A Survey On The Job Selection Perceptions Of Graduates From Vocational Colleges Of Xiangtan City

Objectives: A survey is made on the job selection perceptions ofstudents of Xiangtan vocational colleges who are going to start theirinternship before graduation in 2007. The survey covers such aspects ashow well the students have mastered their specialty, the students' jobseeking expectations, their preparation for the jobs and the approaches tofinding jobs. The objectives of analyzing the students job perceptions are(1) to investigate the different perceptions of the students on the currentjob market situation as well as their job orientations; (2) to obtain aninsight into the overall characteristics and existing differences in thestudents' perceptions of job selection;(3) to provide guidance andconsultation to students in their job selections.Method: Two vocational colleges are chosen at random, andamong 22 different specialties of these two colleges 368 students arechosen at random. Their specialties include Business English, ComputerApplications, Mould Design and Fabrication, Environment Art Design,Electric Motors and Nursing. Questionnaires are given to the studentsbefore they go into internship to investigate their job selectionperceptions. The questionnaires cover different issues such as the howwell the students have mastered their specialty, how prepared they arefor the job and the approaches to finding a job.Results: The survey shows that 52.3ï¼…of students are satisfied withtheir specialty, with a comparatively higher degree of satisfaction bystudents of Computer Applications and a lower degree of satisfaction bystudents of Electric Motors. 45.1ï¼…of student think they have an advantage in job seeking because of their specialty. 39.6ï¼…of studentsthink they have medium advantage because of their specialty. 15.3ï¼…ofstudents think they have no advantage because of their specialty. Studentof Electric Motors think their specialty gives them a favorable positionbut those of Mould Design and Fabrication think they are not asfavorably positioned. 27.7ï¼…of the students think that the ability theyacquired in college is sufficient enough for them to cope with the futurejob, 57.8ï¼…of the students think it is barely enough and 14.5ï¼…of thestudents think they can not cope with the future job with what they havelearned in college. 56.9ï¼…of the students think the prospect of theirspecialty is so-so and 13.9ï¼…of the students are not optimistic about theirspecialty. Students of Business are optimistic about their job prospectwhile students of Environment Art Design are not. There is a positivecorrelativity between students' satisfaction of their specialty and theirjudgment of whether their specialty has an advantage or not as well astheir view on job perception. 35.8ï¼…and. 44.8ï¼…of the students expecttheir monthly salary to be RMB1500-2000 and over RMB2000; 22.0ï¼…and 28.9ï¼…of the students hope they will work in a foreign investmentcompany or a joint venture company. To the question: "what is yourmajor consideration when choosing a job?", 56.6ï¼…of the students'choose "economic income". To the question: "are you willing to take ajob which is not related to your specialty?" 30.9ï¼…and 50.0ï¼…of thestudents choose "it depends". To the question: "will you make somepreparation for your job?" 57.8ï¼…of the students choose "it does notmatter". 55.2ï¼…of the students choose the time for job seeking to beupon graduation. To the question: "who do you think have influencedyou the most?" 33.8ï¼…and 33.2ï¼…choose "teachers at schools andparents". 35.8ï¼…and 26.9ï¼…of the students get their job seekinginformation from the college bulletin and job invitation interviews held in the college campus. To the question: "what kind of job informationyou are most eager to get?" 50.6ï¼…of the students choose "demand ofpeople for certain vacancies offered by employers". 70.2ï¼…of thestudents choose "know little of" to the question: "how much do youknow about the assistance offered by the college for students' jobfinding?" To the question: "what kind of guidance you hope most toget from the college?" 38.7ï¼…and 26.3ï¼…of the students choose "jobfinding information and techniques in job finding and takinginterviews".Conclusions: (1) 52.3ï¼…of students are satisfied with their specialty,45.1ï¼…of student think they have an advantage in job seeking becauseof their specialty, 56.9ï¼…of the students think the prospect of theirspecialty is so-so. (2)Students in XiangTan Vocational Colleges are notwell prepared for the job selection but generally with high expectationsfor the future jobs. They lack self-confidence and they are not very clearof their job target. (3)Students are not well informed of the job marketsituation. They seem to rely on outside help, and the colleges lack anefficient information supporting system. (4) Whether the students aresatisfied with their specialty or not has a direct impact on theirconfidence in find a job. There is a positive correlativity betweenstudents' satisfaction of their specialty and their view on job perception.