Original Paper Agric. Econ.

– Czech, 60, 2014 (8): 376–387

Factors influencing employment for tertiary education

graduates at the selected universities
Hana STOJANOVÁ, Pavel TOMŠÍK

Department of Management, Faculty of Business and Economics, Mendel University in Brno,

Brno, Czech Republic

Abstract: The graduates of tertiary education level are one of the risk groups in the economically active age, who have a
significant problem to find a job in the labour market. The research has been focused on defining the key factors influen-
cing the creation of competitive advantages of the tertiary education graduates entering labour market as well as to iden-
tify the effectiveness of these factors in the process of entering the tertiary education graduates in the labour market. The
methods of analysis were used in the processing of a survey of graduates from three universities of the Czech Republic,
namely: the Masaryk University Czech Republic, the Mendel University in Brno, and the Brno University of Technology, at
all levels of the higher education degree (Bachelor, Master, PhD) completed by the respondents graduating no earlier than
two years ago. The data were collected through an online questionnaire, published in the February and March 2013 on the
server http://rela.mendelu.cz, at the number of 150 returned filled questionnaires. Based on the analysis of secondary sour-
ces, there were for the research purposes defined five key factors influencing the efficiency of entering the labour market.
These factors are the analysis of the current labour market situation and the rational preference of specialization, the active
search and participating in programs and the internships focused on gaining the practical experience, the acquisition of
professional skills, the use of institutional support and professional assistance and the factor of the building and use of ne-
tworking.

Key words: competitive advantage, graduates of tertiary education level, factors of success, labour market, unemployment

The development of the labour market is accom- by a wide range of factors as are the economic, social,
panied by constant changes. In the current period of and psychological factors (Brown et al. 2010). In the
discontinuity, the labour market develops qualitatively economic terms, it is primarily the economic situa-
and structurally, affected by the global market accom- tion of unemployment, the current labour demand
panying phenomena (Heid and Larch 2012; Potrafke and supply (Cardoso 2007). In the terms of social
2013; Lindley, Machin 2014). The changes are not only and psychological factors, there are crucial espe-
in the labour supplies and demands, the requirements cially the educational and professional structure of
and expectations of the individual entities, but also the graduates, the prestige of a particular industry
in the market segmentation (Kotler and Caslione and individual preferences (De Vos and Soens 2008).
2009). One of the varying values is also the number There were recorded in the database of the Labour
of unemployed persons. The unemployment shows Office of the Czech Republic 585 809 people to the
a still rising curve with minimal declines due to the date of January 31, 2013 (MPSV 2013), of which
seasonal fluctuations from the year of 2008, which there has been 35 524 unemployed graduates and
was characterized as the beginning of the current young people (secondary and tertiary education),
financial and economic crisis (Euroskop 2013). The who were not added to the overall unemployment
graduates of the tertiary education level are one of rate of 6.1%. The year- on -year growth demonstrates
the risk groups in the economically active age, who an increase by 4044 graduates. This amount exceeds
have a significant problem to find a job in the labour the optimal level of unemployment specified in the
market (Eggert et al. 2010). The unemployment rate limit of 4 to 6% (MPSV 2013). The newcomers into
of graduates of universities and colleges is affected the labour market, graduating in the economies hit

Supported by the Faculty of Business and Economics at Mendel University in Brno (internal grant PEF MENDELU No.
12/2011).

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Agric. Econ. – Czech, 60, 2014 (8): 376–387 Original Paper

by the financial crisis, are more likely to experience ber of the tertiary education graduates was 400 000
a job mismatch and to suffer from underemployment people in the Czech Republic in the year of 2011.
than those who graduate in an economy untouched As compared with 2001, with the number 204 000
by the current global economic depression (Kahn graduates, it is a 96% increase. There are situations
2010). Although the unemployment rate of the ter- in the labour market when the graduates of tertiary
tiary education graduates is the lowest in comparison education, under the pressure of demand for avail-
with other job seekers in the labour market, still it is able vacancies, accept a job with lower qualifica-
a serious problem that must be addressed in order tion requirements and they are thus devaluing their
to find possible approaches leading to a solution. skills and competencies. The negative consequences
The inability to find employment affects not only the of underemployment are rather similar to those of
graduates, but it is touching especially economically unemployment in the terms of a lower well-being,
also their immediate surroundings (Becker 1993). a lower life satisfaction and more physical and psy-
The unemployment compensation does not apply to chological strain (Feldman 1996; Kinicki et al. 2000;
the graduates, according to the Employment Act No. McKee-Ryan and Harvey 2011). The lower quality of
435/2004 Coll. (MPSV 2013) applicable since 1st of accepted job impairs the career satisfaction as well
January 2013. The amendment of the Act provides as the career-enhancing behaviours and the career
that if a job seeker did not work at least 270 working prospects (McKee-Ryan and Harvey 2011). In connec-
days in the past 36 months, which means that he/she tion with the above mentioned data and the change
did not pay the health and social insurance for this of the employment policy, which is slowly changing
period, he/she is not entitled to the unemployment from just taking care of the unemployed to actively
compensation claims. The exception is getting sup- promoting the forms of employment, there is neces-
port for past inclusion in the Job Retraining Course. sary a proactive approach of the tertiary education
For many of the graduates it then becomes difficult to graduates to find an appropriate use.
achieve any social support. The process of calculating The Czech Republic joined the European Employment
the entitlement to any social benefit is based on the Strategy (EU 2011) at 5th of May 1999, when there was
evaluation of the income of persons living together approved the first National Employment Plan. The
in one household. In case the graduate lives together plan was approved in order to reduce the continually
with his or her parents, then the entitlement to the rising unemployment, and to stimulate a long-term
social assistance is regarded in relation to the income increase in the employment rate. This step became
of both parents. The unemployment rate of graduates the basis for the reform of the employment policy. In
reflects the percentage of graduates who remained this project, the National Reform Programme imple-
jobless and have been registered at the Labour Offices mented in the years 2005–2008 was initiated in 2010
(MPSV 2013). The graduates who seek employment to the program ‘Europe 2020’ the implementation of
outside the Czech Republic, or have not been reg- which is currently under process.
istered in the Labour Office are not included in the At the research of the employers needs and the
unemployment data registered by the MPSV. graduates´ readiness, implemented by the National
Despite of change in approach to the calculation Institute for Vocational Education (NÚOV) in 2008,
of the unemployment rate in the Czech Republic, there were the most frequently cited as the reasons for
which has been updated in January 2012, according the lack of interest in the employment of the graduates
to the general rate of unemployment resulting from the lack of experience, unrealistic expectations about
the outputs of past quarterly surveys of the Czech the wage, working hours, the employment status, a
Statistical Office, and according to the registered low level of the labour morals and a longer time the
unemployment rate, resulting from past statistical graduates need for the incorporation.
surveys of the Labour Offices (Ministry of Labour Since the beginning of the 90 th, the problems of
and Social Affairs), the results still show a significant the transition of the graduates into the labour pro-
increase of unemployment. cess in the European environment are character-
The past current trend of unemployment and the ized by several topics: “speed changes of job skills
limited available job offers lead to an increased com- requirements, dramatic structural changes of labour
petition among the applicants. The results of the force caused by the introduction of new technology
increasing competition are not only the limited offer and new managerial concepts, the globalization and
of the job vacancies, but also a significant increase in Europeanization of economy and society, intense mas-
the number of graduates (De Koning 2007). The num- sification of higher education from half of the 80th in

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many industrial societies, increasing unemployment, the problem. For the analysis, data processing and
decreasing transparency and continuity of careers” identification the key factors of competitive advan-
(Koucký and Zelenka 2009). Far from being just a tage graduates, there has been used the method of
local issue, the ongoing neo-liberalisation of higher description.
education has engendered a discursive shift in the The literary sources are derived from 11.25% of the
definitions of employability. Traditionally, universities Czech data and publications, mainly from the surveys
regarded the graduate employment as an aspect of on the status of the college and university graduates
the institutions’ relationship with the labour market, in the Czech labour market and the research of the
and one where they enjoyed a significant degree of Labour Office staff opinion about the school gradu-
discretion. Now, employability is a performative ates application in the period of the economic crisis.
function of the universities, shaped and directed by This representation of Czech authors was beneficial
the state, which is seeking to supplant labour mar- and necessary for the research due to their knowledge
kets (Gül et al. 2010; Marginson 2010). The higher and orientation in the local labour market and also
education expansion has resulted in an excessive the methodology of the social and legislative policy
number of the college graduates, which has led to the of the Czech Republic. Based on the results of the
current highly competitive labour market (Wu 2011). literary sources content analysis, there was selected
The transition from school to work is an important by random sampling a group of professional publica-
phase for the graduates. Leaving student life behind tions on the topic of the graduates employment. These
and beginning a new life as a full-time employee literary sources are available at www.sciencedirect.
requires important career-related decisions that can com in the period from 2006 till 2013. We have then
determine the graduates’ future career success (Ng defined five factors, which were investigated by the
and Feldman 2007; Hoye and Saks 2008). questionnaire survey.
The success of graduates in the transition from The methods of analysis were used in the process-
study into the working environment does not bring ing of secondary data sources (Vencourová 2013),
just the material satisfaction, but also social contacts, a survey of the random sample of graduates of the
the access to the network building, the possibility of Mendel University (the oldest university of agricul-
applying the knowledge, the development of skills ture and forestry in the Czech lands, established in
and the space to gain new experience. Influencing of 1919). The minor control samples were also tested
the career and the future attitude to work is essential at the Masaryk University in Brno and the Technical
for the stabilization of personal identity. The errors University in Brno. The term of tertiary education
during the movement from school to work can injure graduates includes for the research purposes all levels
the graduates, as well as the society in general in the of higher education degree (Bachelor, Master, PhD)
terms of costs and problems related to unemployment completed by the respondents not earlier than two
(McKee-Ryan and Harvey 2011). years ago. The specializations of the completed study
were determined by the frequency marked by the
The research objectives were defined as follows: respondents in the questionnaires.
I. Based on the results of the qualitative analysis of The data were collected through an online question-
the literary and electronic resources to define the naire, published in February and March 2013 on the
key factors influencing the creation of competitive server http://rela.mendelu.cz, at the number of 150
advantage tertiary graduates entering the labour returned filled questionnaires. For the interpretation
market. of the data, there was used the relative abundance, and
II. To verify and determine the effectiveness of these the selected combinations of questions were tested
factors in the process of adaptation of the tertiary using the independent χ ^ 2 test in the Statistica.
education graduates into the labour market in the The final results were visualized by the tables, bar
Czech Republic, from the output data processing and pie charts.
the secondary sources. The research was focused, based on literary source
study, on the following five factors.
I. Analyzing the situation in the labour mar-
MATERIAL AND METHODS ket, working with the information related to the
choice of the field with regard to the possibilities of
To fulfil the objectives, there were used the methods the practical application. The rational preference of
and methodologies in accordance with the nature of specialization in what the market is not saturated

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Agric. Econ. – Czech, 60, 2014 (8): 376–387 Original Paper

yet and what seems to be promising in the long term the job seekers with the current finishing of second-
period was considered. ary and tertiary education (MPSV 2013).
The National Institute of Vocational Education V. Construction and utilization of networking,
(NÚOV) publishes in the project titled Education – which means creating and building a long-term net-
Information – Advice – Career VIP every year a report work of professional contacts that are instrumental
on the status of unemployed graduates in the labour in initiating and developing a career. DeLong (2013)
market (MPSV 2010). Another source of information showed that up to 60% of job offers are not cast primar-
can be the reported data on the employability of the ily through a public tender, but through networking
graduates of Czech universities and their faculties, contacts, the so-called hidden job market. With the
published annually by the Centre for Education Policy importance of the available position, this percentage
at Charles University (SVP FI UK). In Q1 2012, there is increasing.
was carried out by the Company LMC as part of the
University Online at Jobs.cz (LMC 2013) a question-
naire survey that involved 1479 respondents from THE RESULTS
among the applicants for study at university. The
outcomes of the survey showed that the key factors The questionnaire survey was carried out through the
in deciding what university and what specialization on-line questionnaire, published in the February and
to study are the inherent interest in the field (98%), March 2013 on the server http://rela.mendelu.cz. The
the quality of teaching and teachers (95%), the school research was attended by 150 respondents – graduates
fees (83%), the opportunity to make contact with of three universities in the South Moravia region of
employers (75%), the prestige of the school (73%). For the Czech Republic. The research was carried out at
future students, there is also essential the difficulty of a random sample of the Mendel University graduates
admission (44%), lower demands of getting the degree (91 respondents), the minor control samples were
(25%) or the choice of school by its location (36%). also tested among the Masaryk University graduates
II. Active search for and involvement into pro- (31 respondents) and the Technical University in Brno
grams, internships, the focus on gaining practical graduates (28 respondents). Of these respondents,
experiences in the field of study, in order to gain 87 received the bachelor’s degree education, 60 the
practical skills and theoretical knowledge acquired via master’s degree and three respondents did not answer
the extension study. The individual must be primarily this question. It means that the bachelor level tertiary
responsible for the development of new competen- education was represented by 57%, the master’s di-
cies related to the management of own potential ploma by 40% and 3% of master’s respondents have
and through that the career (Briscoe and Hall 2006). left this question unanswered. The age structure of the
III. Achieving the quality technical and profes- respondents was composed of the categories 22–25
sional knowledge and skills, gaining maximum (64%), 26–29 (22%), and due to the lengthening of
competences that the educational institution can pro- study, also the category of 30–33 years (8%) and 34
vide, because the employers set the highest demands and more years (1%). The question about the age was
in terms of the knowledge, skills and competencies not answered by 5% of the respondents. The gender
on the tertiary education graduate. The emphasis is composition of the respondents consisted from 57%
placed on the communication skills 96%, knowledge women, 38% of men and 5% of the respondents did
of foreign languages 96%, and the ability to make not answer this question.
decisions 94%, to take the responsibility and to deal The most frequently mentioned subject of study
with information 94% (Skácelová and Vojtěch 2009). was economics, which was completed by 42% of the
IV. The utilization of the institutional support and respondents, followed by 21% of technical sciences,
assistance in finding employment. Until April 30, humanities and social sciences represented 10%. Farm,
2004 (when was adopted the Act No. 435/2004 Coll. forestry and veterinary sciences were represented by
Employment), the employers in the Czech Republic, the same number of the respondents, 6%, the same
who employed the graduate in the same specializa- as natural science. Law and education were repre-
tion the graduate had studied, received a financial sented by 3%, the study of culture by 2%. The priority
contribution from the Labour Office for the so-called status of economic sciences is partly influenced by
“graduate job”. Since 2010, it is possible to use the the environment in which the survey was conducted
support inside the project named “the practice – the and the current preference of these subjects among
education – the employment”, which is designed for the students. In the questionnaire survey, economic

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sciences were separated of from other humanities and two or more years by gaining a practical experience,
social sciences for a more accurate interpretation, almost the entire undergraduate studies. Less than
although normally they fall into the category of social six months were spent in the practice by 8% of the
sciences. In a joint evaluation, there should, therefore, students only.
humanities and social sciences be represented by Regarding the question whether and to what ex-
60% of the respondents. The Identified Preferences tent the passed practice and temporary jobs were
Point to the irrational choices of the field of study associated with the studied specialization and could
are based on the assumption of the options and the thus contribute to creating competitive advantage in
quality of the application only, not on the real state the job market, we got an ambiguous answer. The
of the supply and demand professional focus in the graduates worked during their studies in the fields
labour market. The completed specializations of related very closely to the studied university spe-
respondents study are published in the Table 1. cializations, such as marketing and PR, in 15%, the
The question whether the respondents passed any financial, administrative and IT services in 18% and
professional experience during their studies was manufacturing in 3%. However, the respondents also
answered by 105 respondents, 69% of them did pass worked in the positions that were not connected to
it, 45 respondents, i.e. 30%, answered negatively. the studied courses at all. In the hospitality industry
The differences between universities in the students’ as receptionists and the staff, there worked 22% of
access to gaining experience during the study were the respondents, as workers in the construction and
minimal. According to the respondents’ answers, in the industrial cleaning 7% of the respondents,
work experience during their studies was received as salesmen and helpers in the stores 23%, as a call
by 74% of the Masaryk University graduates, by 68% centres staff 7%. Although the respondents could
of the Mendel University in Brno graduates and by not gain any professional know-how or specializa-
68% of the Technical University in Brno. How much tion in these sorts of jobs, they can be considered
are these experiences relevant to specialization of positive. Outside the economic benefits brought to
their studies and thus beneficial for future, this was the respondents, work habits, the orientation into
investigated by another question. practise environment, a clear idea about their future
The comment on the time spent by gaining the direction were the main contributions.
practical experience was expressed by 113 respond- For more accurate responses received in the survey,
ents, 37 respondents did not answer the question. The the respondents were asked whether they completed
practice during the studies was done by 34% of the during their studies any kind of internship or a work
respondents. The amount of 26% respondents spent activity, aimed specifically at the subject of their

Table 1. Completed specializations of the respondents study

Frequency
Study specialization
of response
Economic sciences 72
Engineering 36
Humanities and social sciences 17
Agriculture, forestry and veterinary sciences 11
Natural science 11
Other science (computer science, chemistry and food technology, philology, processing furniture) 8
Jurisprudence 6
Pedagogics, teacher training and social care 5
Sciences of culture 3
Health, medicine and pharmaceutical sciences 2
No answer 1

Some respondents studied two courses simultaneously during their tertiary degree.

Source: own data from processing the survey

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Agric. Econ. – Czech, 60, 2014 (8): 376–387 Original Paper

attended a training The results show that even though the majority of
without response
placement respondents came from the Mendel University, the
1 (1%)
30 (20%) former Agricultural and Forestry University, only
4% of graduates decided during their professional
work internships to chose the agricultural sector.
This number can prove either the irrationality of
the choice (because the agricultural sector can offer
a career application in both categories, to establish
without professional
internships the own enterprise or to work as an employee, or the
119 (79%) low popularity of the agricultural segment among
the graduates in general. The reasons for the lack
Figure 1. Completed internship, work activity, aimed popularity of the agricultural sector and its factors
at the study subject would be an interesting theme for a further research.
In determining whether the achieved professional
Source: own data from processing the survey
knowledge and skills expressed by the study aver-
age, have the impact on obtaining an employment,
study. The responses are fundamentally different there responded positively only 6 respondents (4%),
from the previous inquiry about the work experience 49 respondents did not respond (33%) and 95 re-
as such. Given the extensive opportunities which spondents (63%) said that the quality of expertise
are currently offered to university students in the had no effect on their employment. The results show
form of professional internships, among the Czech that although the employers prefer candidates with
and foreign resident students, there were only 30 university education, the verification of the quality,
respondents who have used these offers, which is a the depth of the knowledge, skills and competencies
surprisingly low number. The Figures 1 and 2 show of the candidates is left solely to the university.
the completed internship, work activity aimed at This issue was further clarified by the information
study subject as well as the specializations of the regarding the impact of the studied specialization
completed professional work internships. on obtaining an employment. The effect of the spe-
From the answers of the respondents who have cialization was confirmed by 41 respondents (27%),
completed a professional work placement, there 62 respondents or 42% did not state any effect, and
was created an overview, in which the segments of 47 respondents (31%) left this question with no an-
internship were implemented. The highest propor- swers. We can conclude from the answers that the
tion of internships was realized in the segment of employers fully trust the universities in the case of
Finance and the State Administration 39%, followed the professional quality of the graduates and focus
by the internships undertaken abroad, mainly in the more on the fact that the prospective applicants have
framework of the Erasmus program, the internship graduated from a university or faculty, than on the
that can include either study or associate degree detailed content of the specialization. In the comments
and professional experience. 7% of the respondents that the respondents mentioned, there has been often
completed an internship in the marketing and trad- said that the employers required graduating in the
ing segment, 7% in the field of the information and economic field – economic and management educa-
communication technologies. tion, and if the graduates correspond to this demand,

Industrial production Information and

(11%) communication
Foreign internships,
without specifying the technology
field of study (29%) (7%)

Agricultural Tourism
sectors (3%)
(4%)
Sales and Figure 2. Specializations of the completed
Finance and
Administration marketing professional work internships
(39%) (7%) Source: own data from processing the survey

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no detailed specifications have been determined by “I still could not find any work”, which corresponds
the employer. to the average unemployment rate in the population,
On the question about the use of the institutional the answer “Other reasons” was found in 19%. This
support and assistance in obtaining employment, the response is represented in the following chart.
respondents most often (38%) answered to have found Regarding the responses characterizing the “Other
a job on their own, mostly by searching the on- line reasons”, there was most frequently mentioned the
offers and advertising, the second most frequently reason of “continuing studies” in 69%, which is logi-
mentioned category (19%) was the help of the families, cal regarding the large number of bachelors in the
friends etc. The offer of employment arising from sample, and it can also be assumed that some of the
the previous work experience was reported by 6% of students will continue in PhD studies. 7% of the re-
the respondents, the support from the university or spondents did not take up the employment because
from other programs assisting graduates in obtaining of the duration of the internships and practice, 3%
employment was mentioned by 3% of respondents, due to the maternity leave, 7% accepted a job in a
and only 1% of the respondents indicated support completely different field than they studied. 14%
of the Labour Office. 32% of respondents did not of the respondents did not look for the work at all.
respond to this question. Here there can be seen a Subjective ratings of the difficulty in finding em-
very low usage of the institutional support from the ployment were very optimistic, as 104, i.e. 21% of the
answers, which could result from a low awareness respondents said they found employment quite easily,
of the respondents about the possibilities or a low 41% as fairly easily. On the contrary, to find employ-
confidence in the effectiveness of these options. ment became very difficult for 8% of the respondents,
The building and use of professional networking and 19% of respondents evaluated as quite difficult.
was represented by 19%, mainly within the range of 11% of respondents expressed that they could not
the family, friends and acquaintances. This relatively evaluate the level of difficulty. The specific reasons
narrow range of networking is, due to the graduate which led the respondents for that assessment were
age of the respondents, quite logical, the space for identified subsequently in the related open question.
the establishing broader relationships within profes- To simplify the responses, they were divided into
sional structures will arise from the future business two categories, connecting answers very and quite
contacts and experience. The detailed review of the difficult and the answers completely and fairly easy.
time after which the respondents sought an employ- The most commonly reported factors that influenced
ment is in Figure 3. the rating were the experience in the specialization
To the question focused on the time length during and the previous work experience, language skills,
which the respondents looked for an employment, networking and the offered job vacancies in the field.
38% of the respondents answered that they already For the specific reasons regarding the evaluation of
had work secured before the final state examinations, difficulty in finding employment, there can serve
16% of them have found an application within two Table 2.
months, 5% of the respondents in 4 months, 4% in six The first pair of the test questions were ques-
months. High values (12%) were found in the answers tions No. 12 (Do you work in the field for which you

do no answer I already had a

other reasons 5 (3%) job guaranteed
29 (19%)
I still could not 57 (38%)
find a job
18 (12%)

1–2 years after

graduation
3 (2%)

6–12 years after Figure 3. Time after which the respondents

graduation 4–6 years after till 2 years after sought an employment
2–4 years after
2 (1%) graduation graduation
graduation
5 (4%) 24 (16%) Source: own data from processing the survey
7 (5%)

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Agric. Econ. – Czech, 60, 2014 (8): 376–387 Original Paper

Table 2. Specific reasons for the evaluation of difficulty in finding employment

Negative rating – difficult Positive rating – easy

Lack of experience in the field of specialization Prior work experience, practise during study
The lack of language knowledge Use of networking , support of contacts
Lack of job opportunities in the field of specialization Sufficient supply of jobs in the field of specialization

Source: own data from processing of the survey

studied?) and No. 13 (Was it difficult to get a job a college degree is not required. Those who work in
after graduation?). As stated in the methodology, the related field or focus stated that their jobs are
testing was carried out using the chi-square test of requiring the university education in 67%, 33% of the
independence between the work in the field and the respondents said that it is not required.
difficulty of finding work. The level of significance
and the dependence or independence was chosen at
5%, on the basis of p-value p = 0.001 it was decided DISCUSSION
when independence can be rejected. Therefore, if
the respondents do not work in their specialization The authors believe that the opportunities for the
and in 52% of the cases it appeared to be difficult graduates of tertiary education is closely linked with
to get a job after the graduation, while for 48% of the economic development of the country, the dynam-
them getting a job seemed easy. If the respondents ics in the creation of employment opportunities and
are working in the specialization, 13% said that it thus the possibilities of their application, but the in-
was difficult to get a job and 87% of respondents said dividual access to a motivated enforcement cannot be
that getting a job was easy. If the respondents are omitted. Although the graduates of tertiary education
working in a related field, it was difficult to obtain have better opportunities to improve their career in
employment for 43% of the respondents, easy then the labour market then the other forms of education,
for 57% of the respondents. The second pair of test and the unemployment rate of university graduates is
questions were Q13 (Did you find it difficult to get a the lowest from all other compared categories, as are
job after the graduation?) and No. 15 (What helped the primary education, secondary and vocational or
you most in getting a job?). Here, we arrive at the extension, they also need to prolong the time needed
value p = 0.105, the independence of these two is- to find a job (World Bank 2002; Salas-Velasco 2007).
sues at the 5% level of significance we do not reject. The resulting framework provides that from these
There is thus no correlation between the difficulty five selected factors, the influence on the labour
of finding work after the graduation and the factors market entry efficiency significantly differs.
that most helped in obtaining employment to the The factor limiting possibilities of the future work
respondents. focus is the choice of the study specialization. The
The third pair of test questions were questions full 60% of the researched respondents have opted to
No. 12 (Are you working in the field for which you social sciences and humanities, which is the amount
have prepared in the study?) and No. 19 (Does your that greatly exceeds the absorption opportunities
work position require a university education?). At of the labour market. In contrast, the graduates of
the 5% significance level, there was calculated p = technical sciences reported minimal problems in
0.003 and the independence can be rejected. The obtaining employment and they rated it as easy. A
dependence between these two questions can be rational assessment of the future development of
acknowledged. Through testing of the contingency in labour market on the basis of work with the infor-
tables, it can be deduced that if the respondents do mation and data related to the supply and demand of
not work in their specialization, their work does not jobs in various fields should prevail over the irrational
require a university education in 59% of the respond- following the current trends and preferences in the
ents, while with 41% of respondents, the university choice of profession. Our findings reveal that analyz-
education is required. If the respondents indicated ing of the labour market situation is very weak and
that they are working in their specialization, in 79% it is very rarely done during the subject of the study
of their job requires a university education, in 21% decision process. The absence of this basic step in the

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decision process consequently leads to the irrational in 69% of the respondents, but unfortunately it is
choice, which depends on the personal interest and the mostly “the financial income generating” than the
individual imagination about the discipline without willingness to gain a professional experience in the
a realistic assessment of the future opportunities for field they studied in 20%, which we find low. Although
employment. However this approach can be seen as an income increase is very attractive for students, the
surprising, according to the expert sources, it is not recommendations arising from this research clearly
unique at all. By the Theory of Irrational Behaviour and point to the preferences of internships and experi-
the Economic Theory which has been published by ence in the field, although they are less financially
Gary S. Becker already in February 1962, the rational attractive, just because for the unique opportunity
choice cannot be expected. The science discussion to gain a competitive advantage in the labour market.
has agreed on the statement that “behavioural eco- The efficiency of the factor of getting professional
nomics is not an [alternative] unified theory but is practice, although the research was not focused on
instead a collection of tools or ideas” (Becker 1962; its quantification, is demonstrably the highest. The
Camerer et al. 2004; Werbel and Balkin 2010; Rulleau results of testing the chi-square test of independ-
and Dachary-Bernard 2012). The Kogan’s empirical ence between the work in the specialization and the
analysis focused on the transition from education to difficulty of getting work has shown that at 5% level
the first significant jobs shows that, when it comes of significance and value of p = 0.001, that if the re-
to the graduates starting their first significant job, spondents work in a related field, then it was difficult
the effect of education has grown, there is a time lag to obtain employment for 43% of the respondents, and
between the expansion of higher education and its then easy for 57% of the respondents. The employ-
effects in the labour market (Kogan 2012). ers prefer applicants who have acquired during their
However, we can support the idea that the system studies not only a theoretical knowledge but also an
of higher education does not operate on the market experience in the field, internships, and work experi-
principles and the arguments have long been made ence. A situation when the students gained experience
that even if the access to education deserves sub- in the company where they wanted to work after the
sidization as a basic human right or as a societal graduation is advantageous for both parties. This situ-
good with large positive socio-cultural externalities, ation gives the employers an assurance regarding the
the self-correction to the correction made by legal quality, knowledge and skills of student-job-seekers
institutions would be beneficial. The labour market on the one hand, and the graduate – candidate has
is facing a pressure of demand for labour on the so- secured employment in the labour market and a suf-
cial and humanities and a significant lack of trained ficient experience in the field.
professionals in the fields of technical disciplines The results documenting the present trend of mas-
and agriculture. The potential and by the authors sification of the university education do not prove the
recommended governments’ restrictions or limits factor of competencies, the acquired expertise and
on the Czech education market correspond to the skills indeed. The total 63% of the respondents indi-
statement of Plümper and Schneider (2007) that cated that their knowledge and skills gained through
“… higher education policies provide an attractive the study had no weight in the process of getting a
policy instrument for the governments in fighting job. Importance was put on the factor of the com-
high unemployment. The governments may reduce pleted higher education, not its quality or the depth
the pressure on the labour market by increasing the of knowledge. By the research, the employers do not
number of students.” consider them as important; despite the risk that the
The quality application of the tertiary education competences of the candidate may not correspond to
graduates contributes, beyond the quality and the the needed profession. The exception is the language
relevance of higher education, in particular to their skills that are considered for granted. If they gradu-
individual approach to gain practical experiences ates do not have language skills, this become a factor
– work readiness in the field of study. Of these re- negatively influencing the exercise options. In oppo-
searched factors that affect the success of the gradu- site to our findings, Azevedo, Apfelthaler and Hurst
ates in finding a successful adaptation in the labour are seeing the main reason for the perceived lack of
market, the greatest emphasis is on the experience the graduate employability as rooted in level of the
in the field. mismatch between the skills acquired in the higher
The research illustrated the activity of students at education versus those required for the employment
gaining work experience during the course of study of the individual (Azevedo et al. 2012)

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The factor utilization of institutional support is, student support (i.e. the activities usually provided
according to the research, used just very little. Only by career services); the opportunities to gain work
3% of the respondents reported any utilization of the experience (within study programmes or external to
university or the intuitional programs and assistance them); the opportunities to engage in ‘enabled reflec-
in obtaining employment. Only 1% of the respondents tion’ and/or recording of experiences, the attribute
utilized the support of the Labour Office. The question development and achievement (e.g. via the develop-
is whether such minimum utilization stems from the ment of ‘progress files’ and the career management
ignorance, distrust or from the complicated access to programs) (Yorke and Harvey 2005). The individual
such programs. In this area, there are evident reserves, studies results are inconsistent in the question of
the use of which would increase the chances of the whether the job-seekers with more social capital
graduates to locate and obtain a suitable employment. are more likely to search through the contacts and
Government policies and programs which improve then more successful in the labour market. Despite
the information flow between the labour market the high potential for a more detailed and precise
and the institutional supply-side would likely lead to processing of this single topic, it is marked as not
welfare gains (Bardhan et al. 2013). In contrast, the the exact aim of this research.
utilization of networking is indicated in 19%, even in The Knight and Yorke prefer approach to the per-
the category of graduates where very likely it is rather ceived employability as a multi-faceted characteristic
the use of family ties and friendships, than actually of the individual, defining it as a set of achievements
building and maintaining of professional contacts. – skills, understanding, and personal attributes – that
Given the age of the respondents and their social makes the graduates more likely to gain employment
status (student, graduate), it can be assumed that pro- and be successful in their chosen occupations. They
fessional contacts will only be constructed in future. also proposed four main competence areas to deal
As it has been written “It is not what you know, but with the specific content of graduate employability,
who you know“, the job seeker might learn from his/ the USEM model, where they set the understand-
her contacts about a job opportunity that might not ing, skilfulness, efficacy beliefs and metacognition,
be known through formal methods or that provides including one’s own competencies and limitations
a better match for the graduates’ skills (McDonald and insight into how to learn and develop one’s ca-
2011). Contacts might also provide the information pabilities (Knight and Yorke 2008).
about a particular firm’s hiring process, enabling the On the other point of view, in spite of a growing
graduate to apply at the right time or to submit a more focus on ‘key skills’, many researchers have suggested
appropriate application (Obukova and Lan 2013). It that the graduate employability is a complex and
could be expected that if people benefit from using difficult to precisely define and measure concept
contacts, then the graduates with more social capital (Anrews and Higson 2008).
should be more successful in the job seeking process The authors of papers see the potential of the gradu-
than the graduates with less social capital. ates support in their employment into the highly
While it seems intuitively plausible that the job- competitive labour market connected to the respon-
seekers benefit from contacts, the literature is plagued sible personal approach which can be divided to
by the theoretical disagreement and inconclusive three factors:
empirical evidence (Mouw 2006; Obukhova and Lan (1) The rational choice of the field of study, based on
2013). McDonald finds the evidence that individu- the labour market current information and trends
als with more occupation-specific social capital are (2) To generate and continually develop their work
more likely to engage in search through contacts, readiness based on gaining work experiences
in brief, that the individuals working in a particular (3) To create and foster their own networks and career
occupation acquire the occupation-specific social management skills.
capital. Specifically, he shows that for men, but not for
women, a longer experience in the same occupation
increases the likelihood that a person finds his job CONCLUSION
through the informal means (McDonald 2011). Yorke
and Harvey summarized a revised student support The employment of tertiary graduates becomes a
within four broad areas of activity: the embedded topic for a widely spread discussion, held not only in the
attribute development opportunities within study academic and education sector in the Czech Republic.
programmes; the provision of enhanced or revised The main responsibility is dedicated to the government

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Contact address:

Hana Stojanová, Pavel Tomšík, Mendel University in Brno, Zemědělská 1, 613 00 Brno, Czech Republic
e-mail: hana.stojanova@mendelu.cz; tomsik@mendelu.cz

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