"2019 China Labor Market Development Report" points out that the structural contradiction of college students’ employment is prominent, and the external environment changes cause the demand of college students to upgrade and the adjustment of college students’ supply to lag behind, which is manifested in the employment difficulties of liberal arts graduates and the shortage of science and engineering talents.
With the end of the semester, the "autumn trick" in full swing has also come to an end. According to the statistics of the Ministry of Education, the number of college graduates in 2020 is expected to reach 8.74 million, an increase of 400,000 compared with the same period of last year. The number of graduates has reached a new high, and the employment situation is still grim.
However, some college students find that their major is not as difficult to find a job as the students around them complain, and they can even easily hold several employment notices. Some surveys also point out that the employment of college students now presents a "structural contradiction": the change of social environment and the development of emerging industries lead to the shortage of science and engineering talents.
Science and engineering majors hand over bright "employment transcripts"
Looking back on my job-hunting experience during this period, Mou Panlong, a senior student at Northeastern University Qinhuangdao Branch, said, "I’m still very happy".
Mou Panlong majored in electrical engineering and automation. As soon as he entered his senior year, he submitted resumes to several favorite companies online — — They are well-known companies in China, and they also participated in the presentation of professional counterparts organized by the school. Not long ago, the company that submitted his resume online contacted him and invited him to have a video interview the next morning. During the interview, he introduced himself briefly and asked several professional-related questions. In the evening, he was informed that the interview had passed.
"Then we talked about the salary and treatment, and both sides were very satisfied. The result now should still meet psychological expectations." Yan Panlong said happily.
An interview with the reporter of Zhongqingbao Zhongqingwang found that in science and engineering, there are not a few students who easily hold an offer like Mou Panlong. At the same time, during this period, colleges and universities began to release the employment quality reports of graduates in 2019, and the "employment transcripts" of science and engineering majors in many science and engineering schools and comprehensive universities were very eye-catching.
According to the Report on the Employment Quality of Graduates in 2019 in Tsinghua University, as of October 31, 2019, the employment rate of graduates in 2019 in Tsinghua University was 98.1%. From the perspective of the industries to which the unit belongs, the industries with the largest number of graduates mainly include information transmission, software and information technology services. Enterprises are the main units for graduates to sign tripartite employment, accounting for 69.9% of the employed, of which private enterprises account for 33.4%.
In addition, the "Report on the Employment Quality of Graduates in 2019" released by Beihang University shows that after the average annual salary of graduates in 2018 broke the 150,000 yuan mark, the average annual salary of graduates in 2019 reached a new high of 181,300 yuan, and the graduates received an average of 3.96 employment notices during the job search. In Beijing Institute of Technology, the employment rate of graduates in 2019 was 98.35%, and the top 30 enterprises (groups) receiving graduates were all units in important fields such as aerospace, aviation, weapons and electronics.
"In Beijing Institute of Technology, it is not unusual for a student to get more than a dozen employment letters in his hand before the Spring Festival." Lin Jijia, director of the Career Guidance Center of Beijing Institute of Technology, also observed that the demand for science and engineering jobs has been increasing in recent years. He took the demand of employers for Beijing Institute of Technology as an example. "There is indeed an inequality between liberal arts and science and engineering. The demand for science and engineering posts is obviously greater than that of liberal arts, which may also be related to the positioning of the school."
"Structural Shortage" of Science and Engineering Talents
In the recruitment market of universities, why can "no job" and "no talent" coexist?
Not long ago, the 2019 China Labor Market Development Report released by the Labor Market Research Center of Beijing Normal University pointed out that the structural contradiction of college students’ employment is prominent, and the external environment changes cause the demand of college students to upgrade and the adjustment of college students’ supply to lag behind, which is manifested in the employment difficulties of liberal arts graduates and the shortage of science and engineering talents.
In some colleges and universities, we can see the "talent war" in the field of science and engineering from the industry distribution of employers recruited in colleges and universities. Zhejiang University’s "Report on the Employment Quality of Graduates in 2019" shows that from the distribution of the industries where 3,290 units are recruited from Zhejiang University, manufacturing, information transmission, software and information technology services, scientific research and technical services have the largest number, accounting for 50.46% of the total.
In view of the "structural shortage" of science and engineering talents, Liu Xiaojie, deputy director of the Admissions and Employment Department of University of Science and Technology Beijing, said in an interview with the reporter of Zhongqing Daily and Zhongqing.com that this is basically the same as the demand for talents in the core technology fields urgently needed by the majority of employers in the process of national innovation and development. At the same time, there is a large demand for engineering students in some traditional financial and management positions, which really objectively reflects the urgent demand for science and engineering talents in the market.
"The recruitment of enterprises is no longer focused on professionalism. They are more inclined to whether students’ ability is competent for the post, so it also provides a convenient condition for engineering students to apply for a job across the border, while the scope of cross-border job hunting for liberal arts students is indeed less likely." Liu Xiaojie said.
Nevertheless, both liberal arts students and science students have their own advantages and disadvantages in the process of employment.
Liu Xiaojie said that in the process of job hunting, science and engineering students have less practical experience related to employment. From the perspective of students’ individual ability, oral communication and expression, language organization ability and job preparation are often not as full as those of liberal arts students; However, the professional substitutability of liberal arts students is higher than that of science students, so employers will have higher requirements for job seekers’ personal ability and internship pertinence.
Lin Yujia also said that from the perspective of job requirements, most of the positions for recruiting liberal arts students require portability, while the job requirements for science and engineering students mainly focus on professional skills. When science and engineering students apply for civil servants or other public management positions, their written test and interview performance are obviously inferior to those of liberal arts students.
"In addition, judging from the job requirements announced by the national examination, there are not many positions that are not limited to majors, and many engineering students have no chance to apply for the exam. From the perspective of time schedule, the front line for liberal arts students to find a job is longer. " Lin Yijia said.
College students should establish "reasonable employment expectation"
For college students of science and engineering, it is more necessary to keep a cool head under numerous choices.
Liu Yiwei (pseudonym), a graduate student of Tongji University, joined the "Autumn Recruitment" army in September last year and has now "landed". Recalling the recruitment experience in the past few months, she said, "The result is good, but the process is tortuous."
In many written tests and interviews, Liu Yiwei had a deeper understanding of his major. "My major is technical, so compared with the liberal arts major, I feel it is relatively simple to find a counterpart job. But on the other hand, my choice is narrower than that of liberal arts students, and I can only find job opportunities in professional fields. Of course, as a science student, we should cherish what we have ‘ Technical threshold ’ " .
Liu Xiaojie also found some gratifying changes in this year’s graduates’ job hunting. "First of all, graduates’ awareness of job hunting has improved compared with previous students. The choice in the process of job hunting is no longer limited to high salary, and more people are beginning to think about life and future planning. Secondly, the overall level of students’ job-seeking skills has improved, which is also inseparable from the generally solid development of employment in various universities. "
In view of college students’ job hunting, many college teachers suggest that college students should establish "reasonable employment expectations".
Lin Jijia said that the so-called difficulty in finding jobs for college students is due to the contradiction between supply and demand, but there are also reasons for high personal expectations. Many students’ unreasonable employment expectations lead to "high failure and low failure". "We should pay more attention to the material treatment, pay attention to the needs of the country, and pay attention to the matching of people and posts and long-term development".
In addition, Liu Xiaojie suggested that it is necessary to make long-term preparations to avoid urgent needs. "Our survey shows that students who have clearly planned and practiced since their freshman year have significantly higher employment satisfaction and employment quality, and their employment difficulty is also lower. Therefore, only when they have a plan can they have a direction and a direction can they have motivation."
Liu Xiaojie said that for science students who are now favored by employers, it is necessary to combine their growth with the needs of the country and the development of the mainstream. "Personal growth can only be more stable and faster if you stand on the big platform of the country, and you can only play a greater role if you are in the fields and regions that the country needs most."
Zhongqingbao Zhongqingwang reporter Sara Ye