The Institute for Tourism Studies "Career Day 2014" was held on 26 February at IFT Taipa Campus. The event aimed to provide more information on the employment trends and prospects in the tourism and hospitality industry for graduating students, thus increasing their chances of success in job hunting. 19 organisations with about 1,300 job vacancies from the tourism and services industry joined the event. These included DFS Cotai Limitada, East Asia Airline Limited, EGL Tours (Macau) Company Limited, Four Seasons Hotel Macao Cotai Strip, Galaxy Entertainment Group, Grand Hyatt Macau, L'Arc Macau, Lisboa Hotels Complex Macau, Louis Vuitton Macau Company Limited, Melco Crown Entertainment, MGM MACAU, Menzies Macau Airport Services Limited, New Yaohan, Nuance-Watson (Macau) Limited, Sands China, Sheraton Macao, Shun Tak Holdings (Macau) Limited, Wing On Holidays (Macau) Limited and Wynn Macau. Representatives from the participating organisations introduced career prospects and positions available in their companies as well as arranged on site interviews for graduating students and alumni. The graduates-to-be and alumni were enthusiastic about the event. Questions regarding employment trends and employers' expectation were raised and discussed in the fair. The employment rate of IFT graduates is always satisfactory. A graduates' employment survey was conducted with respondents of 2011/12 graduates. According to the survey results, 96.7% of the degree programme graduates were employed, 3.3% graduates pursued further studies; 78% of the employed graduates worked in the tourism and hospitality sector, the median salary of MOP12,900. The Career Day aimed to be the direct communication platform between students and employers, allowing students to have a better idea about the current job market and maximised their chance of successful job application.
