Postgraduates struggle to find work

Many postgraduates were surprised to find themselves being turned away by employers at an employment fair in Nanjing last Saturday, after most employers at the fair called for "Undergraduates Only".

Some job seekers with a master's degree still hoped to hand in their resumes to employers, but were rejected from positions that undergraduates were eligible enough for. Many postgraduates left frustrated, thinking that it was unfair because they were more educated and possessed more skills than those being accepted.

Employers at the fair responded to criticisms, claiming that they were worried that postgraduates may not be satisfied with the salaries that most companies were paying, and would leave to find other work soon after being hired. Some large-scale companies have also lowered their standards of recruitment, explaining that they not only needed people with higher credentials but also those with a high proficiency in business.

Zhu Minling, Director of Career Guidance Service of Nanjing University of Science and Technology, commented on the fierce job market, pointing out that companies now tend to recruit employees by their actual demand. She also warned undergraduates that a postgraduate degree does not guarantee landing a better job, and that they should look towards gaining work experience, which seems to be more appealing to employers than degrees.

After the global financial crisis in 2008, many Chinese undergraduates chose to pursue a master's degree in order to escape the harsh job market, which sparked the craze for postgraduate study. Consequently, people with higher credentials are now also under pressure to find a good job.

The topic has sparked a lively discussion on the China's Twitter-analogue, Sina Weibo, with people leaving more than 10,000 comments on the story.

"It seems that undergraduates can get jobs easier," said @HI-Cappuccino.

"People with higher degrees have more choices among jobs. There must be some reason why so many people have been taking postgraduate entrance exams," commented @Shanlinxia.

"Many postgraduates expect more. When I was an intern in a hospital, another intern was a postgraduate. All she could do was read, and she was very bad at handling cases in practice. All of us undergraduates had to help her," said @Maoxiaoliaodefoxiao.

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