College graduates face diversified job-hunting choices amid epidemic

HEFEI, June 20 (Xinhua) -- Like many peers, Yu Tong, who is to graduate from the Hefei University of Technology in east China's Anhui Province this summer, has experienced a different job-hunting season.

After finishing the evaluation, job interview, and contract signing, all online, the 22-year-old majoring in energy and power engineering successfully landed a job with his dream company.

"Because of the COVID-19 epidemic, there aren't too many offline recruitment sessions," said Yu. "I saw the recruitment information at the online job fair held by the university. I then submitted my resume and managed to land a job at last."

Online recruitment is quite mature in China, allowing students to build contacts with several enterprises and secure suitable jobs without even leaving their dormitories.

Yu is one of 10.76 million new graduates from universities and colleges in the country in 2022. The number hit a record high with a year-on-year increase of 1.67 million.

With employment pressure from multiple factors, including the epidemic, more new graduates this year face new choices, including online job-hunting and flexible and later employment.

Yu started looking for work last September, attending job-training camps, campus recruitment, and job fairs. However, the traditional job-hunting process was disrupted by the COVID resurgence in the first half of this year.

"Employers couldn't enter the campus while we couldn't go out over COVID-19 control measures, and all offline recruitment sessions stopped," said Yu.

The university then guided graduates to seek jobs online, holding several online recruitment sessions. He said that practice saves a lot of time and effort. "I received six offers through online recruitment."

The university offers more targeted and convenient online employment services this year, said Zhong Xiaoyao, an official with the Hefei University of Technology. "We have held 128 online recruitment sessions to help students land jobs," Zhong said.

China has rolled out measures, including organizing massive online recruitment, to help new graduates secure jobs as the COVID-19 resurgence and slower economic growth brought about severe employment pressure this year.

The rapid development of the sharing and platform economy has nurtured a massive variety of market players and new jobs in the country. As a group with active thinking and strong innovation capacity, some college graduates seek to achieve their value through flexible employment.

Approaching graduation, Wu Lin is busy recruiting team members such as cameramen and editors for his newly-established we-media studio.

Wu, 22, started to post short videos about his life on social media platforms in his first year. After four years, the radio and television major has already had a million followers and has long planned to continue with his we-media work after graduation.

"I'm very interested in a job with a free and independent working environment," Wu said. "Flexible employment is not only about getting work flexibly but also features flexibility in majors and thinking."

"The internet sector develops very quickly, and I need to be highly sensitive to changes and emerging industry opportunities," said Wu.

Many college graduates, however, choose to enter careers later as this year's employment pressure drives them to be more cautious. They pursue higher degrees, go on study tours, or conduct entrepreneurial investigations to create more employment possibilities in the future.

According to a 2022 college graduate employment survey released by the Chinese job site Zhaopin, 50.4 percent of college graduates opt to work for employers, down by six percentage points from last year. The proportion of freelancing and later employment both increased by three percentage points.

Many localities across China, including Beijing, Wuhan, and Dalian, are providing government subsidies or free training sessions for those in flexible employment.

"Careers require long-term planning and efforts, and there is more than one path to employment," said Xu Hua, a professor at Anhui University.

"The young generation actively adjusts their employment ideas according to changes and choose career development paths more rationally, cautiously combining their interests, self-expertise, and career choices," Xu added.