大学毕业生的下一站在哪?

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十年前，当人们都在为大学扩招的喜讯欢呼雀跃时，谁想过十年后的就业市场竟会如此严峻？失业率不断攀高的结果就是大学生的期望起薪点不断下降，甚至还换不来一份勉强糊口的工作。寒窗苦读十几年的大学生们，真是有苦说不出。原来自始至终，通往“天之骄子”的路都不平坦，只是十几年前是读书难就业易，如今却恰恰相反。

Clip 1 In China
       A report by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences predicts a quarter of China’s college graduates will have difficulty finding a job this year. So what has been done to create more employment and how will the government react to the struggling job market?
       In a recent visit to a local university in Beijing, Premier Wen Jiabao comforted students with news that the government is giving top priority to college graduate employment in its work agenda.
       Premier Wen Jiabao reveals the government will try to create 9 million jobs this year, based on an 8 percent GDP growth. The new job opportunities will also cover laid-off and migrant workers.
       To help college graduates find jobs, the Ministry of Education has planned 13 on-line job fairs in cooperation with 10 other ministries from now through June. It will also recruit 30,000 college students as rural teachers this year, a figure nearly equal to the total of 2006 and 2007.
       The government started encouraging graduates in 2005 to work in villages in 28 provinces and regions to improve and strengthen rural administration, as well as create more jobs for graduates.
       By the end of October last year, 78,000 college graduates were appointed as village officials in those provinces and regions, almost four times the target of 20,000.
       The financial crisis has also made government jobs an unexpected favourite among graduates. A total of 775,000 people applied for the national examination to qualify as civil servants. It’s the highest number since 1994, and 130,000 more than last year. But less than two percent will be successful.

Clip 2 In the United States
       For college students, who are getting ready to leave their books and exams behind, the economic situation in the United States is worrisome.
Laura: I think everybody’s a little nervous.
Laura Henry is a student at George Washington University in Washington, DC. She graduates in a few months. Like many of her peers, she is applying to graduate school.
Laura: When you graduate, you’re nervous to go into the real world anyway.

        Henry says she always planned to continue in school rather than applying for a full-time job. Marva Gumms Jennings is Executive Director of the George Washington University Career Center. She says more students are choosing this option now.
Marva: Typically, in…in non-recession times, about a quarter of our class—undergraduate class—goes off to graduate school. We anticipate this year it’s gonna be a little bit higher.

        But Jennings is encouraging those who want to find jobs to stay positive.
Marva: While we hear that some companies are laying off maybe at the mid-manager, top manager, higher salary level, there’re still hiring entry level opportunities.

        Nearby Georgetown University is known for following students to the Foreign Service. But some graduate business students gravitate to New York, the country’s commercial capital. For those aspiring to Wall Street, finding an entry-level position could be difficult. Jeanette Fret is an Assistant Dean who helps graduate business students find jobs.
Jeanette:     Yes, it’s a tough market, but that doesn’t mean that the students can’t be successful. They have to turn to each other and encourage each other.

        Sam Nyberg and Jill Cyber are getting masters degrees in business administration. They graduate in May.
Jill: I think there’s certainly a buzz about any business school right now that it’s not exactly the ideal time to be graduating.
Sam: It’s on everyone’s mind, and even the people that have offers, a lot of them are worried that the offers will be rescinded, which I’ve heard from some other friends that they actually have. I mean, every day in the newspaper you read about lay-offs and read about mergers, so you never know. There’s no real security out there.

       Cyber and Nyberg have found jobs, (Sam: How are things going, like, job search?) but, as part of a peer program, they’re advising others on how to find employment. Nyberg tells students to be flexible.
Sam: Definitely go after, like, your dream job, but also know that you should have a “plan B” and “plan C”.

       Nyberg says there are opportunities out there. He says it’s just a matter of being prepared and selling yourself.