VU grads most employable in Australia for second consecutive year

For the second year in a row, employers have rated Victoria University graduates as the most employable in Australia, according to the country’s most comprehensive independent survey of employer satisfaction.

The Australian-government-funded annual Employer Satisfaction Survey is unique in that it asks direct managers about how satisfied they are with the attributes of recent graduates from Australia’s higher education institutes.

The 2021 survey, reporting the views of 3,450 employers, showed VU led the list of 41 universities in Australia for employability skills, with 92.4% of employers satisfied with VU graduates compared to a national average of 86.3% for all universities.

Employability skills are crucial attributes

These skills include:

• working under pressure
• using initiative
• being flexible in the workplace
• meeting deadlines
• understanding the nature of the business
• demonstrating leadership/management skills
• taking responsibility for professional development.

In addition to leading the country’s universities for employability skills, employers rated VU graduates higher than any of the other eight universities in the state (Deakin, Federation, La Trobe, Monash, RMIT, Swinburne, Melbourne and VU) in four of the six attributes assessed in the survey, including for overall satisfaction.

• For foundation skills (general literacy, numeracy and communication) 95.8% of employers were satisfied with VU graduates.
• For collaborative skills (teamwork) 91.7% of employers were satisfied with VU graduates.
• For technical skills (application of professional and technical knowledge) 95.7% of employers were satisfied with VU graduates.

Results confirm VU grads are job-ready

VU Vice-Chancellor Professor Adam Shoemaker said the remarkable results highlight the impact that VU’s multi-award winning Block Model of teaching and learning, combined with VU’s other Australian-first innovations, such as its First Year College, had on the job-readiness of its graduates.

“The continuation of these impressive results is a testament to the talents of Victoria University’s teachers and graduates alike. There is no doubt that the VU Block Model equips our students with the essential employability skills nominated by industry leaders themselves.”

“It gives us a great sense of pride that employers are seeing the same extraordinary potential that we do in our graduates,” he said.

VU has a long history of ensuring graduates, regardless of their personal backgrounds, successfully transition from their studies to the workforce as they embark on building rewarding careers.