Over 60 percent of Taiwan college students graduating this summer are worried they might have difficulty finding employment after graduation, according to the results of a survey released yesterday.
In the survey, conducted by the 1111 Job Bank on 1,104 students between Feb. 26 and March 11, 66 percent of the respondents said they are worried about not being able to find a job after graduation. The survey has a margin of error of plus or minus 2.9 percentage points.
Of those surveyed, 62.86 percent said they plan to enter the workforce immediately after graduation, 14.49 percent said they plan to continue their studies, 9.6 percent plan to perform their military service, and 8.33 percent plan to prepare for employment-related examinations.
The average "workplace competitiveness" score of those respondents planning to seek employment immediately upon graduation was only 64.2 points on a 100-point scale.
The top five favored occupations among the respondents were administration and general affairs (27.72 percent) , accounting and finance (22.64 percent), computer hardware and communications (17.93 percent), restaurant, tourism and transportation (14.86 percent), and sales and trade (14.67 percent).
On average, the respondents expect to receive NT$26,804.43 (US$869.7) per month for their first job, or NT$1,600 higher than the figure in a similar survey conducted last year.
In another survey conducted by the job search Web site, 74 percent of the respondents said they are willing to hire fresh graduates.
The remaining 26 percent said they are not willing to hire fresh graduates because of the graduates' poor ability to deal with stress, their lack of work experience and professional skills, and their poor work attitude, as well as the high costs involved in training new workers.
Among the respondents who said they are willing to hire fresh graduates, the considerations cited in determining whether to hire one included the graduates' field of specialization, part-time work experience, involvement in extra-curricular activities, reputation of the schools they graduated from, and achievements in competitions as well as whether they served as class leaders.
The qualities that employers are looking for in fresh graduates include a good work attitude, a strong ability to deal with stress, good communication skills, and an enthusiasm for work.
Meanwhile, NT$25,146.82 is the average starting salary that the respondents believe is reasonable for fresh graduates. The figure is NT$2,384 higher than that found in a similar survey conducted last year.
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