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Utilizing work task data drawn from the OECD’s Survey of Adult Skills of 2011–2012 and 2014–2015, we derive a new skills-based indicator of graduate jobs, termed ISCO(HE)2008, for 31 countries. The indicator generates a plausible distribution of graduate occupations and explains graduates’ wages and job satisfaction better than hitherto existing indicators. Unlike with the traditional classifier, several jobs in major group 3 “Technicians and Associate Professionals” require higher education in many countries. Altogether, almost a third of labor is deployed in graduate jobs in the 31 countries, but with large cross-national differences. Industry and establishment-size composition can account for some of the variation. In addition, two indicators of the relative quality of the higher education system also contribute to the variation in the prevalence of graduate jobs across countries.

This paper addresses the relevance of job search methods and strategies in determining vertical mismatch and the risk of underusing skills or knowledge in first jobs amongst graduates from bachelor's and master's programmes in Spain. Support from universities (via internships and career services) is compared to support from public institutions and informal strategies.

The authors use the 2019 University Graduate Job Placement Survey. The dependent variables are estimated with a bivariate probit model with sample selection on a subsample of graduates who were not working at graduation.

Internships and university career employment offices significantly improve the quality of first job matches. Job banks and public examinations also contribute to finding well-matched first positions, while for public employment services, results are mixed. When the job search is not supported by institutions, graduates generally do worse finding their first jobs, particularly when temporary employment agencies are involved. There are also large differences in mismatch risks across fields of study.

If more graduates found their first jobs through internships and university job placement services, educational mismatch rates would decrease substantially. Further collaboration between universities and employers for the provision of high-quality internships may foster their conversion into regular, well-matched jobs. Industrial policies addressed to knowledge-based economic activities would enhance the creation of highly skilled positions. Further orientation towards STEM degrees is required to improve imbalances between supply and demand for graduate labour in Spain.

Evidence about education mismatch among master's degree graduates is very scarce. This paper compares them to bachelor's degree graduates. It addresses two complementary types of education mismatch and takes into account potential self-selection into post-graduation job search.

Graduate underemployment continues to be a serious and growing problem in the UK. Yet, there is a scarcity of research that has attempted to identify the nature, extent and specificity of the problem. This study examines the opportunity for skill use (skill requirements of the job, personal skill levels, congruence between these two measures) and intrinsic (job, career, life satisfaction) and extrinsic career success (salary, promotion) amongst underemployed graduates. Appropriately employed graduates (those who were in jobs for which they required their degree) were used as a comparison group. Questionnaire data were collected from 203 business graduates in the UK. The key findings suggested that underemployed graduates reported significantly lower levels of opportunity for skill use and intrinsic (job, career, life satisfaction) and extrinsic career success (salary). The implications of these findings and avenues for further research are discussed.

The purpose of this paper is to explore how recent graduates of a university's tourism management programme in New Zealand perceive job quality in the tourism industry.

Semi‐structured interviews are used to examine graduates' assessments of the quality of their current jobs. These assessments are informed by their personal expectations and experiences. Understanding job quality requires an approach that takes into account both economic and non‐economic variables.

The interviews indicate the importance of job content and its compatibility with interests and preferences. Graduates associate job quality with opportunities to consume tourism products, assist tourists, acquire valued knowledge, confront challenges, and perform meaningful work. The quality of a job is influenced by the types of tasks graduates are required to undertake. However, graduates also consider a job's ability to provide access to a better job in the future.

Although graduates were able to share their views in an in‐depth fashion through the interviews, the size of the sample prevents the author from determining whether the interviews uncover sweeping trends or the experiences of only a small group of individuals.

The study incorporates the voices of university graduates into the study of job quality in the tourism industry. An important determinant of job quality revealed through this research is the extent to which graduates receive intrinsic rewards from their jobs. Even though the findings of the study diverge from the view that jobs in the tourism industry are mainly of poor quality, a number of graduates would still prefer to see some improvement in the quality of their jobs.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate vertical and horizontal mismatch between education and current occupation for graduates in four post-communist societies: Hungary, Poland, Lithuania and Slovenia. In this way it contributes to the field by exploring how mechanisms, known from previous studies on western societies, affect job mismatch in emerging market economies.

Two dependent variables are constructed: working in a non-graduate occupation as defined by the ISCO job title depicts vertical mismatch; assessment of the job from the perspective of the fields of study describes horizontal mismatch. Since the dependent variables are dichotomous ones, binary logistic regression models are fitted to the data predicting the incidence of mismatch. Explanatory variables cover mechanisms affecting job mismatch: variation by fields of studies, accumulated work experience during studies, labour market uncertainties during early career, trade off between job safety and job mismatch, persistence of “bad” labour market entry during early career, influence of parental background on school-to-work transition.

The analysis reveals significant differences for study fields in association with occupational specificity of the disciplines. Only study-related work experience seems to be advantageous to find a matching job. Labour market uncertainties increase the probability of job mismatch. Job safety is more important than a matching job.

Mismatch in first occupation has strong and long-lasting effect on the job match even five years after the graduation. The effect of parental background on job mismatch is curvilinear.

The job satisfaction of university graduates can serve as an indicator of success in their professional development. At the same time, it can be a measure of higher education systems’ effectiveness. The purpose is to assess the relationship of university graduates’ socio-demographic characteristics, aspects of their degree program, experiences in the labor market and current working conditions and their job satisfaction.

The data were collected from a survey conducted at 11 Chilean universities with 534 graduates. An ordinal logistic regression model was fit to calculate job satisfaction probabilities for different graduate profiles.

The results show that sex, field of study, gross salary and horizontal match are related to graduates’ job satisfaction. Men and graduates in education and humanities are more likely to report being satisfied with their current job. Those graduates receiving higher salaries and those who are horizontally well-matched report higher levels of job satisfaction.

This study contributes to expanding knowledge about the job satisfaction of university graduates. Specifically, based on the results obtained, it introduces the idea of aspiration fulfillment as a possible determinant of job satisfaction in different fields of study. This can serve as a starting point for research that delves into differentiated expectations for graduates from different disciplines.

This paper aims to investigate how graduates’ perceptions of self-service technology and perceived job performance can be used to assess university service quality. Also, this study examines the mediating role of perceived job performance on the effect of university service quality on graduates’ satisfaction and loyalty.

A quantitative methodology was adopted where university graduates’ perceptions of self-service technology and job performance were used to assess the level of the university’s service quality. Through a cross-sectional survey, data were collected from 280 university graduates employed in Chinhoyi town, Zimbabwe, during the period between August and December 2021.

This study’s findings indicate that self-service technology influences university service quality which in turn impacts on graduates’ perceived job performance, satisfaction and loyalty. Graduates' perceived job performance was also found to partially mediate the effect of university service quality on satisfaction and loyalty among graduates.

This study’s results are instrumental to enable university’s management in developing economies to adopt and improve self-service technologies as this enhances university service quality and graduates’ perceived job performance, satisfaction and loyalty.

This paper provides new insights, that is, the incorporation of graduates’ perceptions of self-service technology and job performance in assessing the university’s service quality. This research further clarifies the function of graduates’ perceived job performance in mediating the effect of university service quality on graduate satisfaction and loyalty. This study further adds to our understanding of tools, criteria and methods for assuring university service quality.

The study aims to examine the factors that determine the success of graduates in the labour market. This success is measured in several ways, namely, above-average wages in the economy, employment in accordance with the field of study and job satisfaction. The research explores the employment outcomes of graduates from Jagiellonian University, which is the oldest and one of the best in Poland. Not only does the analysis focus on degree-related predictors such as discipline or faculty, but it is also extended to include activities undertaken during studies and family background.

The analysis is based on data collected in the graduates' career survey, which is conducted six months after graduation. For this article, a database of over 6,000 graduates from four subsequent editions of the survey was compiled. In order to identify the predictors of graduates' success, a logistic regression model was applied.

The study reveals that graduates' success in the labour market is influenced not only by their discipline, but also by the activities undertaken during their studies, the type of studies and demographic features. Studies in natural sciences give chance for higher earnings, job matching and satisfaction. The humanities and social sciences increase only graduates’ group satisfaction. The impact of activities during studies is diversified – those matched to studies increase the job matching and those unmatched lower the earnings, job matching and satisfaction. Parents' level of education resulted in salary increase. The results also confirm the premises of behavioural theory.

Firstly, the main research limitation is that data of one particular university's graduates are used, so the results should be interpreted in the context of Poland only. Secondly, the authors propose a precise concept of success; however, it could be refined in any future study. This limitation could be mitigated by the flexibility of the model, which guarantees that other predictors of success could be involved. Furthermore, the article was based on data collected before the COVID-19 pandemic, when the labour market was completely different, so it also could be revised now.

The results of the analysis can be used when preparing the University’s educational offer. Since various predictors are implemented in the model, the information could be useful not only for future students, but also for current students, so they can make a more data-driven decision about their future careers. Additionally, University careers’ advisors are provided with knowledge on the determinants of graduates' success. Taking a broader view, the research findings are also informative for labour market institutions.

The paper offers an advanced analysis in a field that is under-researched in many transition countries, including Poland, i.e. graduates' entry into the workplace. Although the study provides insight into the factors that determine the labour market success of one particular university's graduates, this modelling can be applied to the empirical data of another higher education institution’s (HEI's) graduates.

Net of controls for educational credentials, recommendations, age, high school quality, employment sector, firm size and region, white personnel officers tend to assign black male high school graduates to lower paying positions than those assigned to white male high school graduates in the USA. Similar patterns are observed for while female college graduates. The effect of job candidates' race on employers' job placement decisions is examined, using data gathered by the randomised vignette technique. These patterns of apparent bias in job placement are found to be offset to some degree in firms with affirmative action policies. The findings are discussed in the context of Thurow's (1975) theory of statistical discrimination. Further research is needed to investigate potential discrimination in job selection and to examine characteristics of firms and personnel officers with the greatest propensity to discriminate.

The purpose of the paper is to analyse the prevalence and effectiveness of methods and strategies for job searches amongst recent graduates of Russian universities.

The empirical analysis is carried out on data from the Russian Graduate Survey 2016, which is representative of individuals graduating during 2010–2015. The sample included 12,370 individuals. The empirical approach combined standard descriptive statistics, factor and regression analysis (multiple logit regression).

Results show that the most common strategies are a combined strategy that involves the use of formal and informal methods, as well as “pure” informal strategies – applying to relatives and friends or contacting employers. The most effective strategies are job searches with the help of relatives and friends, by contacting employers and with the help of educational organisations. The choice of job search strategy is determined by the expected return in terms of the likelihood of finding a job.

The paper increases understanding of graduate job search behaviour. The results can be used by multiple stakeholders in higher education to better prepare students for job seeking.

This research, based on a large field survey of recent university graduates, provides the first estimates of use of job search strategies and their effectiveness for Russian university graduates.