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Labor Pains: Downturn upends career dreams of college grads

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-01-04 19:59

BEIJING - "It's so hard to find a job in foreign companies nowadays," said Song Jingli, waiting in line to submit her resume to a campus recruiter for a state-owned petrochemical company.

Job seekers crowd into an employer's stall at a job fair for medicine graduates in Nanjing, capital of eastern China's Jiangsu Province, November 15, 2008. [Xinhua]

The graduating senior, who majored in international communications at the renowned Peking University, wanted to join a foreign media group. But those jobs are few and far between as the world economy weakens.

"With my English skills and media education, an international media group would be my ideal choice. The global financial crisis has crushed my dreams."

The slowdown has chilled the dreams of many of the 6.1 million college-educated job hunters expected to graduate this year. Their prospects are dim at foreign companies and financial institutions, which are experiencing shrinking demand and shortages of capital.

Statistics from the Beijing Foreign Studies University (BFSU), where foreign companies have long been a favorite among its language graduates, showed employment opportunities with such companies down 15 to 20 percent compared with the average level in the past few years.

Students like Song have had to turn their attention from big names and big cities to other possibilities. "I have been in contact with a college in a western province," said Song. "If it works out, I might become a teacher there."

Peking University reported a big increase in students who found their first jobs in non-traditional areas. Only 14 of its graduates became civil servants in towns and villages near Beijing in 2007. But there were 18 such cases in 2008, and another 111 graduates headed west, including the quake zones in Sichuan, Gansu and Shaanxi provinces.

Chen Lijuan, a law graduate at Peking University, joined a village administration in suburban Beijing in 2006. She was elected as a representative for the municipal people's congress after one year's work.

"Many students see Chen as an inspiration for what one can achieve from a seemingly low start," said Chen Yongli, chief career counselor on campus.

According to counselor Chen, the number of graduates willing to settle down in relatively underdeveloped regions is expected to further increase in 2009. "More and more students begin to see the great career potential in these places," he said.

The State Council, or cabinet, announced a 4 trillion yuan (US$586 billion) economic stimulus package in November, determined to enhance investment in projects concerning rural development, infrastructure construction and green industry, among others.

"Programs to develop the western provinces, revive old industrial bases in the northeast and improve rural governance -- all these moves mean new job opportunities for new grads," said Liu Houguang, who's in charge of student development at BFSU.

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