985 master's degree applicants were rejected from applying for jobs because they were both undergraduates and non-bachelors.
How to solve the problem of "first degree" when applying for a job?
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Master's degree graduates from 985 universities are rejected when applying for jobs because their undergraduate institutions are not 211 or 985.
At present, the phenomenon of some employers still using "first academic qualification" as the "threshold" for recruitment.
This tendency of "only prestigious schools" and "only academic qualifications" in hiring people needs to be eradicated urgently.
“I attended a lot of interviews, but I didn’t receive any offer notice.” As the new year was approaching and he still hadn’t found a job, Gao Chang felt “a lot of pressure.”
For Gao Chang, who graduated from a second-tier university for his undergraduate degree and studied in a 985 university for his postgraduate studies, the source of anxiety lies in the "first degree."
Recently, the topic of job seekers encountering “first degree” discrimination has attracted attention.
News such as "I spent three years studying for a 985 master's degree, but was rejected when I applied for a job because I had two bachelor's degrees" and "'First degree' discrimination is like leaving a criminal record".
Although the Ministry of Education publicly responded in 2021 that academic qualifications usually refer to the highest or final academic qualifications obtained by an individual, there is no concept of "first academic qualifications" in relevant policies and documents of the national education administration department.
However, reporters found in interviews that in actual recruitment, the phenomenon of employers using "first academic qualifications" as the "threshold" for recruitment still exists.
The underappreciated “counterattacker”
Gao Chang studied at a second-tier university in Sichuan for his undergraduate degree.
Such non-211 and non-985 colleges and universities are also called "double non" colleges.
Graduate students from "Double-African" colleges and universities admitted to 985 colleges are called "counterattackers."
What Gao Chang, who had "counterattacked", did not expect was that he thought that getting a job as a graduate student from a prestigious university would be much easier than getting a job as an undergraduate, but he encountered "first degree" discrimination when applying for a job——
At the double selection meeting, the company's HR wrote "double non" on the resume she handed over, and then stuffed it into a stack of resumes.
"After that, there will be no more." Gao Chang said.
She applied for the same unit as a graduate student who graduated from a 211 college. She obviously had richer internship experience, but it was her classmate who received the written test notice.
"Where is your undergraduate school?" When participating in the second round of interviews at a company, the interviewer's casual question made Gao Chang's heart skip a beat.
After learning that she graduated from a second-tier university, Gao Chang obviously felt that the interviewer was no longer interested in her. "The previous applicants all chatted for about 15 minutes, but when it came to me, it took less than 5 minutes."
After waiting for two weeks, the company's HR called her to tell her that the recruitment was over because her resume was not competitive.
This experience shocked Gao Chang, "We have already reached the second interview stage. I thought I would meet a company that didn't value the 'first degree' so much, but in the end I still couldn't escape this 'curse'."
Chen Lei, who has a similar "counterattack" experience in studying as Gao Chang, also dreamed of entering a leading Internet company.
But as a submitted resume disappeared, Chen Lei gradually lost confidence.
Later, he asked a friend to inquire inside the company and learned that the company he applied for only recruited undergraduate and graduate students from 211 and 985 universities, so his resume was "ignored."
The "threshold" that is not seen
After several failed interviews, Chen Lei discovered that many companies would not specify the "first academic qualification" requirement in their recruitment notices, but would often regard it as an invisible "threshold" that would affect subsequent employment decisions.
Many people in the human resources industry told reporters that even if some job seekers have excellent graduate education backgrounds, if they attend an average undergraduate school, it is often difficult to get to the end of the recruitment process and get a job opportunity.
Liu Ling works in recruitment at an Internet company in Beijing.
During the recruitment season, her main job is to sort out the collected resumes and hand them over to the leaders to determine whether to give them an interview opportunity.
"Some applicants have rich work experience and average first academic qualifications, and the leadership will consider giving them an interview opportunity. However, if there is not much difference in ability during the interview compared with other applicants with better academic backgrounds, it is very likely that they will not be considered because of their academic qualifications. If the impression score is not high, you will be eliminated." Liu Ling said.
Liu Ling said frankly that in the face of massive resumes, academic screening is often regarded by companies as a fast and intuitive screening method that can save recruitment costs. "If we do not screen based on academic qualifications, we will increase a lot of workload."
"The impact of academic qualifications is different in different industries, positions and different recruitment channels." Zhang Peng, who is engaged in recruitment at an Internet technology company in Hangzhou, believes that high-tech industries value academic qualifications more, while positions such as Internet marketing value more. Work experience, "School recruitment often pays more attention to the graduate institution, while in social recruitment, if the job seeker's past work performance is enough to prove their strength, then academic qualifications will not be strictly limited."
Zhang Peng said that in recent years, the academic level of applicants has continued to improve. Sometimes, more than 80% of the resumes received for a position have a master's degree or above, and employers are more likely to start from the "first academic qualification" stage. "We naturally hope to select the best from the best and recruit better talents. At the same time, the way famous schools cultivate students' abilities is indeed more likely to meet the needs of enterprises."
Reversing the employment orientation of “only prestigious schools” and “only academic qualifications”
"The Employment Promotion Law stipulates that workers enjoy equal employment and the right to choose their own jobs in accordance with the law. Workers are not discriminated against in employment due to differences in ethnicity, race, gender, religious beliefs, etc. However, the labor law does not include 'first academic qualifications' "Discrimination on academic qualifications, including discrimination on academic qualifications, should be clearly regulated." Liu Jing, a lawyer at Shaanxi Xuegao Law Firm, believes that in order to reverse the employer orientation of "only prestigious schools", it is also necessary to guide the whole society to establish a talent evaluation system and supervision based on ability. protection mechanism.
"What needs to be vigilant is that employers rely too much on the 'first degree' to select candidates, which may lead to mismatching of people and positions. Because 'first degree' does not fully represent ability." Wang Zicheng, director of the Department of Administrative Management, School of Public Administration, Jinan University He told reporters that simply and crudely using a job seeker’s “first academic qualification” to measure their personal abilities will, to a certain extent, cause employers to miss out on good talents, lead to untimely updates to their talent selection and training idea systems, and will also lead to misunderstandings. The employer's market recruitment image has an impact and affects subsequent talent recruitment.
Regarding the issue of academic discrimination, relevant departments have also issued documents to clarify it.
In 2020, the "Overall Plan for Deepening the Reform of Educational Evaluation in the New Era" issued by the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council proposed that party and government agencies, public institutions, and state-owned enterprises should take the lead in reversing the employment orientation of "only prestigious schools" and "only academic qualifications" and establish a system based on moral character and ability. A talent utilization mechanism that is oriented and targeted at job needs.
The newly revised Vocational Education Law will be implemented in May 2022, clarifying that vocational school students have equal opportunities with ordinary school students at the same level in terms of further education, employment, and career development.
Employers shall not set application, recruitment, and employment conditions that hinder equal employment and fair competition among vocational school graduates.
Wang Zicheng suggested that in addition to guiding employers to establish a correct view of talents and build a scientific talent evaluation and selection mechanism, relevant legal provisions involving fair employment should also be revised, or relevant departments should publish typical guiding cases of discrimination against "first academic qualifications" to promote Build a fairer employment environment.
(Some interviewees have pseudonyms)
Qu Xinyue