment: for 70 percent, the family is very important, for 66 percent the friends and for 50 percent the leisure time.

The relaxed view of your own career is mainly due to the positive economic development in Germany. A total of 41 percent of students say that their prospects of finding a job quickly have improved in view of the economic situation in recent months. According to the assessment of every ninth, the outlook has even improved significantly. A total of 92 percent of the students expect to find a job quickly after completing their studies.

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Accordingly, student satisfaction has continued to increase: 88 percent are satisfied with their current personal situation - one in three is very satisfied. 86 percent were satisfied two years ago and 80 percent four years ago.

These are the results of a study by the auditing and consulting firm EY (Ernst & Young). Around 2,000 students were surveyed for the study in German university cities.

"A fundamental change in values is becoming more and more apparent for German students," commented Oliver Simon, head of the HR department at EY in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. “Family, friends or leisure time are becoming increasingly important to them. They certainly expect a secure job and a decent salary; however, a steep career with exceptional earning potential is becoming less and less attractive.”Simon sees one reason for this development in the economic boom in Germany over the years:“The current generation of students has excellent starting conditions. This has given her a sense of broad security so that she can focus more on her personal interests and goals."

Personal interest is the most important motive when choosing a subject

Accordingly, many chose their field of study based on personal interests rather than good job opportunities: For 63 percent, their personal interest was a very important motive when choosing a place to study (2016: 61 percent), good job prospects only for 49 percent (59 percent) of those surveyed.

The differences between the sexes on this issue are shrinking, among other things because men's professional success is apparently no longer as important as it used to be. In 63 percent of men, personal interest in the choice of subject now predominates. The proportion is just as high as that of women and more important than good career opportunities, which were the most important motive two years ago and are now mentioned by 51 percent of men. The proportion of women fell from 55 to 47 percent.

Private matters first for men and women - men expect a higher starting salary

In the meantime, private matters have become the top priority for men. Family and friends are very important for 62 percent, and leisure time for 50 percent. Career advancement is only important for 45 percent, which two years ago was named by family as equal to 62 percent of men. This brings them closer to the students who - as in the previous survey - family (77 percent), friends (70 percent) and leisure time (50 percent) are most important. In contrast, career advancement is only of great importance for 38 percent of female students.

"Two years ago, we were able to observe a more classic division of roles between students, in which the men focused more on careers and the women concentrated on the family," said Simon. “In the meantime, the family is also much more important to the men than the career. One explanation for this is that fewer and fewer companies are now making the decision: career or family. Instead, they offer part-time models, home offices, childcare and other measures to balance career and family."

Men are still more confident when it comes to money: While they expect an average annual salary of 39,300 euros to start, women only expect an average of 36,500 euros. Overall, the average expected starting salary is 37,900 euros.

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Humanities are most likely to study out of interest

However, there are still clear differences in the choice of subject and the job prospects between the different subjects: Humanities scholars in particular, with a share of 84 percent, choose their subject primarily according to personal interests. Personal interest among language, social and cultural scientists is similarly high at 76 percent, 72 percent and 71 percent, respectively.

Good earning opportunities are primarily important to medical professionals with a share of 58 percent, followed by engineers and economists (49 and 47 percent respectively). It is these fields of study - together with the lawyers - that most likely assume that they will find a job quickly after their studies.

Job security is the most important criterion when choosing an employer

Although the job prospects could hardly be better from the students' point of view, for over half (57 percent) job security is still the most important criterion when choosing their future employer. Salaries (44 percent) and flat hierarchies in the company (41 percent) follow in the places. Opportunities for advancement and career opportunities were the second most important criteria two years ago, but are currently only 39 percent important when choosing your employer. In contrast, the compatibility of family and work has become more important, which is an important criterion for 40 percent.

“The students who are currently entering the job market have the best possible conditions: the economy is booming, companies are desperately looking for specialists and social efforts to improve the compatibility of family and work are showing success. However, we should all be aware that global competition is not sleeping. Especially in the emerging countries, a generation hungry for success is growing up who wants to reach the level at which Germany is today. That is why we as a society also have to make sure that we do not rest, but also continue to strive for success. Only then can young university graduates start their careers relatively carefree,”concludes Simon.

This article first appeared on our partner portal Elektronikpraxis.de