2022: Micro-observation of the "sprint" of employment of fresh college graduates
Our reporters Yu Wan and Guo Yuqi
"According to the relevant requirements for the prevention and control of the new crown pneumonia epidemic, it was decided to postpone the unified written test after research, and the specific holding time will be notified separately..." In the seventh month of the job search, Wang Lili silently crossed out the arrangement of this test on the memo.
In the spring and summer of 2022, for most recent college graduates, including Wang Lili, the "uncertainty of examinations" and the "urgency of the contract deadline" are showing a tendency to be caught between two breads.
There are not too many job fairs crowded together, and one person refreshes the state in front of the computer, which seems to be a little more "isolated".
Statistics show that in 2022, the number of fresh college graduates in my country exceeded the 10 million mark for the first time, reaching 10.76 million, an increase of 1.67 million year-on-year.
In May 2022, the Ministry of Education launched the "100-day sprint" activity for the employment of college graduates in 2022, in order to "support recruits" for new graduates through a series of special actions.
In the past month or so, the reporter followed several recent college graduates from different cities and different educational backgrounds to experience this job-hunting "sprint" battle together, and recorded their "set sail" in the epidemic, with a sense of "compassion". Into the sea" mental journey.
Dozens of junctures to meet "difficulties"
"At present, the domestic epidemic is spreading in many places. Affected by the international epidemic, overseas students returning to China for employment are also increasing. The overall employment situation of college graduates is severe and complicated..." For similar news feeds, Renmin University of China's 2022 master's degree graduates It seems that Xu Yiman and the people around him already have "herd immunity".
"Be mentally prepared, this year will be extra difficult."
Xu Yiman chose to work in her hometown of Guangdong after graduation. From November 2021 to January 2022, she has taken the National Civil Service Examination, Shenzhen Civil Service Examination and Guangdong Provincial Transfer Examination, but was not selected.
In a recent exchange with reporters, Xu Yiman had just passed several rounds of screening and received an offer of employment as a teacher in a high school in Shenzhen. She was fortunate to be able to "break through" from the thousands of people who signed up in one district.
"My thoughts haven't changed, I really just want to take an exam." Xu Yiman said, this is a rational judgment on the current situation, one is to hope to be closer to home, and the other is to feel more stable.
She heard that some classmates signed an Internet company and set a goal of making enough money before the age of 35. "Such a strong sense of urgency is not what I want."
Xu Yiman's ideas are representative of this class of university graduates.
At the end of April 2022, the Communication and National Governance Research Center of the Fudan Development Research Institute, the Shanghai Information Security and Social Management Innovation Laboratory, and the Bilibili Public Policy Research Institute jointly released the "Survey Report on the Social Mentality of Chinese Youth Netizens (2009-2021)" .
The report believes that young netizens currently have a more positive attitude towards work outside the system, but in employment choices, a higher proportion of them prefer to work within the system; the post-00s are more inclined to work within the system than the post-90s; The attractiveness of cities to young netizens is still on the rise.
"The epidemic has forced some units to suspend their recruitment plans. The postponed exams often have no fixed date. Some exams have been delayed from December last year to March and April this year, and may be delayed again in the face of a new round of epidemics." Xu Yiman said, Fresh graduates can't afford to wait, there are always more opportunities in first-tier cities.
Examination may be a relatively safe and decent way to "go ashore" as soon as possible.
After many delays in applying for exams, Li Hongyin, a 2022 undergraduate student at Zhejiang Agriculture and Forestry University, decided to find another way.
"When it comes to the job search stage, it is really difficult to maintain a high-intensity test preparation state."
For Li Hongyin, giving up the civil service exam means ending "sunk costs".
"Unlimited" waiting is tiring, not to mention the impact on the enthusiasm, affecting the progress of employment is the key.
Considering the current situation, it is helpless to fall back, but who knows what the next chocolate will taste like?
A new track may have new opportunities.
On the eve of the Spring Festival in 2022, Li Hongyin started an internship in a company that produces LCD panels. Most of the internship was done "online" - as soon as work time arrived, he turned on the computer and clocked in, and then started work.
Online mutual selection saves time and energy, but it also makes it impossible for both parties to truly understand each other in order to achieve adaptation. "After all, the working environment is also one of the factors that affect the sense of employment experience. Under the epidemic, we can only adapt."
In early May, Li Hongyin was successfully hired by the above-mentioned companies, but she was still uneasy in her heart.
After witnessing many companies suspend production due to the epidemic and even were forced to lay off staff, Li Hongyin admitted frankly that there are still variables in where to work after graduation.
In order to reduce such variables as much as possible, on the basis of repeated national research and deployment, many departments have issued policies to ensure employment of market entities, promote innovation and entrepreneurship to bring employment, and focus on key groups to stabilize employment.
Colleges and universities are also doing everything possible to expand the total number of employment positions for graduates. School secretaries and principals take the lead in visiting key cooperative enterprises to tap more job resources for graduates.
At the same time, precise assistance work such as "one person, one file" and "one policy for life" has been carried out in an all-round way.
“Students know that although they are ultimately on their own, they are not alone,” said Shi Qifang, vice-minister of Zhejiang University of Technology.
Jumping out of "Survivor Bias"
Communicating with "people who have come here" and listening to the lectures of "landers", it seems that this class of graduates is not so easy to be "convinced".
"Almost everyone around me has prepared for the transfer test. In some dormitories, all the staff are preparing for the test. Everyone is very enthusiastic about the relevant lectures. It's just that the lectures of those who pass the test may create a 'survivor bias'. In fact, the proportion of 'going ashore' It’s not high,” said Shi Yiqing, a civil engineering major at Zhejiang University.
She told reporters that she would coexist peacefully with the "survivor deviation". When choosing a career, she prefers to follow her own interests, make decisions based on limited information and her own feelings, and is willing to try more.
"I prefer to have a set of my own 'subjective' standards rather than the 'objective' standards of society."
As for studying abroad, whether it is from the overseas epidemic situation or the current international situation, it is no longer the best choice for this year's graduates.
"Before the epidemic, almost half of the 150 people in an undergraduate year wanted to go abroad for further study, but now only about 10 people are preparing for this." Shi Yiqing felt that the students who used to have multiple paths are now coming to "race on the same path." , "Everyone has fewer choices, and that road will definitely be harder to walk."
Postgraduate entrance examination, suspend the attack?
Possibly another "survivor bias".
According to data released by the Ministry of Education in December 2021, the number of applicants for the National Postgraduate Admissions Examination in 2022 will be 4.57 million, and this number has just exceeded the 2 million mark in 2017.
Although many elders and seniors around him suggested that he take the postgraduate entrance examination, Yue Xiang, a fresh graduate of Hangzhou Dianzi University, still made his own judgment: the degree of tension in preparing for the postgraduate examination is no less than that of finding a job. The situation will only get worse.
On May 13, when the reporter opened the forum of "Fresh Graduate Job Search Network" mentioned by many graduates, the discussion topic that popped up automatically was the experience of a senior: "I got an offer before the Spring Festival, but I was thinking about the postgraduate entrance examination. My mother said that she would cut off her relationship with me if she didn't take the postgraduate entrance examination, so I rejected the offer. But I didn't expect to catch up with the year with the largest number of people taking the postgraduate entrance examination, and the scores also rose, and finally I lost the election by 5 points..."
Yue Xiang said that if they fall into the "survivor bias", many postgraduate candidates will eventually become "accompanying candidates".
"Actually, during the autumn recruitment period, the remaining positions in major companies were still sufficient, and there were fewer competitors. However, in the spring recruitment period, students who had previously failed the postgraduate entrance examination flocked to find jobs, resulting in a small number of people."
Most students have a clear understanding that this year's employment difficulties are caused by a combination of factors.
The total number of graduates has increased, the economic growth rate has slowed down, the epidemic has spread in many places, the international situation has changed, etc., market jobs have shrunk, and the total number of policy jobs has been limited... Even for Internet companies that had a favorable employment situation in the past few years, this year It was also a difficult year.
But there are still many graduates who choose to "struggle" again and stay true to their dreams.
"There are many contradictions that need to be resolved in the process of job hunting, but I have never let go of the idea of starting my own business." Tu Shuai, a third-year student majoring in bioengineering at Zhejiang University of Technology, once won the gold medal in the China International "Internet +" College Students Innovation and Entrepreneurship Competition.
In his resume, he insisted on retaining the expression "exploring the unknown, daring to make innovations".
"99% of college students fail, but many people don't know that there is a second half, that is, these people later succeed in other fields."
"This generation of children who grew up under the epidemic is more open-minded and more willing to believe in themselves. After feedback from seniors, relatives and friends and social news, they will pursue stability more, but their initiative in employment will also be stronger. No. Taihui is obsessed with the degree of professional matching, and is more inclined to give full play to personal ability and realize value.” said Zhang Jie, a postgraduate counselor at the School of Art and Design, Zhejiang Gongshang University.
As a counselor for the graduating class, Zhang Jie will periodically learn about the students' demands, judge whether their judgments on themselves and the situation are objective, and encourage them to work hard from "the goal that can be reached by just one step", helping them Calm down the emotional ups and downs caused by fierce competition.
"One of the focuses of this year's employment work is to alleviate the mental difficulties of students." Zhang Chao, director of the Student Career Development Guidance Center of Tsinghua University, said that under the current situation, the school should provide more employment resources on the one hand, and pay attention to employment on the other hand. Psychological anxiety, at the same time, through the employment center website, WeChat public account and employment assistants in various colleges to transmit information, and increase the delivery of consulting services.
It is reported that in May 2022, the Ministry of Education officially launched the "100-day sprint" activity for the employment of college graduates in 2022, and "support recruits" for graduates through a series of special actions such as the entry of thousands of enterprises into schools and targeted assistance.
Relying on the national 24365 employment service platform, it launched more than 30 online special recruitment activities and provided more than 800,000 jobs.
Schools all over the country have also launched online and offline recruitment "combination punches", pooling local resources, and holding regional, industry, and alliance online and offline special recruitment fairs, which are expected to exceed 15,000.
Zhang Chao said that at a particularly difficult juncture, some undergraduates may experience "slow employment".
But overall, the attitude of graduates to seek employment is still positive.
"Into the sea" with a normal mind
Since the current round of the epidemic, Han Han, a 2022 master student of Shanghai Jiao Tong University, has been in school.
Although the formalities for leaving school have been repeatedly delayed, fortunately, he has found a job before the outbreak of the epidemic.
"The epidemic will affect the job search experience, but it is not absolute. Individuals can exert their subjective initiative in the employment process."
Han Han, a graduate student in engineering, majored in aerospace. He said that although he understands that the industry is still in a slow development stage and the salary is not as good as that of popular majors such as finance and computer, he is more willing to consider choosing a career from a long-term perspective. my country's defense technology, which is in urgent need of vigorous development, urgently needs the participation of talents, which will not be changed by the impact of the epidemic, so I firmly chose to work in this bank."
After being baptized by an epidemic, Han Han felt that he had lost a layer of impetuousness - constantly resisting pressure, adjusting his mentality, and balancing work and life.
He said that employment is not just about finding a job, but also a confidence to face the future.
"It is important to remain vigilant and prepared for threats to come back at all times."
It is undeniable that since 2020, the new crown pneumonia epidemic has made the job search for fresh college graduates bumpy, but it is precisely because of the bumpy road that they have gone deeper and deeper, inspiring young people to self-worth and development, personal and social relations. Thinking.
Zhe Lun Yang, a 2022 undergraduate student of Zhejiang University, plans to return to the mainland for employment after completing his postgraduate study in finance in Hong Kong this year (one-year program).
During the epidemic, Yang Zelun worked as a food delivery volunteer. During the heavy rain in Henan last July, he also participated in the community material distribution service in Zhengzhou.
In the volunteer line, he realized the value of common sense.
"In that case, those who have money donate money, and those who have materials donate materials, do their best." Yang Zelun hopes that he will be able to work in a financial institution with a service nature in the future.
"I learned that financial institutions also have some supporting services, such as assessing risks for small and micro enterprises, participating in state-level investment projects, and banks' livelihood business, etc."
Zhang Shiqi, a 2022 graduate of Beijing Institute of Technology majoring in electronic and communication engineering, will work as a back-end programmer in an Internet company after graduation.
Compared with most fresh graduates, his job search started much earlier: he entered the school in 2019, began to learn computer-related knowledge and programming skills necessary for programmers at the end of 2020, started an internship in early 2021, completed the internship before the summer of that year and obtained the reserved.
"During that time, I needed to balance school papers, company internships, and preparation for autumn recruitment. I could only use 10 to 12 pm to learn the knowledge needed for autumn recruitment. If there was an interview, I had to ask the company for leave. I was exhausted but very fulfilling every day. In retrospect, I will thank myself for my hard work at that time.” Zhang Shiqi said.
Tens of millions of people "enter the sea", how difficult it is to "go ashore".
In Zhang Shiqi's view, the current situation of graduates seeking employment is a feedback on the current economic situation.
As an individual, we can only grasp the determinable factors in the uncertainty, and use adequate preparation to fight anxiety.
"In general, 'struggle' is still the main theme, and everyone still generally believes that 'hard work is useful'." Ren Li, a 2022 undergraduate at Zhejiang Agriculture and Forestry University, said that material possessions are not the ultimate goal. Compared with buying a house or a car, she hopes that she has A stable living standard and space to develop personal hobbies. If allowed, I may be a "slash youth" in my spare time and live a more interesting life.
In 2020, the college graduates of that year set sail with a song "Into the Sea". Two years later, the 2022 graduates still believe that "time will answer growth, and growth will answer dreams." (The names of some students in the article are pseudonyms)