As many traditional industries bear the brunt of an economic downturn brought by the COVID-19 pandemic and the tense Sino-American trade relations, it’s not easy to keep one’s job, let alone find a new one.

Statistics revealed 8.74 million college graduates face the choice of finding a job or furthering their studies this summer, 400,000 more than that of last year.

Many who didn’t find a satisfying job during the recruitment season last fall were the worst hit, as government departments, public schools, universities and other public-funded agencies which traditionally recruit in spring all postponed their schedules of exams and interviews due to the pandemic.

Wang Yuanyuan, a master’s degree holder newly graduated from a top Chinese university, was one of them. “Many of my classmates have signed their job contracts, but I’m still waiting,” she said. Wang hopes to find a position at a university.

Those eyeing a job in the foreign trade industry were also disappointed, as statistics revealed a 24 percent drop in the available positions in import and export trade compared with the same period last year.

Faced with unprecedented challenges, some young people are doing just fine, says a Xinhuanet report.

The quick growth of Internet technology has offered up new opportunities, bringing an 8.8 percent monthly growth in the number of online sales and marketing jobs in this year. There is also a high demand for talents in AI, big data, gaming and live streaming.

Yi Xudan, vice dean of broadcasting school at the Communication University of China, Nanjing, said that about 15 percent of the school’s 300 new graduates chose jobs related to live selling- selling products during live streams.

Ming Jun, one of those who looks up to the success of beauty influencer Li Jiaqi, interned with an MSN (Multi-Channel Networks) agency in Hangzhou during his junior year. MSN is a third-party service provider that offers services like audience development, content programming, creator collaborations, digital rights management and sales.

“Live selling is not difficult for anyone who majored in broadcasting,” he said, adding that one live stream he did during the Single’s Day promotion turned in revenues of 20 million yuan (US$2.85m) three months after he entered the trade.

Yi also mentioned that his school will open a course in live streaming in the new semester.

A graduate who majored in medicine chose to be a live streamer out of personal interest, the report says. Unlike his classmates who entered the pharmaceutical industry, Yi Fan said he has a passion for live streaming and his professional knowledge makes his selling efforts more to the point.

Others have more social service-oriented aspirations.

Zhu Ling, a graduate of the University of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, chose to teach in Yunnan Province in Southwest China. She had two short volunteer teaching experiences in Yunnan, which led to her decision.

“The kids would ask me a lot of imaginative questions and run on the playground holding my hands,” she said. “I’m willing to be there for them, and to me this is just an ordinary choice.”

To encourage college graduates to take grassroots jobs, China will recruit 32,000 of them to work in grassroots hospitals and schools, or rural regions this year, 5,000 more than that of last year.

Take Fujian for example: the province plans to hire 1,800 college graduates this year in administrative and community service jobs, mostly in less-developed towns and villages.

(Li Dan)