Hopes still high as graduation nears

"The high expectation is totally reasonable because living costs in first-tier cities are too high. And the majority of graduates still want to work in first tiers," said Shen.

"And the salary standard is different in different cities," Shen added. "Take us as an example. We would give a graduate more than 9,000 yuan per month in Shenzhen if he or she meets our standard. In Beijing, we could only give 5,000 or 6,000 yuan, because Beijing has a large talent pool with many prestigious universities.

"In Shenzhen, we don't have such a large talent pool," Shen said. "Besides, we have competitors in Shenzhen such as Tencent. We have to give higher salary to make us attractive to young talent."

Wang Yunhai, a faculty member of the University of International Business and Economics, said that in general, graduates of prestigious universities can command a higher salary. However, those who graduate from lesser-known universities with less popular majors should adjust their goals.

"Besides, I think students need to consider the potential of the industries and the jobs they want to work for first. Salary should not come first," added Wang. "If you work in a promising industry with good opportunity for you to learn, then you can have more chances to get high salary in one year or two."

suzhou@chinadaily.com.cn