[2025 New Observation on the Employment of College Graduates]
Guangming Daily reporter Jin Haotian
The spring recruitment season of "Golden Three Silver Four" is coming. A large number of young people are ready to go on the career track - they are about to move from vocational colleges to the workplace, with a skill, in the fields of intelligent manufacturing, intangible cultural heritage, e-commerce logistics, etc., and step by step to grow into "skilled craftsmen" and "great craftsmen......
In recent years, the state attaches great importance to vocational education, and a series of favorable policies have been issued frequently, and the career prospects of vocational education students are being redefined. What are their top concerns in the job market? The reporter solicited questions from students through the official Weibo of Guangming Daily, and invited experts and scholars in related fields to answer questions and clarify doubts.
At the Jingcheng County Vocational and Technical Education Center in Shijiazhuang City, Hebei Province, students conducted practical training on automobile engine disassembly. Photo by Wang Baolong/Guangming Pictures
1. Five suggestions for making up for shortcomings as soon as possible
Student question: I majored in CNC technology, but in the internship, I found that the technology I learned was far from meeting the requirements of the enterprise. How can I make up for this shortcoming as soon as possible?
Tang Linwei, Dean of the Institute of Modern Vocational Education of Zhejiang Normal University:Under the influence of a new round of scientific and technological change, today's industry technology updates and iterations are very fast. It's normal for students to feel this way when they first start facing a real-life work situation. School education is more about career preparation education, and internship and pre-employment enterprise training provide students with a "bridge" from school to the workplace, students should seize the internship and training opportunities, earnestly learn advanced technology of enterprises, and constantly improve professional skills.
Having said that, being able to recognize this gap is also a kind of growth in itself, just like a game character who suddenly discovers a new map, although he can't beat the "advanced monster" for the time being, but as long as he works hard, the road to upgrade is just around the corner.
Here are a few tips for vocational school students who are also confused.
First, use the school as a "base area". Although technology lags behind that of enterprises, the theoretical knowledge taught in schools can provide a "combat map" for the learning of new technologies, which can help everyone to systematically think about practical problems and optimize action strategies accordingly. When encountering problems in the internship training, it is necessary to look through books to find theoretical support, or find school teachers to provide inspiration and technical guidance. Communicate with school teachers at any time, and provide timely feedback for school curriculum updates, contributing to the talent training of the alma mater.
Second, take the "master" of the enterprise as a "guide". The "master" of the enterprise has rich practical experience, has accumulated a lot of workplace experience that is not in books, and has a strong sensitivity to the development of the industry. We should not only humbly learn "unique skills" from them and actively participate in project practice, but also take "Master" as a "guide" to lead the development of our careers, so that the future road will go further and smoother.
Third, treat AI as a "personal teaching assistant". Can't understand the error code of the device? Take a photo and upload it immediately, ask AI to help you translate the alarm code, and then give 3 common processing steps. Don't dare to touch the factory's precision welding machine? Use AI to build a digital twin workshop, it will simulate the welding effect according to real parameters, and if you are wrong, you will "go back in time" and start over...... You should constantly improve your ability to work with AI, which will be your best "personal teaching assistant".
Fourth, treat online resources as "plug-ins". Nowadays, almost any kind of knowledge or technology you can think of, you can find high-quality teaching resources online. The national vocational education smart education platform has tens of thousands of online quality courses, and other online platforms also provide convenient learning resources for everyone to learn various skills. You need to make good use of these free "plug-ins" to become an effective lifelong learner.
Fifth, turn your colleagues into "teammates". The workplace is not a single-player game, and teaming up to fight monsters is more efficient. It is necessary to ask more technical masters for advice and learning, but also to create a learning community, establish a virtual learning platform for interns, learn in sharing, improve in reflection, and persevere in order to become the "technical expert" required by the position.
Students of Inner Mongolia Mechanical and Electrical Vocational and Technical College participated in practical training and learning at the photovoltaic training base. Photo by Wang Zheng/Guangming Pictures
2. More and more positions recognize "ability" rather than "education"
Student question: The seniors said that we all have a career "ceiling" in technology, and we lack development stamina. Is that really the case? How can this be solved?
Kuang Ying, Deputy Director of the Faculty of Education of East China Normal University:Whether there is a "ceiling" for skilled jobs is the key to how you look at your career path. In the past, the growth space of skilled positions was indeed limited, and many vocational school graduates often stayed at the front-line operation level after entering factories or enterprises, and the upward channel was not smooth enough. However, with the country's vigorous development of modern vocational education, the growth path of technical talents is being redefined, and the upward space for skilled talents is also expanding.
From the policy perspective, the vocational education system is developing in depth, and the career growth path of high-skilled talents is becoming clearer. In recent years, China has promoted the reform of the "vocational education college entrance examination" and the "new eight-level worker" system, and vocational education graduates can not only continue their studies through vocational education undergraduates, but also achieve vocational promotion through vocational skill level certification and technician evaluation. Many industries have broken the "ceiling" of academic qualifications, and more and more positions recognize "ability" rather than "academic qualifications".
From the perspective of industrial development trends, technical positions are being upgraded in the direction of intelligence and compounding. Traditional "handiwork" is being deeply integrated with artificial intelligence and digitalization. Taking the manufacturing industry as an example, in the past, an ordinary fitter could only develop on the advanced road of fitters, but now, technicians who have mastered CNC programming, industrial robot debugging, and intelligent manufacturing technology have been able to move forward to positions such as engineers, equipment management, and process optimization.
From the perspective of individual development, the key to the growth of technical positions lies in continuous learning and capacity development. Career development is not static, and skilled workers will indeed face development bottlenecks if they are satisfied with basic operations. However, if you can continue to improve your technical depth, management ability, and industry frontier, and continue to grow in your position, you can open up more career possibilities. Many high-skilled talents do not have a high starting point, but through continuous study and obtaining higher-level vocational certificates, they gradually grow into experts, technical backbones, and even create their own workshops and studios to become "skilled entrepreneurs". For example, Gao Fenglin, a national model worker, has grown from an ordinary welder to an aerospace engine welding expert, conquered a number of core technologies, became a national skill master, and led the team to cultivate many high-end technical talents. Therefore, the growth of skilled talents is far more than one path, the key is whether they can continuously improve themselves and conform to the development trend of the industry.
The value of technical and skilled talents is being re-recognized by the society, and the income and social status of high-end skilled talents are gradually improving. According to the statistics of the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, the salary of senior technicians has been on par with the position of engineers, and the annual salary of some high-skilled talents even exceeds that of undergraduate graduates. Therefore, vocational school students can choose different development directions according to their own interests and abilities - not only to move forward to more sophisticated technical fields, but also to extend to management, research and development, training and other diversified positions.
At Baofeng County Secondary Vocational School in Pingdingshan City, Henan Province, students participated in the electric drag project competition. Photo by He Wuchang/Guangming Pictures
3. "Multiple studies and multiple employment" will become the norm
Student question: I always feel that vocational college graduates are "inferior", and many students around me choose to take the entrance examination. Should I be like most people?
Nie Wei, associate researcher at the Institute of Vocational Education and Continuing Education, Chinese Academy of Education Sciences:Whether to find a job or go on to higher education, students and their parents should make a scientific judgment and rational choice based on their own educational benefits, academic performance, family status and other factors. The main difference between employment and further education is that choosing employment is equivalent to having immediate economic income, and the student will then turn into a social person and assume the corresponding family responsibilities and social responsibilities; Choosing to continue their studies will help students further improve their knowledge and technical level, continue to improve their ability structure, and move towards high-level skilled talents. Both of these choices should be respected as long as they are in line with the student's own wishes and objective conditions.
Employment and further education are actually different levels of learning. Work is to integrate individuals into the study of social universities, is a supplement and improvement of school learning, is the accumulation of personal experience and the precipitation of talent and wisdom, in the actual professional position, will make young people more down-to-earth, more calm, so as to have the ability of sustainable development. If you go on to higher education, you will be able to receive a more systematic and higher-level education, which will further stimulate the sustainable development potential of students. It should be noted that some vocational school students choose to go on to higher education in order to obtain stronger employment competitiveness, and there are many worries about the "first degree". In fact, the relevant state departments have specifically clarified that they do not only recognize the relevant requirements and statements of "first degree". With the increasing degree of marketization of China's economy, the relevant systems and mechanisms are becoming more and more perfect, and employers are becoming more and more rational.
Today, the concept of a skill-based society and skilled talents is gradually accepted by more people, and the path of vocational integration is constantly broadening, and "multiple studies and multiple employment" will become the norm. You don't have to worry about the level of education in your first employment, but you should turn to self-examination: whether you really have the need and motivation to learn. With the improvement of the vocational education system and the steady development of vocational undergraduate education, students who need to further study can return to school at any time. In recent years, some graduates of undergraduate colleges have entered vocational colleges to receive skills training and seek better careers.
Employment is an indispensable part of students' growth. Of course, employment is an important crossroads in life for every student. But there is no need to conform to the herd, let alone be anxious, but to make a rational choice based on your own actual situation. With the acceleration of the construction of an educational power, more and more educational opportunities, more and more high-quality educational resources, and more diverse talent evaluation, in the process of national development, all kinds of talents will be useful, and will be duly respected and valued.
4. Graduates should have a reasonable "time" to start their own business
Student question: I majored in e-commerce, and after graduation, I want to start a business and open an online store for live broadcasting. What do I need to do to prepare for this, and how can I get help from all sectors of society?
Zhang Rui, member of the Steering Committee of Innovation and Entrepreneurship Education of the Ministry of Education and chairman of Wanxue Education:Opening an online store and engaging in live streaming is one of the ways for graduates to start their own business, but if there is no innovative model, they will face extremely fierce competition. From the perspective of career development stage, employment is the standard model, and entrepreneurship is a complex high-level model, which is much more difficult than employment. As a graduate majoring in e-commerce, you should have a certain theoretical and practical foundation. However, whether to take entrepreneurship as the first step after graduation also depends on the level of comprehensive entrepreneurial ability and the business model constructed.
Most outstanding entrepreneurs, after graduation, will first work in a leading enterprise in a certain industry, broaden their horizons, temper their capabilities, discover business opportunities and initially build a business model in the enterprise environment and tasks that touch the industry's advanced technology or model, and then form a core team before officially launching their business. Embarking on the road of entrepreneurship according to such a trajectory will achieve higher quality and efficiency entrepreneurship on the basis of more solid capabilities and resources.
On the whole, graduates should have a suitable "time point" to start their own business, which should be to preliminarily build a business model and technical solution with innovative advantages after in-depth research and grasp of the cutting-edge opportunities and key resources of the target industry. At the same time, through sufficient training for complex tasks, a number of high-end abilities necessary for entrepreneurship will be improved to a relatively excellent level, and like-minded core team members will be gathered.
Therefore, I suggest that graduates who are willing to start a business can first strive to join an excellent enterprise in the target industry, devote themselves to training for a period of time through sufficient high-level tasks, complete comprehensive and in-depth practical training on the core business in related fields, master the business strategies and methods in related fields, and build a system-wide implementation plan, marketing plan, and diversified promotion plan. In addition, digital intelligence tools and methods such as "digital human" and AI assistance should also be learned to provide a "booster" for entrepreneurship.
在创业筹备阶段，学生还需召集创业初始核心团队成员分配前期筹备任务，并深度访谈至少十位同类项目的成功创业者。在制定商业计划并经过多轮研讨完善后，可选择市场基础资源与政府支持力度相对大的地区注册公司，筹集启动资金并锁定部分天使投资人。后续通过核心工作前置达到预定目标，并基于初次业绩和商业计划启动天使融资。
Being down-to-earth is the only option for success. The young people are active and energetic, which is not only reflected in the open-mindedness at the cognitive level, but also in the active exploration in the field of practice. Through the above links, through the wind and rain, see the world, grow talents, strengthen muscles and bones, step by step forward, in order to achieve a career chapter in the struggle for youth.
《光明日报》（2025年04月22日 14版）
Source: Guangming Network - "Guangming Daily"