Children in China are often told that a university education leads to a bright future. In today's increasingly competitive job market, thousands of new graduates are finding they are in need of more than just stellar academic skills if they are to be successful in the 21st-century workplace.
Over-exuberance sometimes does not pay as Chen Yang discovered recently.
The East China University of Science and Technology student said she was shocked to learn that a senior student with a good academic record had been rejected after he was seen talking loudly in the hall before his interview.
A quiet demeanor and gentle manners, it seems, are a new criteria for job seekers and something companies are increasingly looking for.
Another postgraduate interviewee said he was turned down because his long talk with the interviewers irritated them.
"It's really sad (for him) to be rejected," Chen said. "We never had a tutor to tell us about manners."
Lacking in interview skills is not the only sticky point for job-seeking students. Plenty feel unassisted when planning their career and looking for jobs.
University graduates, once the pride of the country, are now turning up for interviews for jobs that they are over-qualified for as offers for better positions dry up.
In Shanghai, for example, 83,120 university graduates are looking for jobs this year, up 31 percent from a year ago.
Unfortunately, most companies are snubbing their applications as they would rather hook experienced people from rival companies with promises of fat profits than new graduates.
Wang Jinyong, vice president of Industrial Securities Co., said he has met several excellent graduates for job interviews.
"The problem is our company can't afford the time to cultivate them," he admits. " We need experienced people now (to generate profit)."
A host of companies have similar thinking.
According to the Economic Observer News, the majority of foreign-funded companies are planning to recruit less graduates from a year earlier. Others are reluctant to take on new graduates.
If the survey is any indication to go by, thousands of Shanghai students are unlikely to find jobs this year.
"There is already a glut of talents on the job market, not to mention thousands of new graduates from other parts of the country who are coming to Shanghai to try their luck," said Liu Dawei, a professor of human resources with the Shanghai University of Finance and Economics.
Educators seem to be shaking out into two camps on the scenario.
Some say the intensified competition is inevitable, students have no choice but to succumb to the realities while others disagree.
They said the reluctance to take on new graduates would someday backfire.
"In the long view, companies do need talent reserve," said Jin Xiaobin, chief researcher with Haitong Securities Co.
Gu Xiaofang, a tutor at East China University of Science and Technology, agreed, saying the companies are biased. "With good training, most of them are quite likely to qualify the positions."
All of them threw light on the training in universities.
There is an understanding among students that specific on-campus training is badly needed.
Practical skills in interview etiquette and the operation of office equipment are essential. More importantly, analysts say, teachers should find a way to help students create a proper career path.
"The job the student is going to choose should be in line with his interests and personality," said Fei Yufang, director of the Career Service Center at Jiao Tong University. "However, some students have little idea about what kind of people they are and what they like, let alone what future jobs suit them."
Several universities, such as Jiao Tong and Tongji, are planning to launch original and systematic training programs, hoping to breathe some fresh air into the existing training courses.
In addition, lectures on specific topics, such as government policies and job-hunting skills, are also being welcomed by students.
"To meet students' requests, we are still making efforts to develop our training courses," said Liu Jianxin, a teacher at Jiao Tong University's career service center.
Students in the past never had it so difficult as graduates were assigned jobs by the government before. In the early 1990s the system was reformed to meet the soaring demands for higher-educated people as a flood of overseas companies flocked to China.
While students normally seek jobs on their own, nowadays, in the face of a stalling global economy, companies are offering less jobs, which leaves new graduates out on a limb.
As an example to show how extreme the situation is, recently about 1,000 graduates turned up for a couple of vacancies as Dragonair management trainees.
Tens of thousands of applicants also filed to accounting firm KPMG, enticed by a monthly salary of 4,850 yuan (US$584).
Most students have their sights set on a high income.
"It is something akin to looking for a needle in a haystack," said Zhou Shiyu, a private entrepreneur who runs a freight forwarding company. "Indeed, private companies hold the future for new graduates."
Liu of Shanghai University of Finance and Economics agreed.
He said being unemployed didn't necessarily mean a lack of demand.
"It partly results from a lopsided distribution of talents," Liu added, indicating students can still find jobs if they wish.
Logically, the gap could be bridged if students can access more information. That also ushered in a training business onto the job market.
Pana-vision Consulting Inc., a private agency, started its career training courses late last year at three universities.
"The whole training program is designed to differentiate who should go where to do what, when and by how." said Sun Danying, a co-founder of the company. "We offer three-level training courses to meet the requirements from different students."
The training includes such areas as interview skills, resume writing and how to negotiate salary.
It costs, on average, about 100 yuan for each four-hour course on a specific topic.
"It is reasonable charge. I believe it is worthwhile if it solves a student's employment situation," said Sun.
Pana-vision's next step is in the training of university teachers.
Sun said the training courses were welcomed by not only the students but also the teachers. Some universities are planning to use the training resources to facilitate their staffs' training capacity.
"Compared with the old ways of training, job training can be more individually oriented," said a student who took one of the programs.
As to paid training courses, some students complained it was university's duty to offer free and helpful courses.
"I won't take a paid course if it can't give me valuable information," said a Fudan University student.
(Eastday.com February 21, 2003)
