China: Making GraduatesEmployable

By LizLightfoot

 

1 Universities in China arefacing similar demands to improve the employability of their graduates as thosein the UK, new research among employers has revealed.

 

2 The Chinese government issued acircular earlier this year urging universities and colleges to strengthen theirefforts in preparing students for the workplace. In Britain, the government hasset up its own internship scheme to help graduates find work during therecession.

 

3 But what are the skillsemployers want and how much do they differ between the two nations? That is thequestion Dr. Troy Heffernan, a senior lecturer in marketing at the Universityof Plymouth, set out to answer through his involvement in one of 13partnerships between institutions in the UK and China.

 

4 The partnerships are funded bythe government through the British Council under the second phase of the PrimeMinister’s Initiative for International Education. In this scheme, universitiesare encouraged to exchange ideas and develop programmes aimed at improving theentrepreneurship and employability of graduates.

 

5 “We found employers in bothcountries put a great emphasis on leadership qualities and initiative — thingsthat are learned through the activities students engage in and theresponsibilities they take on during their time at university,” Heffernan tolda conference in London organised by the council, which is inviting proposalsfor 10 new UK-China partnerships.

 

6 “However, there are some cleardifferences in the emphasis put on different attributes, such as the valueplaced by the Chinese on ‘guanxi’, the network of connections that a person hasbuilt up,” he said.

 

7 Generally it includes familyand friends and links with people working in other companies, voluntaryorganisations, or leisure activities. The Chinese also tend to take more timebuilding up relationships with people before getting down to business.

 

8 The University of Plymouth andits partner China Agricultural University in Beijing are working to determinethe skills most likely to lead to employability and successful careers. Staffat both universities have conducted face-to-face and telephone interviews withlocal employers of graduates in three areas, marketing, human resources andfinance-accounting.

 

9 A draft of a report to bepublished later this year shows marketing executives in both countries put ahigh emphasis on good communication skills. In the UK they chose communication— including written and verbal communication, networking skills and foreignlanguage ability — as the top priority followed by the ability to work in ateam.

 

10 The Chinese employers said theperson who could complete a job and get things done was highly prized. Nextthey sought creativity — an attribute of growing importance in the dynamic, developingmarket in China that requires people to be good at thinking and putting theirideas and insights into action.

 

11 Graduates seeking work infinance and accountancy should have a good level of commercial awareness and beable to demonstrate a breadth of knowledge outside their academic comfort zone,said UK employers. Second on their list of desirable attributes was the abilityto demonstrate a disposition towards customer-related activity.

 

12 Perhaps because of the fastgrowth of China’s economy which has required updating of law and regulation,employers in the financial sector value graduates with the ability tocontinuously update their knowledge.

 

13 “Banking in China ischallenged by change,” said one Chinese bank executive. “We not only care aboutwhat our new staff have learned — that is textbook knowledge mainly. We careabout whether the new person can autonomously learn in the future.”

 

14 Employers in both countriesvalued the personal skills of graduates seeking work in human resources. UKemployers viewed the most important attribute as time management and goodorganisation. Personal skills, including being approachable, confident,emotionally strong, empathetic and patient, was the second most importantrequirement.

 

15 The Chinese HR managersstressed the importance of a new recruit being ethically strong and possessinghigh moral principles followed by good communication skills.

 

16 Li Jiahua, a professor ofhigher education and Vice-president of the China Youth University for PoliticalScience, told the council conference that despite the cultural and economicdifferences between the two countries, higher education in both was facingsimilar challenges in terms of student motivation and employment. The number ofstudents had increased more than fourfold in China since 2001 and around 1.5million of the country’s more than six million graduates last year had not yetfound jobs, he said.

 

17 “Students in China generallylose touch with society and they need help to understand how companies work andwhat is involved in the different jobs and professions. They know very littleoutside the campus and that is where I think they differ from students in theUK. We can share our experiences.”

 

中国：提高毕业生的就业能力

利兹·莱特富特

 

1 在雇主中展开的一项新的研究表明，与英国一样，中国的大学也面临着提高毕业生就业能力的需求。

2 今年早些时候，中国政府发布通知，敦促高等院校加强学生就业准备方面的努力。在英国，政府建起自己的实习计划，以帮助学生在经济衰退时期找到工作。

3 可是，雇主需要什么技能？中英两国在这方面有多大的不同呢？普利茅斯大学市场营销的高级讲师特洛伊·赫弗南博士试图在参与中英大学间13个伙伴合作计划之一的过程中解答这个问题。

4 这些伙伴合作计划，隶属英国首相国际教育行动计划的第二阶段，由政府通过英国文化协会出资。该计划鼓励高校之间交流思想、开发项目，旨在提高毕业生的创业和就业能力。

5 “我们发现在中英两国，用人单位都很重视领导才干和主动精神，这些都是在大学期间通过参与活动、承担责任而学到的。”赫弗南在英国文化协会组织的一次伦敦会议上这样说。该会议邀请人们为10个新的中英伙伴合作计划递交计划书。

6 “不过，两国之间对不同侧重点的关注程度也有明显不同，比如中国人对于‘关系’，即某人业已建立的联系网络非常重视，”他说。

7 通常，这个关系网络包括家人、朋友以及与在其他公司或志愿组织中工作的人，还有休闲活动中结识的人。中国人也往往会在谈正事儿之前花更多时间建立与他人的关系。

8 普利茅斯大学和地处北京的合作伙伴中国农业大学正致力于确定哪些技能最有可能带来就业机会和职业成功。两所大学的工作人员在市场营销、人力资源和财务会计三个领域对当地毕业生的雇主进行了面对面和电话采访。

9 今年晚些时候将要公布的一份报告的草案显示，中英两国的市场营销主管都高度重视良好的沟通能力。在英国，沟通能力——包括口头和笔头沟通、建立关系网络的能力和外语能力——被认为是至关重要的，其次是团队合作能力。

10 中国雇主说，他们十分器重能够完成工作、做成事的人，接下来他们要看创造力——在动态的、发展中的中国市场，这是一个重要性日渐凸显的属性，它需要人们善于思考，并将想法和见解化为行动。

11 英国雇主说，在金融和会计行业谋职的毕业生应该具备良好的商业意识，并且能够在他们的学术舒适区之外展示宽广的知识面。雇主心目中，排在毕业生理想属性第二位的是展现乐于参加与客户相关活动的能力。

12 也许是由于中国经济的快速发展需要更新法律、法规知识，金融领域的雇主看重有能力不断更新知识的毕业生。

13 “中国的银行业面临变化的挑战，”一位中国的银行高管表示。“我们不仅关心我们的新员工已经学会了什么——那主要是书本知识，我们也关心新员工在将来是否会自主学习。”

14 两国雇主都看重在人力资源领域求职的毕业生的个人技能。英国雇主认为最重要的属性是时间管理和良好的组织能力。个人技能——包括平易近人、充满自信、心理上坚强、善于理解他人并有耐心，排在重要性的第二位。

15 中国人力资源经理们强调，新员工要具备端正的品行和崇高的道德水准。其次，他们还需具备良好的沟通能力。

16 中国青年政治学院副院长、高等教育教授李家华在英国文化协会的会议上说，尽管中英两国在文化、经济领域有诸多不同，两国的高等教育在学生的学习动力和就业方面面临类似的挑战。自2001年以来，中国学生人数增加了4倍以上，去年600多万毕业生中，约150万还没找到工作。

17 “中国学生普遍与社会脱节，他们需要帮助，以了解公司如何运作以及不同的工作和职业需要哪些技能。他们对校园之外的世界知之甚少。我认为在这一点上，他们与英国的大学生有所不同。我们可以分享彼此的经验。”