Graduates innovate to find work amid pandemic

New trends

Cao Shujing, director of the careers center at SISU, has observed some new job option trends among this year's group of graduates.

As internet-related work means there is little risk of cross-contamination, related fields have become popular among graduates.

"More online education institutions have been contacting us to hire a larger number of qualified graduates in multiple languages. More students are opting to work in fields such as the internet, e-commerce and new media," Cao said.

"Surprisingly, we have a graduate starting her career path at a hospital, which has rarely been seen before. Some hospitals are also looking for students who have mastered languages like Spanish, which will help in communications with medics in other countries," she added.

Jin Tiantian, who studied journalism as a postgraduate at SISU, is setting forth in the medical field.

She immediately applied for a job when she learned there was an opening in the communications department at a local 3A grade hospital－the highest of China's three-tier grading system for public health－in Shanghai last year.

Jin passed the interview and started work in January. Not long after she started the job, she gained invaluable experience thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic.

"I am excited to work in a new field where I have things to learn. I don't want to miss any opportunities," she said.

In January, on Lunar New Year's Eve, the hospital dispatched its first batch of doctors to assist in Wuhan, Hubei province.

One of the doctors wrote a daily diary to record front-line life, and Jin was responsible for editing the entries online so people could access them via new media platforms.

The 27-year-old felt honored and was proud of her career choice.

"No one can stop you from living the way you want, so just be brave and chase your dream at any time," Jin said.

That sentiment is shared by Li Zhen, who has been dedicated to music education since she was admitted to the Shanghai Conservatory of Music in 2011 to study composition.

She loves music and imparting her knowledge to others.

"I did part-time jobs to stay competitive and agile in the future employment market," said the 27-year-old, who will soon finish her postgraduate course.

Her endeavors paid off in 2018 when she bought the franchise of a music training class using 150,000 yuan she had earned, along with an additional 100,000 yuan invested by a friend.

Last year, the company－which currently has 15 teachers and 100 students－received funding of 500,000 yuan from the Shanghai Technology Entrepreneurship Foundation for Graduates.

"Before I started the business, I thought about whether I was ready to accept the risk of failure, not just the glory of success. And when everything started, I just kept moving forward and solving problems along the way," Li said.