Beyond expectations: lessons for the future industry based learning enhancing the transition to graduate work

The article reports findings from a longitudinal study that attempted to research the early career dynamics: motivators, expectations and early work experiences of a group of Industry Based Learning (IBL) business students at an Australian University. A further study (post-placement graduate survey) was undertaken to compare IBL and non-IBL graduate job finding experiences. Preliminary findings suggest that students who have completed an IBL program as part of their degree program experience a quicker and smoother transition to work than their non-IBL graduate counterparts. The research reveals that the majority of graduate IBL students surveyed: secured a graduate position within a third of the time of their non-IBL counterparts, were offered higher starting salaries, with higher job responsibility, and either secured graduate work with their previous IBL employer or utilised a wider source of employer networks to gain a graduate position than their non-IBL graduates who generally relied on traditional job finding methods such as newspaper advertisements