Graduates trail in the search to find work after college

The employment rate for higher vocational school graduates is better than that for college postgraduates this year.

These statistics come from the Chinese College Graduates' Employment Annual Report compiled by MyCOS Data, a Beijing-based higher education consulting service provider.

About 32 percent of the 18,941 higher vocational school graduates surveyed received job offers from Oct 29 last year to April 10. However, only 26 percent of the 15,466 postgraduates surveyed were offered posts during this period.

Higher vocational school graduates also experience less pressure in finding jobs, with 66 percent of respondents saying they are concerned about being unemployed, compared with 67 percent of the college graduates surveyed. Postgraduates face the greatest pressure, with 70 percent saying they are highly stressed.

The report also says the majors with the highest employment rates among higher vocational school graduates within six months of graduation are pharmaceutical technology, electric power technology, food, building implements, electromechanical equipment, energy, public facilities, automation, textile and clothing as well as materials.

Luo Xiaofan graduated from Chien-Shiung Institute of Technology in Taicang in June. Thanks to his internship experience, a German mold manufacturing company in Suzhou offered him a job as a maintenance technician.

"They offered me a salary 500 yuan (about $80) higher than that of my peers. I am sure my prospects will be even better in about three years' time," said Luo, adding that the job has enabled him to settle in Suzhou.

The report also says higher vocational education majors, including road and bridge engineering, production processing automation technology, applied chemical technology, welding automation technology as well as heating ventilation and air conditioning engineering technology will become the most promising.

Hu Ruiwen, director of the Shanghai Academy of Educational Sciences, wrote in his report on employment trends and the transformation of higher education, released in July, that higher vocational education should tailor its majors according to market demand.

He suggested that schools add more engineering and agricultural majors and reduce majors related to office work, to match economic development.

Hu also said that at a time when skilled technicians are in high demand in China, more investment or an increase in employees can no longer sustain economic development.

"This is the challenge that China has to face to enhance its production efficiency. The country is sure to ask for more technicians with sufficient academic backup as well as practical skills. This type of candidate should also be armed with sufficient management knowledge," Hu said.

Wang Qiang, a researcher at the China Academy of Sciences, said China must shift the focus of its higher education system from academic to vocational courses.

The country's deliberate but mistaken ambition to mimic the approach in the United States is producing thousands of graduates each year who, despite their qualifications, lack the skills China needs to develop its economy, Wang said.