According to local media reports, more than 200,000 graduates are looking for jobs in Guangzhou. A visual demonstration of this teeming labour supply can be seen at any weekend at the job market in Tianhe, across from Teem Plaza, which is filled with thousands of 20-somethings toting briefcases and resumes, and dressed in their finest business outfit. But for all this, job seekers with the right qualifications are in short supply. While many have degrees from top universities or may even have studied abroad, they lack the people skills vital to the workplace. 'In Guangzhou, there's a war for talent. At middle-management level there is a real shortage of qualified people,' Jonathan Fraulo told That's Guangzhou, a monthly English language magazine. Mr Fraulo is a business manager at 51job.com, one of China's largest online employment services. Some students come across as arrogant. 'Interviewees for big companies are sometimes overconfident,' said Yang Zhi Hui, a recruitment and personnel senior manager at Avon. More graduates are entering the job market with higher education achievements and sharper English skills, but unfortunately this does not make up for their lack of maturity. Procter and Gamble human resources manager Raymen Yang agrees that while many graduates focus on academic achievements, what they really lack is personal skills, which are usually gained outside the classroom. Things like part-time jobs and volunteer work are virtually ignored by most college students in Guangzhou. 'When you're helping others, you need to do something selfless. This is the foundation for working with others,' says Mr Yang, who was one of the few students at Jinnan University to start a student volunteer group to help handicapped children in the local orphanage. 'This is the foundation for working with others.' According to Mr Yang, most students in China are unprepared for the real world when they graduate, thanks to doting parents who pay for just about everything. As long as parents and the education system continue to rob students of the opportunity to earn some kind of living on their own and develop mature interpersonal skills before they graduate, it is hard to imagine how the local job market will get any better. Schools should encourage students to get involved in more volunteer programmes by offering additional credit to those who do so. Meanwhile, parents should let their children get summer jobs at least, to get some practical work experience. Spoiling the next 'little emperors' will only shorten the supply of qualified workers and impede economic progress.
