OREANDA-NEWS. SCM has presented the 6th Compass Annual National University Ranking based on opinions of employers and graduates, with Kyiv, Donetsk and Lviv universities leading the way.

National Technical University of Ukraine "Kyiv Polytechnic Institute" retains the first place.

Kiev Shevchenko National University shows stable performance running second since 2010.

Vadim Getman Kyiv National Economic University ranks third.

The fourth place has been shared by three universities: Lviv Polytechnic National University, Donetsk National Technical University (moved up from the 6th place) and the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy, which moved down one place as compared to the last year.

Kyiv National University of Construction and Architecture, the same as in 2012, and the National Aviation University, which leapt from the seventh place, rank fifth.

"SCM Group is the largest employer in Ukraine. SCM employs more than 300,000 people. Every year we give the first jobs to thousands of young specialists, so the quality of education offered to our young generation is an important part of our competitiveness. At the same time, the quality of knowledge has become the key factor for the entire national business employing recent graduates both in Ukraine and outside. SCM established Compass National University Ranking to help school leavers and students to choose a university that offers a high-quality contemporary education and provides knowledge demanded by the real economy sector," commented Natalia Yemchenko, SCM's Director of Public Relations and Communications.

The project covers 239 Ukrainian universities of the third and fourth level of accreditation that train bachelors, specialists and masters in five areas: business/economy, law, engineering/technical professions, information technologies (IT) and architecture/construction. Initiated by SCM back in 2008, this year Compass was compiled by Kyiv International Institute of Sociology (KIIS).

Also, KIIS conducted a survey for SCM called "Graduate employment experience as seen by graduates and employers", which tells how many graduates have been employed in general, how many do a degree-related job, how a specialty area affects this indicator, what are the most popular ways of finding a job among university leavers, etc.

Also, it has answers to such questions as what employers look for when hiring people and what they call the major drawbacks of young specialists.

"The survey we conducted must help young specialists to shape the right career and salary expectations and approach their employment effectively, which will support them on their way to success. It answers all main questions set by university leavers when they start looking for their first job. I really hope that these answers will help 2013 graduates to land good well-paid degree-related jobs, including jobs at SCM Group businesses," added Natalia Yemchenko.

The ranking results will be published on the website of the project and in Segodnya newspaper on 14 May 2013.

The key findings of the survey are available in Natalia Yemchenko's post in SCM's corporate blog. The full survey will be published in June 2013.