Companies targeting graduates at job fair

Fifty state-owned enterprises were at a job fair in Minhang District on Thursday to offer nearly 1,200 jobs for this year’s college graduates. About 1,400 job seekers attended.

The fair is one of several events organized by the government to help graduates find jobs amid the COVID-19 pandemic. It had a section with career mentors and HR staff introducing jobs online to applicants who couldn’t attend and video interviews with employers from the Yangtze River Delta region and Yunnan Province.

The enterprises, from industries ranging from culture and tourism to biomedicine and smart manufacturing, included Shanghai Electric, Bright Food and Shanghai Huayi. Salaries of up to 15,000 yuan (US$ 2,118) were on offer.

As their targets were graduates, 42.7 percent of the positions were for management trainees and 21.3 percent for program management. About 10.5 percent were for technical engineers. 

Huayi, for example, offered five positions for researchers and were seeking applicants with at least a master’s degree. It was offering 8,000 to 15,000 yuan a month.

Among those interested were Wang Fei and Du Zixuan from Shanghai Business School, both majoring in advertising.

“The pandemic has affected job fairs, interviews and internships, so we are here today after we saw the fair information online,” said Wang. “We have got some offers, but there are many large state-owned enterprises here, so we came to see if there are better opportunities.”

Another student surnamed Lu, majoring in exhibition planning at Shanghai Normal University, said she was on an exchange program in the US last year and returned to Shanghai in January so had missed many autumn and winter job fairs.

“Now as the exhibition business has been severely affected by the pandemic, I’m trying to find opportunities in marketing too,” she said. “Pay is not what concerns me most, but career prospects. I think state-owned enterprises are stable with promising future development.”

Employers said students had become more pragmatic when seeking jobs.

“With the influence of the pandemic, most students have learned that the situation was severe in the job market and cherished offers more. So it’s also a good chance for us to take in outstanding talent,” said Yao Yiying, deputy manager of the HR department at Jinjiang Amusement Park. It had positions in equipment operation management, equipment repair, sales, sales management and landscape design on offer.

Liu Qiong, chief career mentor at the Minhang employment promotion center, said students should analyze their own strengths and interests first before looking for a job.