Multi-party cooperation and active measures promote the employment of college graduates to achieve results
Since 2019, my country's higher education gross enrollment rate has exceeded 50%, and my country's higher education has entered the stage of popularization.
The development of higher education has promoted the improvement of the quality of our labor force and is one of the important conditions for the sustained and stable development of our economy and society.
The expansion of college enrollment has brought about an increase in the number of college graduates. In 2021, the number of college graduates of all academic levels in my country exceeded 9 million for the first time. Coupled with the impact of the new crown pneumonia epidemic, it has brought certain difficulties to the employment of college graduates.
The employment of college graduates is related to the effective allocation and utilization of high-level education labor resources, as well as the driving force for the steady development of the economy and society.
In order to fully understand the employment situation of recent college graduates and better promote the high-quality employment of graduates, the "China Education Tracking Survey" project team of the China Survey and Data Center of Renmin University of China has conducted a survey of 2021 college graduates from January 2021. According to the questionnaire survey, a total of 16,207 fresh graduates from 660 colleges and universities across the country were surveyed by the end of May.
Through data, let us get closer to what graduates think, feel, and do this employment season.
1. The employment intentions of college graduates show three trends: the increase in civil service examinations, the increase in domestic and foreign studies, and the increase in self-employment
At the end of May 2021, when there is only one month left before graduation, 38.2% of the surveyed graduates think that the employment situation of college graduates is optimistic, 45.5% think that the employment situation is average, and 16.3% think that the employment situation is difficult; Those who believe that the employment situation is optimistic are 21.9 percentage points higher than those who are difficult.
In the survey conducted in January 2021, only 26.3% of recent graduates thought that the employment situation was optimistic, 49.3% thought that the employment situation was average, and 24.4% thought that the employment situation was difficult; the optimism of employment was only 1.9 percentage points higher than the difficulty of employment.
This shows that in order to do a good job in the employment of college graduates this year, colleges and universities across the country and employers including agencies, enterprises and institutions have worked together to take various forms of positive measures to promote the employment of college graduates, and have achieved remarkable results. , Which directly reflects the feelings of the majority of graduates.
At the same time, my country has won a great victory over the new crown pneumonia epidemic, the economy has recovered in an all-round way, and the demand for college graduates by employers has increased, which directly affects the development of graduates' judgment on the employment situation toward an optimistic side.
Based on the judgment of the employment situation this year, college graduates generally believe that compared with previous years, there are more than three trends in the post-graduation intentions of this year's graduates: an increase in the number of civil servants, an increase in domestic and foreign studies, and an increase in self-employment.
70.4% of the graduates have the intention to find a job, 24.7% have the intention to apply for civil service, 48.9% have the intention to enter a domestic university (college, undergraduate, graduate school), 5.2% have the intention to study abroad, and 27.5% have independent entrepreneurship or freedom of employment Career plan.
Applicants for civil servants have continued to heat up in the employment choices of college graduates in recent years. Among the 2021 junior college graduates, 18.5% have this intention, 28.4% of undergraduates have this intention, and as many as 40.4% of graduate students have applied for civil service. intention.
As for the intention of continuing to enter a higher education, 53.8% of the junior college students have the intention to upgrade to a domestic university, and 2.9% have the intention to study abroad; 49.1% of the undergraduates have the intention to study domestically and 7.6% have the intention to study abroad; graduate students Among them, 20.7% have plans to continue their studies, and 5.1% have plans to study abroad.
Moreover, many graduates are well prepared for their future destinations after graduation. 40.3% of graduates have at least two of the three main graduation destinations: looking for a job, entering a higher education at home and abroad, and self-employed.
2. When college graduates apply for jobs, their career development prospects are the first consideration. The most ideal occupations in the minds of graduates are engineers, doctors, lawyers and other professional and technical personnel.
For college graduates who are about 70% of the total number of graduates who are interested in looking for work, the most desirable unit after graduation is the central state-owned enterprise, and 18.4% of the graduates use this as the first choice; the second is In private enterprises, 17.4% of graduates want to go the most; the third place is various types of schools, and 16.4% of graduates regard it as their ideals after graduation.
Continuing to the bottom are state-owned enterprises other than central enterprises, accounting for 12.35%, party and government agencies accounting for 10.9%, institutions other than scientific research institutions accounting for 10.5%, foreign-funded enterprises accounting for 5.3%, and scientific research institutions accounting for 3.1% %.
In terms of specific occupations, the most ideal occupations in the minds of college graduates are engineers, doctors, and lawyers, and 25.1% of them regard them as their ideals; the second is a teacher, and 18.2% of graduates regard it as The most ideal occupation; the third is civil servants, 14.6% of graduates regard it as the most ideal occupation; the fourth is business management personnel, 11.1% of graduates choose it as their career ideal; the fifth is research and development personnel , 8.1% of graduates regard it as the most ideal career.
In terms of specific work locations, 49.2% of college graduates most want to work in large cities or provincial capitals other than Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen, and 24.1% most want to work in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen. Among first-tier cities, 20.5% most want to work in medium-sized cities at the prefecture-level city level, while only 6.3% of graduates want to work in other locations.
The average after-tax monthly salary expected by college graduates for their first job after graduation is 6,400 yuan, and the median is 5,000 yuan. Among them, the median expected monthly salary after tax for graduate students is 9,000 yuan, and for undergraduates is 6,000 yuan. Birth is 4,000 yuan.
There is a certain gap between the expected monthly salary level and the monthly salary that the employer can actually provide.
The results of a survey conducted by the China Survey and Data Center of Renmin University of China on more than 3,000 households across the country in the same period show that the median monthly salary after tax that employers can provide to 2021 graduates is 4,000 yuan.
Statistics show that college graduates put their career development prospects first in their job search. 89.1% of the graduates think this is very important; the second is job stability, 79.9% of the graduates think This is very important; the third place is income from work, 78.2% of graduates think this is very important.
The next step is whether you can apply what you have learned, accounting for 69.6%; whether it is in line with your own interests, accounting for 67.1%; where you work, accounting for 65.1%; whether you can resolve your registered permanent residence, accounting for 19.9%.
3. In the process of job hunting, college graduates use most of the recruiting and publicity meetings of employers to the school, and the most helpful for graduates is the school's employment guidance department.
The data shows that 14.2% of college graduates will start looking for a job before the graduation season starts in September 2020, 35.3% of graduates will start looking for a job between September and December 2020, and 11.3% of graduates will start in 2021. Start looking for work before the beginning of the new semester of the year. 17.2% of graduates will start looking for work in March 2021, 10.8% of graduates will start looking for work in April 2021, and 11.3% of graduates will only start looking for work in May 2021. Start looking for a job.
Among the various job search channels, college graduates used most recruitment and presentation meetings from employers to schools, with a utilization rate of 87.5%; the second is the school’s employment information website, with a utilization rate of 85.4%; and the third is specialized The recruitment fair for graduates has a utilization rate of 85.3%; the fourth is the official website and official account of the employer, with a utilization rate of 84.8%; the fifth is a professional recruitment APP or website, with a utilization rate of 84.7%; the sixth is Introduced by family members, teachers or friends, the utilization rate is 81.7%.
The utilization rate of these six job search channels has exceeded 80%.
In the job search process, the vast majority of graduates have comprehensively used multiple channels, with 92.7% of graduates using 3 or more job search channels.
On average, job-seeking graduates submitted 8.8 job-application resumes to employers, with an average 54.1% probability of getting an interview opportunity, and finally a 26.5% probability of being able to get an employment letter from the employer.
However, the interview rate and employment rate of graduates vary greatly among different academic levels and different majors.
Graduates believe that the employment guidance department of the school ranks first in the job search process, 57.2% think it helps the job search process; the second is the college or department, and 56.7% think it helps; No. Three are parents and family members, 45.2% of the graduates think it is helpful; the fourth is classmates and alumni, 40.1% of the graduates think it is a great help; the fifth is relatives and friends, 29.9% of the graduates think it is helpful Great help.
This result once again confirms the tremendous efforts and important roles that universities have made in the employment of graduates.
4. College graduates are self-employed, with a high proportion of opportunistic entrepreneurship and knowledge-based entrepreneurship
In recent years, the state has promoted "double innovation" among college students, which has increased the willingness of college students to start their own businesses or engage in freelance careers after graduation, and more than a quarter of the graduating class in 2021.
But this is just an intention. By the time the graduates confirm their graduation destinations, much less will truly start their own businesses.
Statistics show that 38.6% of junior college students intend to start a business or engage in freelance work after graduation, 19.2% of undergraduates, and 8.2% of graduate students.
The higher the educational level, the lower the willingness to start a business independently.
From the perspective of the types of self-employment plans, opportunistic entrepreneurship accounted for 56.5%, and survival entrepreneurship accounted for 43.5%.
Among them, the proportion of opportunistic entrepreneurship is 49.3% for college students, 72.2% for undergraduates, and 76.6% for postgraduates. The higher the level of education, the higher the proportion of opportunistic entrepreneurship.
From the perspective of whether entrepreneurship is the application and transformation of knowledge, knowledge-based entrepreneurship accounted for 57.3%, and non-knowledge-based entrepreneurship accounted for 42.7%.
Among them, the proportion of knowledge-based entrepreneurship is 51.8% for junior college students, 67.9% for undergraduates, and 82.9% for postgraduates. The higher the level of education, the higher the proportion of knowledge-based entrepreneurship.
Using these two dimensions to cross-categorize, the proportion of opportunity-knowledge-based entrepreneurship is as high as 47.1%, which is much higher than other types of entrepreneurship.
College graduates who have mastered advanced knowledge and have a more keen insight into market opportunities will surely become the main force in innovation and entrepreneurship in my country.
(Author: Wang Weidong, deputy director of the China Survey and Data Center of Renmin University of China, and head of the China Education Tracking Survey Project)