"Career Path and Competencies" Event Held for Senior Public Finance Students

A presentation titled "Career Path and Competencies" was held to raise awareness among senior students in the Department of Public Finance regarding their post-graduation career planning. Conducted by our esteemed faculty member, Prof. Dr. Sevda Akar, the event comprehensively addressed post-graduation career expectations, sectoral preferences, salary expectations, and postgraduate education trends. At the conclusion of the event, an evaluation survey was administered to gauge the tendencies of the participating students.

According to the survey results reflecting the active participation of 52 students, the most preferred career field was identified as the "Tax Practices and Tax Audit" sector with 42.3%. This was followed by "Accounting and Financial Consultancy" at 15.4%, and "Banking, Finance, and Capital Markets" at 11.5%. In line with their career goals, more than half of the students (51.9%) plan to shape their futures within Public Group A cadres, while the private sector and Public Group B cadres shared the second place with 15.4% each. These data demonstrated that the vast majority of students lean toward a career path in public employment.

Regarding initial salary expectations, "2–2.99 times the minimum wage" ranked first with 32.7%, followed by "3–3.99 times the minimum wage" at 28.8%, and expectations of "5 or more times the minimum wage" at 23.1%. In terms of academic planning, 78.8% of the participants stated that they do not plan to pursue postgraduate education after graduation, whereas 21.2% expressed an intention to pursue a master's or doctoral degree. This finding indicated that most students adopt an immediate transition into professional life as their primary goal upon graduation.

Regarding another prominent dimension of the survey, namely the level of satisfaction, 44.2% of the students stated that they are partially satisfied with being in the Department of Public Finance, while 21.2% declared they are highly satisfied. While 32.7% of the participants maintained an undecided stance, only 1.9% stated that they are highly dissatisfied. Overall, it was observed that a significant portion of the students possess a positive sense of belonging toward their department.

In response to the question regarding the department's efficacy in preparing them for professional life, 44.2% of the students answered "I believe it partially prepares me," while 9.6% strongly agreed with this view. Conversely, a 23.1% segment remained neutral, and another 23.1% (those who partially and strongly disagreed) evaluated the department as insufficient in preparing them for professional career. These findings provided critical data indicating that the current curriculum needs to be further reinforced in terms of imparting professional competencies.

As the Department Chairmanship, we would like to express our gratitude on behalf of all our faculty members to our students who participated in the evaluation survey and shared their feedback. We also extend our sincere thanks to our esteemed professor, Prof. Dr. Sevda Akar, for her invaluable support, knowledge sharing, and presentation during the execution of this event.