Single-kids too pampered to accept job
(Shanghai Daily)
Updated: 2006-03-13 08:29

Shanghai job hunters, especially youngsters from single-child families, have to learn to stand on their own feet or lose out to job seekers from outside the city, several recruiters said at a tourism job fair over the weekend.

A job fair is held for graduates from agriculture and forestry universities in middle and western China in Yangling, northwest China's Shannxi Province on March 4, 2006, attracting 230 companies from across the country and near 10,000 graduates from middle and western China universities. [Newsphoto]

About 100 local travel agencies and hotels advertised 2,000 openings at the Shanghai Tourism Recruitment Fair on Saturday.

Most of the local applicants were accompanied by a parent, which left many recruiters with a very bad impression.

One of the applicants, Maggie Xue, 22, who held a diploma in tourism administration, was accompanied by her mother. The two came for a travel agency secretary position.

"Hi, this is my daughter. She's just wondering about your position requirements. Could you please tell us more," said the mother.

Xue simply handed her resume to the interviewer. By the time her mother and the interviewer finished talking, Xue didn't speak a word.

"I had to interview a whole bunch like that today," said the interviewer, Hu Hairong, secretary general of the Shanghai International Travel Division. "They are all locals from single-child families. Only a few of them left me with good impression."

Other local applicants complained that jobs were too far from their homes, or were too lowly.

While people in the tourism sector generally start at the bottom and work their way up, many locals aren't willing to take an entry-level position.

Contrary to Shanghai's pampered single-children, Hu noticed many non-local applicants showed confidence and professional knowledge. But Hu had to turn them down, as the job was only open to local applicants.

Many hotels say they face similar problems, as locals don't want to take service jobs, such as restaurant cashiers, security guards, receptionists, and secretaries.

The Shanghai Sovereign Hotel took in about 100 resumes at the event, only four of which were from locals.

One of the non-local applicants, Jiang Jingjing from Henan Province, said that he was turned down twice for hotel security positions.

"They don't trust you," said Jiang. "It's hard to make a good impression if you are non-local."