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"Have you heard? In our province, graduates within three years are considered fresh graduates now!"

"Really? It's been less than three years since I graduated, but I've been working for more than a year and have paid social security. Can I still be considered a fresh graduate?"

Are you preparing to "take the civil service exam" because you are worried about losing your status as a fresh graduate? Don't be afraid! Recently, the human resources and social security departments of Shandong, Hunan, Guizhou, Guangxi and other provinces issued documents to adjust the identification standards for fresh graduates, clarifying that in the recruitment of public institutions in the province, whether they have work experience and social security payment will no longer be reviewed. For many young people who are struggling between employment and taking the full-time exam, this is undoubtedly an important good news.

Whether you are a fresh graduate or not is really important to me.

Employment is the most important livelihood issue, and the employment of college graduates is even more important. The reason why college graduates attach importance to their status as fresh graduates is that this status can bring many advantages in job hunting and settling down. In order to ensure the employment of this group, the recruitment of positions for national and local civil servants, state-owned enterprises and public institutions has been tilted towards fresh graduates for a long time. In the recruitment of key enterprises, the status of fresh graduates is also highly regarded. Whether it is a state-owned enterprise, a Fortune 500 company or an Internet giant, basically there are campus recruitments only for fresh graduates. For fresh graduates seeking employment, participating in campus recruitment is the best choice and an efficient way to enter some famous companies.

The status of fresh graduates is certainly popular when looking for jobs, but what comes with it is the problem of fresh graduate status loss that many young people are worried about. According to the "University Student Employment Research Report" released by Zhaopin in 2024, the proportion of fresh graduates who are slow to find employment has reached 19.1%; a survey by the Social Survey Center of China Youth Daily showed that 42.8% of the college students interviewed said that they wanted to delay graduation for no other reason than to retain their status as fresh graduates. In addition, different provinces and units have different standards for identifying fresh graduates, and some positions have unwritten rules such as "you are not considered a fresh graduate if you have paid social security." All these have put many college graduates in a dilemma of having to choose between immediate employment and full-time examinations.

People's Congress representatives speak out, many places and companies relax the recognition standards for fresh graduates

How did the fresh graduate status, which was originally intended to help college graduates find employment, become a concern for employment? "Many (public) institutions require fresh graduates for recruitment positions. Some college graduates delay employment or do not find employment to maintain this status. Some graduates want to change careers after work, but miss the fresh graduate status. It is recommended to relax the recognition standards." At the Hunan Provincial Two Sessions this year, deputies to the National People's Congress spoke out for the employment of college graduates. National People's Congress deputy and Nanjing University President Lu Jian also suggested optimizing the definition of fresh graduate status to alleviate "slow employment". "Regardless of whether you have signed a labor contract or paid social security, you are considered a fresh graduate and will enjoy the relevant benefits of fresh graduates when you find a new job."

In this regard, government departments and leading enterprises can play a key guiding role.ZhejiangIn order to broaden the channels for selecting candidates, the provincial examination clearly states that graduates from ordinary colleges and universities in 2019 and 2020 can apply for positions that require them to be graduates from ordinary colleges and universities in 2021.HunanThe "Several Measures on Doing a Good Job in the Open Recruitment of College Graduates by Public Institutions" was issued, which clearly stated that graduates who graduated within the past three years and have not yet found employment within the establishment will also be included in the category of "college graduates" and enjoy more employment opportunities; in July this year,ShandongA document was also issued to clarify that when recruiting in public institutions, applicants’ work experience and social security payment status will no longer be reviewed.Guizhou, GuangxiOther provinces have also issued similar notices to relax the recognition standards for recent graduates.

At the same time, some Internet giants have also relaxed their graduation requirements for recent graduates. For example, Tencent's 2025 campus recruitment has relaxed the graduation time of campus recruits to between January 2024 and December 2025; Alibaba's Taotian Group's 2025 campus recruitment targets have also been relaxed to graduates between November 2023 and October 2025.

Relaxing the recognition standards is to allow young people to better pursue their dreams

The original intention of the social discussion around the status of fresh graduates is to achieve employment equity and create a more relaxed and open space for graduates to choose jobs. A teacher from the Career Guidance Center of Zhejiang Universities said that in terms of employment, the mentality that students need to overcome most is not daring to try. "In consultation, we found that many students have certain 'illusions' about taking the civil service exams. After joining the job, they feel uncomfortable, but are afraid of losing their status as fresh graduates and having difficulty finding a job after leaving. More and more places are optimizing the identification of fresh graduates, which can reduce the psychological burden of newcomers in the workplace to a certain extent and promote full employment of young people through fine-tuning of the system."

Relaxing the identification standards for fresh graduates means that young people will have more employment opportunities. They do not have to take the civil service exams twice or three times after failing them. They can also explore and try freely at the beginning of their careers and find a career or even a career they truly love. We hope that these policies issued by various places can break the shackles of traditional employment concepts, encourage more graduates to open up their minds, bravely pursue their dreams, and embrace more diverse and richer employment opportunities.

Xiaoxiang Morning News reporter Peng Haoze

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