More than half of first-time jobseekers have shown an interest in forging a career in the service sector, following the flourishing outlook of domestic demand-related industries over the past two years led by an increase in tourist consumption, a survey conducted by the Chinese-language Cheers magazine showed yesterday.
The magazine’s latest survey — which polled 2,041 students planning to enter the job market this year — showed that more than half of the 10 most attractive companies to first-time jobseekers are in the service sector.
ATTRACTIVE
Restaurant operator Wowprime Corp (王品集團) topped the list of most attractive companies to first-time jobseekers.
Retail conglomerate Uni-President Group (統一集團) took up three positions in the list of the 10 most attractive companies to fresh graduates, with Uni-President Enterprises Corp (統一企業) at second place, followed by two affiliated President Chain Store Corp (PCSC, 統一超商) companites — President Starbucks Coffee Corp (統一星巴克) and Muji (Taiwan) Co (台灣無印良品) — at No. 6 and No. 9 respectively.
LIST
Eslite Group (誠品集團) — a local conglomerate that runs various cultural and lifestyle brands — took third place, followed by Chunghwa Telecom Co (中華電信), Taiwan’s largest mobile provider, and information services giant Google Inc.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, was the only technology manufacturing company to make it onto the list, the survey said.
“In the past year, we have seen more fresh graduates pursue a career in the retail industry,” PCSC human resources department director Rover Hsieh (謝慶勳) told the Taipei Times.
EXPERIENCE
Most newcomers at PCSC may need to first experience different aspects of the retail industry by starting as a store clerk, but their career path becomes wider and more varied after one year, when the company promotes them to positions at its headquarters or to management positions in retail or convenience stores, Hsieh said.
This kind of management trainee position has been popular among first-time jobseekers, Hsieh said, citing the above average starting salary of about NT$30,000 (US$1,010) per month, mainly driven by steady profitability of the company due to a rise in domestic demand.
Compared with private companies, the survey showed fresh graduates are less interested in becoming a civil servant, mainly due to fears of a low starting salary of about NT$22,000 a month.
A separate survey conducted by the magazine showed that only about 10 percent of local employers planned to expand recruitment this year, which indicated tough competition for first-time jobseekers this year.
RESUMES
Over the past six months, bosses have received an average of 116 resumes per job opening, with employees in the financial sector getting an average of 266 resumes for a single position, the survey showed.
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