Colleges in China are expected to churn out a record 6.99 million graduates this year amid a falling employment rate (in Beijing the figure is 28.24 percent while in Shanghai it is 44.4 percent). But it would still be wrong to say that this year is going to be the most difficult for fresh graduates, says an article in Chongqing Morning Post. Excerpts:

Whether a college graduate can find a job or not largely depends on the bar he/she sets for his/her career. The employment rate cannot increase substantially if the expectations of employers and employees do not match.

During a recent trip to Tianjin, President Xi Jinping encouraged college students to be both ambitious and down-to-earth while looking for a job, and start their careers from the grassroots level if need be. If college graduates are far-sighted and flexible in their approach to employment, the job market would become much more encouraging and less difficult.

Joint efforts of all social sectors are needed to make the job market friendly for new recruits as well as employers. Favoritism, nepotism and unfair demands by employers have sullied the job market and deprived many outstanding graduates of getting the right jobs. Besides, discriminations in terms of gender, age, hukou (household registration) and appearance have also closed the door on many qualified candidates.

But there is no denying that the job market has become fairer. The Ministry of Education recently issued a notice prohibiting employers from recruiting only candidates from a select number of universities and thus removing the technical obstacles for many fresh graduates.

But it is not as easy to remove the psychological obstacles of graduates. To make the job market a level-playing field for all, the government should take measures to ensure that recruitment is really fair and fresh graduates should change their attitude and take up the challenge of starting their careers at the grassroots level or with tough jobs.