Graduate Employment Survey
Each year, SAIT conducts a survey to determine the employment rate, salaries and satisfaction of our newest SAIT alumni. The survey is conducted annually with the most recent class of SAIT grads.
The survey results are shared internally as one method to ensure our programs are relevant to industry and our grads are finding success.
We also share the results externally to help our prospective students make informed decisions about their career paths.
Institutional results
Each year, SAIT conducts a survey to determine the employment rate, salaries and satisfaction of our newest SAIT alumni. The survey is conducted between January and April with the most recent class of SAIT grads.
The data below is employment and salary information about all SAIT graduates from the 2016/17 academic year.
Scroll on the table to view relevant statistics.
| Number of Graduates | Number Responding | In Labour Force | Employment Rate | Total Employed | Employed - Training Related | Employed - Non-Training Related | Not Employed and Seeking Employment | Not Seeking Employment | Pursuing Education | Salary Mean/$Annual | Salary Median/$Annual | Salary Minimum/$Annual | Salary Maximum/$Annual | |
| Overall | 4,547 | 2,983 | 2,861 | 90% | 2,585 | 1,990 | 595 | 276 | 122 | 546 | $49,393 | $45,000 | $15,000 | $250,000 |
| School of Business | 900 | 552 | 533 | 93% | 494 | 356 | 138 | 39 | 19 | 202 | $46,327 | $42,500 | $15,000 | $135,000 |
| School of Construction | 663 | 407 | 392 | 87% | 342 | 254 | 88 | 50 | 15 | 48 | $51,407 | $50,000 | $30,000 | $104,000 |
| MacPhail School of Energy | 681 | 438 | 408 | 82% | 336 | 220 | 116 | 72 | 30 | 93 | $65,311 | $60,000 | $15,000 | $250,000 |
| School of Health & Public Safety | 741 | 534 | 518 | 93% | 481 | 412 | 69 | 37 | 16 | 74 | $51,331 | $48,000 | $18,000 | $120,000 |
| School of Hospitality & Tourism | 319 | 202 | 196 | 95% | 187 | 168 | 19 | 9 | 6 | 22 | $36,018 | $33,280 | $19,000 | $83,000 |
| School of Information & Communications & Technologies | 683 | 473 | 458 | 92% | 420 | 344 | 76 | 38 | 15 | 49 | $44,968 | $42,000 | $18,000 | $93,600 |
| School of Manufacturing & Automation | 335 | 227 | 209 | 88% | 183 | 126 | 57 | 26 | 18 | 44 | $51,703 | $50,000 | $24,000 | $150,000 |
| School of Transportation | 225 | 150 | 147 | 97% | 142 | 110 | 32 | 5 | 3 | 14 | $43,048 | $40,000 | $20,000 | $110,000 |
2017 Graduate Employment Survey Methodology
Purpose
To determine the extent to which graduates from SAIT programs find employment, the type of employment and the level of starting salaries.
Timing
A survey of 2016/17 graduates was conducted between January 24 and April 30, 2018. Information was obtained from 2,983 credit program graduates (out of 4,547 credit graduate records), constituting a 66% response rate. In addition, the survey was conducted with 261 pre-employment graduates (out of 401 pre-employment graduate records), resulting in a 65% response rate.
Database
A list of 2016/17 graduates from SAIT programs was generated from Banner. Besides the graduate's name, information on program finished, contact telephone number and email address was provided. Overall, the database included records on 4,948 graduates.
Conduct
To compile the 2017 employment statistics, SAIT retained the services of NRG Research Group, an independent market research company. The survey was conducted by using a multimode data collection methodology — telephone and online. Results were collected only online for the first two weeks of the study and then telephone surveying was used for those who had yet to respond. The two modes were conducted simultaneously for the remainder of the study, with over one-half (54%) being collected by phone and the remaining 46% collected online.
The margin of error overall is equal to +/- 1.05 percentage points at the 95% confidence level, finite population correction factor applied. Telephone directories, internet searches, directory assistance and Facebook profiles were used to locate the contact, where needed. A minimum of 10 telephone attempts was used to make an initial contact with the graduate and eight email reminders were sent during the course of the study.
Analysis
The data were input into a database and analyzed. Survey results of those who responded to the survey were subsequently extrapolated to the entire population of graduates/completers. Caution should be used when examining results by programs with fewer than 30 graduates. With smaller base sizes, the percentages may offer a distorted picture when one respondent represents more than 3% of the total respondent base.
Definitions used
In Labour Force - graduates who are employed or unemployed but looking for work.
Employed - graduates employed at the time of the survey, or had been employed prior to the survey for three or more months.
Employment rate - the number of employed graduates as a percentage of all those graduates that responded to the survey and were in labour force
Full-time employment - 30 or more hours of work per week
Permanent employment - the number of graduates employed in permanent jobs
Annualized salary - graduates were given a choice to provide salary information in a form of annual or monthly income, daily or weekly earnings or hourly wages. If the student provided this info in a unit other than the annual salary, the following calculations were used to derive respondents' annualized salaries in full-time jobs:
- Hourly wage X (hours worked per week) X 52
- Daily wage X 5 (days a week) X 52
- Weekly salary X 52
- Bi-weekly salary X 26
- Monthly salary X 12
Note: All salaries above $100,000 per year and below $10,000 per year were verified with the respondent.