All of the information stated in this article is based on reliable sources of information and is detailed at the end of the article
≺ Preamble≻
Nowadays, education for all is widely available, and there are many college students, and even graduate students are no longer uncommon.
But the big guy's academic qualifications have gone up, but the difficulty of finding a job has increased, and many college students are facing the problem of "unemployment after graduation"!
Why can't college students even find a job?
Mainly these 3 reasons, come and see if your family has "hit"!
≺ One of the "obstacles": the "inflationary" ≻ of the depreciation of academic qualifications
Do you still remember the era of the "glorious lintel of the top student in the college entrance examination"? At that time, a college student was enough to become a legend in the family, and the neighbors rushed to watch, as if they saw a rising star.
However, time flies, and today's college students seem to have become "passers-by" everywhere in the streets and alleys, such a dramatic change can't help but make people sigh: Why did college students fall from "rare" to "blooming everywhere"?
Let's turn back the clock to a few decades ago, when university education in China was a towering ivory tower in which only a handful of elites could enter.
A college diploma is enough for people to rise to the top and become the "pride of the sky", but who would have thought that with the spring breeze of education reform blowing across the land of China, the door of this ivory tower will gradually open to more people.
The popularization of nine-year compulsory education is like laying a solid foundation for education for all, and then the policy of expanding the enrollment of higher education is like a timely rain, nourishing countless hearts thirsty for knowledge.
University campuses have sprung up like mushrooms after a rain, and all kinds of colleges and universities have sprung up everywhere, from 985 and 211 to ordinary undergraduates, and then to junior colleges, the ladder of education has been continuously extended, building a bridge to the palace of knowledge for students.
However, when everyone can enter the house, the once "scarce resources" will no longer be scarce.
A college diploma, once a priceless "ticket", is now like a supermarket ubiquitous promotional item, depreciating at a jaw-dropping rate, in economic terms, it's simply an "academic inflation"!
Imagine if everyone was a millionaire, would a millionaire still be a millionaire?
In the same way, when the number of college students is increasing exponentially, and tens of millions of graduates are pouring into the job market every year, it is inevitable that the once "fragrant and sweet" will become less fragrant.
In the face of so many job seekers, it can be said that the selection can be described as "dazzling", and some employers even joked: "Give a hair dryer, college students can blow a playground." "
This phenomenon of "depreciation of academic qualifications" is like a war without gunpowder, once upon a time, a bachelor's degree could go sideways in the workplace, but now it has become a "basic threshold".
The number of holders of master's and doctoral degrees is also increasing, which further exacerbates the involution of the job market, and the talent market has become a battlefield of "academic qualifications arms race", where everyone is striving for higher education, but does not know where the end is.
However, the depreciation of academic qualifications does not mean the depreciation of education, on the contrary, the popularization of higher education has cultivated a large number of talents with professional knowledge and skills for society.
The problem is that the growth rate of jobs in society is far from keeping up with the speed of talent training.
It's like a huge funnel where water (talent) is poured into the top and the outlet below is not expanded accordingly, which naturally leads to the phenomenon of "talent overflow".
In this storm of "depreciation of academic qualifications", many college students find themselves as if they have become "high-end ordinary people", who have once enviable academic qualifications, but may not be able to find a matching job.
Some people have to "climb high and go low" to do jobs that are not commensurate with their academic qualifications, while others choose to continue their studies, hoping to find a breakthrough in higher education.
Could it be that the popularization of higher education has become a stumbling block to the employment of university students?
How to keep your value from being buried in this era of "excess talent"? Perhaps, the answer lies not in the academic qualifications themselves, but in how to make yourself different.
≺ "Roadblock" No. 2: The gap between skills and market demand ≻
Imagine if you're a chef who spends four years studying the world's top recipes, memorizing the characteristics of countless ingredients, and never actually going out into the kitchen.
When you walk into a Michelin-starred restaurant with confidence, will your boss say to you, "I'm sorry, we need a chef who can get started right away, not a talking cookbook?" "
This metaphor just points out another pain point in the employment of college students today - the huge gap between theory and practice.
In the mainland's higher education system, the phenomenon of emphasizing theory over practice has a long history, and students in the fourth year of university are immersed in books and familiar with classical theories, but rarely have the opportunity to put what they have learned into practice.
Enterprises are like battlefields that are in urgent need of immediate combat power, and they are eager for talents who can quickly adapt to the pace of work and solve practical problems.
However, when groups of college students with ideals enter the workplace, they often find that they are like a blank sheet of paper and need to start learning from scratch.
Why is there a general lack of practical experience among college students? The reasons are manifold.
The curriculum of many colleges and universities focuses on theory and the proportion of practical courses is small, and although some schools have internship links, they are often mere formalities, making it difficult for students to really get in touch with the core business.
The implications of this situation are far-reaching, as college students enter the workforce with high aspirations, only to find themselves like "theoreticians" who are unable to adapt quickly to the demands of the job.
This not only undermined their self-confidence, but also discouraged companies from hiring fresh graduates. Some college students have to accept lower-than-expected jobs, or even work in jobs that are completely unrelated to their majors, or even choose to continue their studies altogether, hoping to make up for the lack of practical experience with higher academic qualifications.
This is tantamount to looking for an oasis in the desert – what appears to be moving forward, but in fact it can go further and further.
Because even if you have obtained a higher degree, if you still lack practical experience, you may not be able to make a qualitative leap in competitiveness in the job market.
≺ "Obstacles" No. 3: The generation gap in the concept of employment ≻
If the job market is compared to a big stage, the current situation is like an absurd play:
The college students on the stage are full of ambition and ready to show their talents, and the parents in the audience are full of expectations, hoping to see their children become blockbusters, while the employers as "directors" are distressed, these "actors" do not seem to meet the requirements of the script, this scene reflects the huge "generation gap" of the employment concept in contemporary society.
Looking back on the employment experience of the previous generation, it is like watching a black and white silent movie, when young people were often content with the status quo and satisfied as long as they had a stable job.
The "unit" is their second home, from entry to retirement, they have struggled in the same place all their lives, however, today's young people are eager for a wonderful, exciting, fast-paced career, and the requirements for work are no longer just food and clothing, but self-realization and value recognition.
This change in concept is like crossing from the era of "iron rice bowl" to the era of "job hopping is commonplace", and many college students are looking forward to finding a job with high salary, development prospects, and talent as soon as they graduate.
They hope to be as knowledgeable as "Kong Yiji" and as radiant as "Peking University Genius", but the reality is often unsatisfactory, and when the ideal and reality collide, a sense of loss arises spontaneously.
The mindset of parents is also an interesting point to observe, as they are standing on the other side of a seesaw, hoping that their children will find a stable job and that they will get ahead.
Some parents even pin their unfulfilled dreams on their children, hoping that their children can become dragons and phoenixes as soon as they graduate, which inevitably brings huge pressure to college students and makes them dilemma when choosing a career.
Society's expectations for college students' employment are also quietly changing.
Once upon a time, college students were the "pride of the sky" and could get high-quality jobs as soon as they graduated, but with the popularization of higher education, the aura of society towards college students gradually faded.
Employers no longer simply pay attention to academic qualifications, but pay more attention to practical ability and work attitude, this change is like pouring cold water on college students, so that they have to re-examine their own value and positioning.
In the face of employment pressure, some college students show a "high and ambitious" mentality, they want to climb to the sky, but they are unwilling to start from the grassroots level, eager for high salaries, but unwilling to put in more efforts.
On the other hand, some college students have shown a "fear of difficulties", and in the face of fierce competition for jobs, they choose to retreat, preferring to continue their studies rather than face the challenges of the job market.
It's like abstaining before the workplace marathon has even begun, which is really regrettable.
≺ Conclusion ≻
In the face of such a "generation gap" in employment concepts, we can't help but ask:
How can we find a balance between ideals and reality? How should college students adjust their employment mindset to better adapt to the needs of society? And how can society create more opportunities for young people to realize their self-worth?
Information sources:
1. Observer.com: June 28, 2023, "Trapped? Breakthrough? The biggest graduation wave in history, listen to them talk about job hunting"
2. China.com News Center: On June 15, 2023, "China Release丨 National Bureau of Statistics: More than 6 million young people are unemployed, and "difficulty in finding jobs" and "difficulty in recruiting" coexist"