| The purpose of the study was to produce an employment profile of advertising, print journalism, public relations, and radio-television graduates of Harding University. This was done by surveying the graduates in four areas: (1) occupational information; (2) involvement in career planning; (3) job search strategies, and (4) completion of undergraduate and graduate education. The second purpose of the study was to determine if supplementary assistance, in the form of programs or services, should be provided to assist Harding University mass communication graduates in obtaining employment.;A 32-item questionnaire was mailed to a systematic random sample of half of the graduates of the mass communication program in the College of Arts and Sciences at Harding University, Searcy, Arkansas, of the years 1982-1992. After two follow-up mailings, a usable response rate of 57.8 percent was achieved.;Data analysis was conducted using the StatView statistical software package. Descriptive statistics were calculated.;A brief summary of the major findings is listed below: (1) More than a third of the graduates (37.7 percent) obtained their first full-time job either before graduation or less than one month after graduation. The greatest number of graduates (46.8 percent) found their first job one to six months after graduation. (2) The three factors which the greatest number of graduates indicated as being "very important" in securing their first full-time jobs were: personal contacts--51.4 percent; an internship or cooperative education experience--33.8 percent, and other work experience--32.5 percent. (3) Only 55.5 percent of the graduates indicated that they would complete the same degree again. An overwhelming majority (84.5 percent) of the graduates reported that they would attend Harding University again. (4) An internship or co-op experience was rated "very helpful" by 78.0 percent of the graduates. An alumni network would be "very helpful" to 72.8 percent of the graduates. (5) Alumni advised current students to: work in a related field while in college; participate in internships or cooperative education, and develop a network of job information sources. |
