People believe that attending a good higher institution can help a student transition from the classroom to the corporate world faster than normal. This has little to do with the grades of the graduates, but rather with the university’s excellent reputation for always weeding out people who can survive in the adult world.
But is this claim entirely true?
Every graduate in school thinks about the kind of job that his or her qualification and ability would bring, not the university he attended. Even before students graduated, their focus would have shifted to proving what, aside from their qualifications, makes them superior in the job market. This goes hand in hand with the knowledge that employers need to know why they are a good fit for their company or organization.
However, it is surprising to find that the school where they earned their qualifications may one day matter more than the qualification itself. A report by Corporate Staffing Services, a local staffing company, shows that employers rarely look for job seekers who are were enrolled in certain schools.
In this spirit, I congratulate all the Kenyan university graduates. After all, their studies and efforts got them somewhere, even if they did not find a job, but at least got them to the next stage of life. Still, the report shows that some schools are preferred more than others, while others are never remembered.
University of Nairobi:
This is the first among other Kenyan universities. According to the report, 85% of employers in Kenya choose University of Nairobi graduates when hiring graduates from public universities.
The Nairobi-based university is one of the largest in Kenya. It was founded in 1956 under the umbrella of the University of East Africa. In 1970 the university split into three independent institutions; Makerere University in Uganda, University of Dar es Salaam in Tanzania and University of Nairobi.
Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology
According to the report, Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT) has the second most important graduates that employers want to hire.
The school, which began in 1981, was previously known as Jomo Kenyatta College of Agriculture and Technology (JKCAT). It is located in Juja, 36 kilometers northeast of Nairobi on the Nairobi-Thika Highway. The school provides quality training, research and innovation to engage leaders in agriculture, engineering, technology, business development, health sciences, social sciences and other applied sciences for the demands of a dynamic world.
Kenyatta University and Moi University
The third most desirable group of graduates are from Kenyatta University and Moi University – albeit a distant percentage.
Kenyatta University is a multi-campus public institution with the main campus in the Ruiru Constituency of Kiambu County in the Kahawa Region. The school is one of the leading universities in Kenya based on the quality of its graduates. It is the third university established in Kenya.
Moi University is the second university in Kenya to be established after the University of Nairobi. It is a public university in the town of Eldoret in western Kenya.
Strathmore University
Strathmore University surpasses any other private university in the country as its graduates have the highest preference among employers at 78%.
The university is a private institution based in Nairobi, Kenya that offers courses in science and arts. It offers all-round high-quality training in an atmosphere of freedom and responsibility. Excellence in teaching, research and science; ethical and social development and service to society.
The school is best known for its successful accounting program which has produced 60% of Kenya’s CPA finalists over the past decade and dates back to 2007.
Strathmore University is followed by Daystar and the United States International University (USIU).
Maasai Mara University was the lowest at 0.6 percent, with Multimedia University just above at 1.3 percent.
Least preferred are Presbyterian University and University of Eastern Africa, Baraton.
The report reads:
“The main reason respondents prefer graduates from the selected public universities is the technical expertise and industry knowledge demonstrated by both staff and students…”
The report goes on to say: “…Graduates from the private universities mentioned are preferred because of the university’s reputation for specialization, years of service and community involvement…”.
The report on Kenyan universities also suggests that students focus as much as possible on acquiring specialized work experience and professional knowledge.