Late Night Topic Today: Can You Find a Good Job After Graduation?

Being at Tokyo University, looking at the people around me and at myself, I realize that the vast majority of ordinary young people are following a well-trained, predetermined path throughout their lives: burying themselves in studies — desperately trying to get into university — panicking at graduation — hurriedly searching for jobs, following the routine, never daring to deviate.

In the days approaching graduation, I believe many graduates carry a blind arrogance. They think their academic performance is outstanding, consistently ranking in the top three of their major, holding a few competition certificates, and naturally having a halo around them. They always believe that stepping out of school means an easy road ahead, that top-tier companies will compete to hire them, and that high-paying offers are easily within reach.

But when you arrive at the recruitment site, you realize it’s filled with top students from all over the country. The scene is no less intense than the college entrance exam where thousands cross a narrow bridge. PhD candidates and graduate students from Jiaotong University are everywhere. They stand there with real competitive strength.

You are just an ordinary undergraduate, a typical 211 university student. You lack experience, and when competing on education, you can’t match them. Many think that knowing how to use AI and being able to control a crayfish can land you a job with a million-yuan annual salary.

But if you haven’t truly mastered these skills, gained deep understanding, and produced practical, valuable projects or works, who would want to hire you? China’s population base is enormous — talent is the least scarce resource.

At this spring recruitment fair during the Canton Fair, about 85,000 positions were available, but over 160,000 people came to apply. That means at least half will end up unemployed.

So what can these people do, and what will they do? Some might choose to take the civil service exam, only to fall back into the endless cycle of internal competition and over-competition, wasting a lot of time. Others might choose to start their own business, but that path is perilous — success today is often just survivorship bias.

Most people think graduation is the end of hard work, the moment to realize expectations. But once you step into society, you realize it’s just the beginning of another round of elimination.

Without the protection of campus, without grades to judge you, the so-called future, prospects, and good jobs have never had a standard answer. When education is no longer a universal passport, and effort doesn’t necessarily bring proportional rewards, what can we rely on to stand firm?

Should we continue to be trapped in internal struggles and go with the flow? Or should we settle down and cultivate real confidence? This question may require a long time for us to find our own answer.