As graduation day draws near, many Chinese college students are feeling increasingly anxious and frustrated.

They scan the Internet and newspapers almost all day long, searching for any available employment information. They spend only a few hours sleeping and eating.

Their main concern: If their marathon job hunt yields nothing, where are they going to stay and how can they meet their daily financial needs?

Continuing to rely on financially exhausted parents is unthinkable. As students on whom families pin high hopes, none feels at ease ending years of admirable university study and life by returning home jobless.

Having received uncountable cold shoulders from recruiting units and suffered numerous setbacks in assorted competitive qualification examinations, they are frustrated to see employment expectations lowered again and again.

A decent post in big cities with a large income is the dream that has bolstered their dignity and ambition.

With their dreams shattered, they become less self-confident. The only expectation left is the hope of getting a piece of work that can free them from years-long subsidies from parents, make them financially independent and pay off the huge loans from the bank.

Thinking of all these, Zhang Yue said, gives him a profound pain in his heart.

Zhang, an economics major due to graduate from the Central University of Finance and Economics in early July, looked visibly haggard.

In a helpless tone, he talked about his job-seeking experience, displaying his extreme disappointment and pessimism about the future.

Since last November, he has sent hundreds of CVs (curricula vitae) and participated in countless large and small job fairs in Beijing, Shanghai and other cities in developed coastal regions but so far has received few replies.

"Because of media coverage, I had expected difficulty in job hunting, but I never anticipated that it would be this difficult," he said with a sigh. "Only a very few recruiting units gave me interview notices.

"I clearly know that I should not let any chance slip easily, so I felt extremely excited when I was told to come for interviews because some of my classmates have not got even that opportunity."

However, those interviews only served to smash his hopes, he said.

"One privately run enterprise based in Beijing accepted me, but it offered me a monthly salary of less than 1,500 yuan (US$185) during the probationary period, which is due to last one year," he said.

"I suddenly plunged into extreme disappointment and even despair when I heard the offer.

"With a salary that low in the capital, I feel I cannot even meet my minimal daily expenses, not to mention repay my parents for their support and pay off the huge amount of my bank loans."

Zhang comes from a rural village in East China's Anhui Province, and his parents make a living mainly by farming. With a yearly income of only a few thousand yuan, his parents have to sustain his expensive education and that of his younger sister, who is now in a senior middle school.

His family was in ecstasy in the summer of 2002 when he was admitted to university. He borrowed some money from relatives and friends for the nearly 10,000 yuan (US$1,250) of tuition fees and other costs of his first university year.

Despite the debt, his parents still felt extremely happy because he was considered the hope of the whole family.

To ease the economic burden on his parents, Zhang applied for education loans in the following years.

But now with such a gloomy future, what can he do?

Bleak picture

Many of Zhang's classmates have had similar experiences.

Since 1999, when China launched a nationwide enrolment expansion campaign, higher education has taken a big leap forward, with the number of graduates increasing by about 600,000 to 700,000 year-on-year.

It is expected that this year, more than 4.12 million graduates will pour into the job market, a dramatic increase from last year's 3.07 million. In addition many of those 2005 graduates have not found jobs, either.

Even worse, many of the country's institutions and government departments have begun a round of personnel streamlining.

The drastic increase in the supply of graduates has also caused recruiting units to raise their standards and allows them to reduce their salary offers.

A survey conducted by a State research group shows that in 2005, the monthly incomes of university graduates grew to 1,588 yuan (US$198) from 1,551 (US$194) in 2003, with only an increase of 37 yuan (US$4.60). But the inflation rate was higher than that, meaning the average new employee's income was less.

But expectations are not lower. The results of a survey conducted by the Social Survey Institute of China (SSIC) show that 69 per cent of the respondents, covering university students in Beijing, Shanghai, Wuhan, Guangzhou and some other provincial capitals, consider a monthly income of 2,000 yuan (US$250) acceptable.

Furthermore, many graduates are focusing only on large cities or economically developed regions because that is where they see more chances for development and promotion.

In pursuit of residency in Beijing, Nie Shuzhen, a chemistry postgraduate in Capital Normal University, resigned from her previous post in Hebei Province five years ago. Once she graduated, she applied twice for further study in the university so that she could stay in Beijing.

However, she has also suffered unexpected setbacks in job-hunting this year.

"So far only a middle school in Daxing District, Beijing, has offered me a chance although I sent a lot of applications and related materials," Nie said.

"I must find a job that can solve my residence problem."

Nie's husband is a junior military official based in Beijing but does not have Beijing residency, either. Nie gave birth to a baby late last year.

"Only if I have Beijing residency can my baby get one," she said.

The desire to obtain Beijing residency is a common goal among non-resident students.

China's leaders have been vigorously encouraging graduates to go to western regions and grass-roots units because the underdeveloped areas are so thirsty for talented people.

With the number of available jobs in the more developed eastern regions so low, following the "go west" strategy may be the only option these upcoming groups of graduates have left.

(China Daily 05/09/2006 page14)