The banking sector was the Kingdom’s top hiring industry during the second quarter of 2016, according to a report released yesterday by online career portal Everjobs Cambodia.

The report shows that more and more of the country’s 200,000 university students graduating annually are starting their careers in the financial sector, reflecting the rapid growth of the industry, which now attracts more new hires than hotel and lodging services.

The findings were based on site traffic on the Everjobs portal during the second quarter, including job vacancies posted to the site and web searches by job-seekers. Everjobs did not indicate the sample size, but claims its website receives an average of 6,500 visits a day.

The greatest number of vacancies posted to the site between April and June were in the accounting/finance domain, particularly the banking industry, the report said.

The results reflect the rapid expansion of Cambodia’s financial sector, which is driving economic development, with the domestic credit market growing 27 per cent in 2015 on rising demand for consumption and construction, it added.

Casey Barnett, president of CamEd Business School, said the report matches a trend he has seen with his students, who are receiving job offers from established financial sector firms long before finishing their degrees.

“This matches my experience at my institute . . . where 44 per cent of our 4th year students [all of whom major in accounting and finance] have already been given offers by leading international banks and audit firms even though they won’t finish their studies until December, and the graduation ceremony won’t be held until April 2017.”

The Everjobs career report also notes a surprising and sudden increase in searches for part-time jobs.

“Gaining experience with a part-time job is one of the best ways to ensure employment after graduation and it is definitely something that our partner companies are looking for when recruiting new candidates,” stated Aliaksandra Iuchyk, the company’s marketing, communications and PR manager.