Graduates face many barriers in job hunting
(chinanews.cn)
Updated: 2006-06-26 17:27
Six months before graduation, Li Ping, studying for a medical college in
Shandong Province, began job hunting using every possible means.
Besides mailing out his resumes, he also looked for connections and contacts,
including his teachers and alumni. Li will not give up any opportunity that may
lead to a job offer.
"One of my roommates has a mysterious family background. He has been wearing
brandname clothes and using brandname articles. He does not worry about finding
a job, since his parents have already made arrangement for him," said Li. "I'm
from a rural family, so my parents are unable to find a job for me."
Statistics released by relevant departments of China show that in 2006,
graduates from all Chinese colleges and universities numbered 4.13 million, up
750,000 from 2005 with a growth rate of roughly 22%. Hence the employment
tension further intensifies. At the same time, various intangible barriers exist
in social relations, regional restriction, permanent residency and university's
reputation have made the graduates' job-hunting process tougher.
Some analyze that against the backdrop of intensified employment tension for
university graduates, needy students from rural and urban areas usually find
themselves in relatively inferior positions.
Some graduates told the reporter that in order to get a job, they have to
sign some "unfair treaties", promising not to take the postgraduate exam or
leave the company within several years, or they have to pay 5,000 Yuan (US$625)
for breaching the contract. Some recruiters even declared openly that they only
need students from famous universities, so graduates from other schools are not
even entitled to apply.
Currently the contradiction in China's higher education has transferred from
entering to leaving a university and from the difficulty in enrollment to
employment after graduation. It has become a common phenomenon that "graduates
become jobless". Should this problem not be tackled rightly, the employment
issue would turn into a new factor that causes social instability.
|
