SHANGHAI: Ye Xing is running from one job fair to another without a success, like most of the 158,000 graduates who are leaving universities in Shanghai this summer.

"I have been to at least 20 fairs," she said.

The lack of job prospects is making Ye, and many of her classmates, frustrated, she added.

A survey conducted by Shanghai Foreign Service Co Ltd found that more than 70 percent of upcoming graduates have not signed an employment contract yet. Normally by March, more than 70 percent have found a job.

The 519 students from 17 Shanghai universities who participated in the survey said they had sent out multiple resumes (the lowest number of resumes one student has sent out was 31 resumes, the most was over 600). While nearly 97 percent had at least one interview, only 29.48 percent were offered a contract by mid March.

More than half of the foreign-funded businesses in Shanghai froze hiring this year.

The municipal government is appealing to employers to offer internships and training.

Graduates are being encouraged to pursue further education or to work as teachers, nurses, doctors and civil servants in suburban regions or provinces in the west, where there is a surplus of such positions.

Graduates who have their own business plans may get help from the government, as will students in vocational training courses or internships.

Wang Guisheng, general manager of Randstad China, said it is important for graduates to find a job regardless of whether or not it is in their chosen field. Randstad is one of eight human resources services firms involved in a government-funded internship program that use public funds to place graduates who can't find work with companies

This year the program will be extended from up to 6 months to one year.

"It is important for fresh graduates to get experience right after graduation," said Ben Noteboom, CEO and chairman of the Netherlands-based company. Sixty-five percent of graduates who had difficulty securing employment on their own find a job after the internship, according to Zhu Ning, who works with Randstad. The internship program will provide about 30,000 posts this year.

Ren Nvshi, a human resource manager with a multinational company, said that her company would be interested in recruiting interns through the program.

"Normally, an employee spends up to two months on probation before being formally signed up," she said.

(China Daily 04/27/2009 page5)