Engineering tops graduates’ job preference

The percentages of graduates targeting those fields were 16.96 per cent, 11.49 per cent and 10.58 per cent respectively.

The most competitive field of work was science, research and development, which boasted a ratio of one position per 32 applicants, followed by human resource management (1:15.5) and academic work and lecturing (1:15), said JobThai.com founder and operations head Saengduan Tangthamsathit.

Citing JobThai.com’s annual study in June and July of 140,000 graduates who registered with the website, she said graduates demanded the highest pay for three job categories: engineering, with a starting salary of Bt17,600-Bt28,000; IT and programming (Bt14,800-Bt25,000); and environmental studies and ISO (Bt16,000-Bt22,000). 

The fields with most openings for graduates were sales (25.2 per cent), customer service (16.1 per cent) and engineering (8.7 per cent).

The website also conducted a survey of 10,000 university students nationwide to find their strongest and weakest skills. 

Most graduates reported their strongest skills were data research, teamwork and work coordination, while their weakest skills were email correspondence, project and product presentations, and leadership.

Saengduan urged students to improve those skills, which would be important hiring criteria for employers. 

The Office of Higher Education Commission said there were 300,000 bachelor-degree graduates in the 2015 academic year. Since the start of this year, about 70,000 people have been laid off, raising the nationwide jobless figure to about 390,000 as of June, said the National Statistical Office. 

JobThai.com had a 30-per-cent increase in users during this period, Saengduan said, adding that the website has about 11 million users per year and offers daily updates of 80,000 job opportunities inside and outside Thailand in 130 fields and 40 business categories.