A Study of the Attribute of Graduates and Employer Satisfaction—A Structured Elements Approach to Competence and Loyalty

Abstract

The objective of this study is to obtain information about the state of existence of graduates after graduation and the satisfaction of employers regarding the administrative and professional performance of graduates working in their institutions. The study was carried out for six months, from March 31 to August 10, 2022, in all municipalities, using the survey method with pure descriptive statistics. Google Forms was used to facilitate the completion of an online questionnaire, and we also conducted direct interviews in six municipalities. Thus, 238 graduates and 24 employers were interviewed, totaling 262 respondents. The study’s findings revealed that 62.18% of the graduates who participated as respondents in this study were male and 37.82% were female. The description by department showed that about 28.57% of respondents are from the agronomy department, followed by agro-livestock (37.82%), agro-economy (19.75%), agrarian science (0.84%), and animal health (13.03%). About 58.40% of respondents work in agriculture, whether in government institutions, NGOs, or agricultural groups; about 21.85% work in other areas; and 19.75% are unemployed. The results also showed that about 27.28% worked before graduating and 72.72% were waiting for a job for different periods after graduation, namely, around 45.45% needed a maximum of 1 year to get a job, around 21.97% took 2-5 years to find a job, and only about 5.30% waited for the longest, which was around 6-11 years to get a job. According to the findings, despite the country being in the grip of pandemic (COVID-19) and a political crisis from 2019 to 2022, approximately 74.47% of the unemployed are graduates. Results of analysis on the employers’ assessment of the performance of graduates who work as employees in these institutions, especially in terms of punctuality at work and assigned tasks, professional and administrative competence, leadership, and communication, showed that about 75.00% to 79.17% of employers gave an evaluation with the predicate “Very Good”. However, it still emphasizes that it would be better if it were strengthened with the appropriate disciplines for the deepening of leadership and ethics of communication and professional practices. Thus, it is concluded that about 80.25% of graduates have already worked in the area of agriculture, and in other areas, they have obtained a very good evaluation of their performance from their employers.