HKUST ranks 16th in the annual Global Employability University Survey and Ranking 2014 and remains No.1 in Greater China, as reported by The New York Times in December 2014. The University was ranked No.18 in the world in the previous year. It has moved up two places in 2014 to take the city’s top ranking.

Conducted by French Human Resources consultancy Emerging and German research institute Trendence between June and October in 2014, the survey canvassed the views of 4,500 recruiters and executives from 20 countries including the United States, China, Japan, Britain, Mexico, Morocco, Spain and others from Europe, over half came from the leading 1,000 companies.

President Prof Tony F Chan was delighted about the ascent. “With a history of only 23 years, the University has been ranked within the top 20 among the usual leaders with longstanding reputations like Cambridge, Harvard, Yale and Oxford, for the second year in a row. The result is encouraging. It is a testament to the effort of our motivated graduates who strive to excel,” Prof Chan said. In grooming desirable employees, the University is committed to providing diverse learning environment, ongoing academic and research exchange as well as internships at first-class institutions, so that our graduates would be better prepared to go on to work in multinational companies or overseas.

This ranking differs from many university rankings worldwide as it focuses less on academic achievement in terms of research but more on working skills of graduates. So what does employability actually mean? The survey result shows that employers value people’s “soft skills”, which include communication, interpersonal skills, leadership skills and working well with people of different cultural backgrounds.

To enhance students’ global experiences and employability, the University has expanded its strong global partnership network to 250 institutions – including some 200 exchange partners through exchanges, internships and community services. It seeks to boost the proportion of undergraduates with 1-seminster overseas exchange experience to 50%, providing an even bigger boost to students’ competitiveness.