The Impact of Career Planning of Graduates on Job Satisfaction: Evidence from China

The current economic environment is so complex that many graduates are experiencing changes in education policy and the diversification of the labour market. Consequently, the career planning of graduates and employees’ satisfaction with the job have become two important topics that cannot be overlooked. However, research on the relationship between career planning of graduates and job satisfaction is still scarce. Thus, the main purpose of this study is to investigate whether the career planning of graduates has an impact on job satisfaction. The study also compares the demographic characteristics of graduates’ career planning and job satisfaction. The data used in this study was derived from 200 online questionnaires, which were filled out by Chinese employees who graduated within three years. Career planning was assessed on a 16-items scale, and the job satisfaction scale was quoted from the Minnesota Satisfaction Questionnaire (MSQ). There are three main findings drawn in this paper: 1) the degree of career planning of graduates is different depending on different ages and levels of education; 2) people of different ages, levels of education, length of employment (in the current organisation) and occupational types reflect different levels of job satisfaction; 3) self-assessment, information gathering, goal setting, and strategy formulation in the career planning process of graduates have positive impacts on job satisfaction. Based on these findings, this paper encourages graduates to make adequate career planning before employment, and hopes that universities and enterprises can pay more attention to the career planning of graduates