A would-be graduate from Hunan Province, who has been trying to land a job in Shenzhen since the beginning of this year, recently became a minor Internet celebrity after asking for an annual salary of 1 million yuan (US$129,366) in his resume which he uploaded to a popular recruitment Web site, the Shenzhen Special Zone Daily reported Thursday.

 

The report said the man, only known by his Web handle "zmjhnlgxy," invited any company willing to pay him 1 million yuan annually to contact him immediately.

 

Currently majoring in chemistry from Hunan Institute of Science and Technology, "zmjhnlgxy" will graduate in July. He began job-searching in January but met only with rejection due to a lack of experience.

 

"All companies are asking for applicants to have years' of work experience, as they don't want to spend on the training of a graduate just out of campus. They want their employees to bring in profit immediately," he said. However, what our mystery man lacks in experience, he more than makes up for in chutzpah, saying "I am sure I will contribute a lot to my potential employer, justifying my request for an annual salary of 1 million yuan."

 

An increasingly impenetrable labor market for graduates has become a real chore in the last few years as the Ministry of Educated has moved to allow more opportunities for university enrollment. This has seen millions of students graduating and entering an already saturated job market. 

 

Statistics from the ministry show that 4.95 million students will graduate from universities in July, up 820,000 on last year.

 

Adding to the pressure has been the trend among small- and medium-sized companies to seek experienced applicants in order to cut costs while remaining competitive.

 

(Shenzhen Daily April 28, 2007)