The psychology of unemployment

The career-choosing psychology of contemporary unemployed college students

(1) Utilitarian psychology

This kind of job-seeking psychology can often be seen in highly educated college students or other intellectuals . Their motivations for finding a job or choosing a career are not only a strong desire to contribute to the country, society, and the people, but also a desire to obtain high income and high status. Many university undergraduates, master's students, and doctoral students flock to special economic zones, foreign-funded enterprises, or start private companies integrating science, industry, and trade, often out of this mentality. When asked "What do you think about the value of life?", the answers for students in grades one to four were 70.1, 69.0, 72.3, and 74.3 respectively; for those who chose the answer "The value of a person lies in both contribution and utility"; when asked "You When asked "What kind of life do you want to pursue?", the answers of "pursue not only contribution to society but also pursuit of happiness in personal life" were 92.4, 92.9, 94.1 and 90.3 for students in grades one to four respectively; when asked "What is your philosophy of life?" "When asked, "What are the criteria for choosing a job?", the scores of first- to fourth-year students who chose the answer of "more contributions, more benefits" were 80.3, 78.2, 80.6, and 84.4 respectively; when asked "What is the ranking of your criteria for choosing a job?" College students ranked "good working conditions" , conducive to the development of talents" ranked third. From the results of these survey answers, we can clearly see the utilitarian psychology of college students when choosing a job. In particular, the poverty of intellectuals, the influence of social trends and the inspiration of campus business have induced the wealth-seeking mentality of pursuing high economic income in career choices.

(2) Safety Psychology

The so-called safety psychology means that when choosing a career, some people often choose those enterprises owned by the whole people based on the stability of the career. This kind of mentality is often encountered among job seekers who are greatly influenced by traditional culture. For example, many college students from cadre and intellectual families often choose universities and scientific research institutions, believing that although the income is not high, these places are safe and stable; some college students from working-class families often choose large and medium-sized state-owned enterprises, also out of safety and stability considerations. . In addition, people have also found that among those who come to apply for a job with a safety mentality, most of them have parents who "do it for them". A parent of a college student told us, "I don't ask my children to take risks and make a lot of money. I just want to help them find a stable job and eliminate the worries of being a parent." Such parents are not in the minority.

(3) "Famous" psychology

Among consumers, there is a kind of fame-seeking psychology, that is, they pursue famous brands of goods to show their social status, and they even do not hesitate to buy fake ones. merchandise to satisfy their vanity. This fame-seeking mentality also exists among job seekers, who do not understand the inherent requirements of the profession or whether they are qualified for certain jobs, and simply pursue units with "high reputation and good reputation".

(4) Competitive psychology

Competition in commodity production is the source of people’s competitive psychology. The country's restoration of the college entrance examination system, the implementation of scholarships and loan systems in colleges and universities, the implementation of paid contracts in scientific research units, the mobility of talents, and the abolition of tenure for cadres, etc., all promote and protect competition, thereby strengthening people's competitive psychology.

Competitive psychology is very obvious in the process of job hunting and career selection. According to a college student who has been hired by the Shanghai Hilton Hotel: "The first thing that attracted me was the high salary and good treatment. In addition, frankly speaking, I was not satisfied with the working environment of the research institute where I originally worked. Some people said that I did not know I'm satisfied, it's quite satisfying to do a leisurely job in a reputable unit, so why do I need to be transferred? What's annoying is that there's no work to do, and people can't be transferred. I'm willing to participate in all kinds of competition. I am willing to work at a fast pace and efficiently, and I hope to be able to enjoy myself freely after work. How happy this is!" This college student's outspokenness represents the job hunting mentality of many people.

(5) Leisure-seeking psychology

Leisure-seeking psychology refers to the mentality of pursuing comfort and leisure in job hunting and career selection. There is often a strange phenomenon in some big cities, that is, no one is willing to do some jobs, and some people have no jobs to do, which has caused a large number of "blind migrants" in rural areas to fill the gap. At a job recruitment meeting in Beijing, we often see many people holding employment certificates looking for jobs in a "selective" manner.

They would rather be unemployed than become coal miners, textile workers, cleaners... In other departments, the recruitment desks are crowded with people. The author asked one of the young women, and the answer was shocking: "We are already in the 1990s, and we are still asked to operate those bulky spinning machines. No way! I would rather live an idle life and be self-employed than work in something that makes a lot of effort and earns a lot of money." Jobs that don’t pay much”. The mentality of seeking leisure may only account for a minority among the job-seeking ranks of college students.

(6) Convenience-seeking psychology

Convenience-seeking psychology is a job-hunting mentality of those who want to be close to home or pursue convenience in life. There are often many conflicts between career and family, work and life, causing a lot of inconvenience, which leads to a convenience mentality when choosing a career. A university lecturer who lives in Beijing and is single and working in other places actually resigned himself to working as a watchman in order to reunite his family.

This convenience-seeking mentality can also be seen in the career choices of college students. According to a 1988 survey by relevant departments in Beijing, when asked "If you were free to choose your job destination after graduation, which region would you choose first?" 23.2% of college students chose Beijing; 21.0% chose open coastal cities; and 21.0% chose other places. The proportion in big cities is 16.7. The reason is for the convenience of life and study. When we surveyed some college students in 1987, when asked about this issue, 24.2% of college students chose big cities, 21.0% chose units close to home, and only a handful chose remote areas. This shows the role of convenience psychology in college students’ career choices.

(7) Dedication mentality

This kind of mentality is common among job seekers who have established a correct outlook on life and career choice. For example, the People's Liberation Army soldiers who gave up inheriting a huge family fortune abroad and determined to protect their families and the country; the cadres of state agencies who were willing to be screws; the teachers who were willing to be "candles" to burn themselves and illuminate others; the scientific researchers who were willing to serve as ladders for others; for the sake of the country. People who are willing to be "unsung heroes" or voluntarily go to the frontiers to work, etc. With their excellent ideological quality and strong dedication to the people, the motherland, and the cause, they choose the jobs that the country urgently needs without hesitation. These people are our Chinese The backbone of a nation is often more capable of making greater achievements. Dedication is a kind of professional ethics that we strongly advocate in career selection guidance.

(8) Herd mentality

Herd mentality is also often encountered when looking for a job. Some college students are looking for popular occupations on the job site. The more people apply, the greater their desire for those occupations. As a result, people crowded into narrow alleys such as "foreign-funded" enterprises, large hotels and foreign trade departments when looking for jobs. Some people even "dedicated themselves" to this or were deceived. Therefore, we have repeatedly warned students in employment guidance that job selection is a serious and solemn matter. They must consider it carefully and proceed with caution. They must not "follow their feelings" and blindly follow the crowd.

9) Dependence Psychology

“Rely on your parents at home, rely on your friends when you go out.” This widely circulated social slang also affects the career selection psychology of contemporary college students. When many college students fill out their application for college entrance examination, their parents or middle school teachers make the decision. When graduation approaches, these people place their hope of employment on the school and teachers, with the mentality of dependence that "there must be a road before the car reaches the mountain." Even though the graduation allocation system has undergone tremendous changes, there are still a large number of college students who hope that the country will continue to "unify all allocations." On the one hand, they also hope to find a satisfying job, but on the other hand, they are unwilling to travel around by themselves. So some seek help from their parents thousands of miles away, and some look around about their careers and can't make up their minds.

Problems of career choice

(1) There is an "elite consciousness" and excessive job expectations

In recent years, although my country's higher education has realized the trend of " "popularization" has changed, but many college graduates still have an elite consciousness and regard themselves as the "proud son of the emperor". They believe that "I choose a career" rather than "a career chooses me" and are picky about employment units and positions. Fourth, a particularly obvious phenomenon is that students studying in some economically developed areas such as Beijing and Shanghai have strict requirements on salary and working environment when choosing a career. They all hope to work in the eastern coastal areas, but they lack the conditions for economically underdeveloped areas. Enthusiasm for employment.

(2) Failure to correctly understand and face the increasingly fierce employment competition

When contemporary college students graduate, they all realize that in order to find a job that they are satisfied with, they must put themselves into the talent market They compete fiercely with others, but in the face of the fiercely competitive job market, they often have many concerns. The specific manifestations are:

1. Fear: Some students do not have the knowledge to apply for jobs because they have not studied seriously and accumulated experience. Insufficient ability, ability, and psychological preparation. After being frustrated several times in job hunting, they develop fear, become nervous when it comes to choosing a career, and even develop despair.

2. Impatience: Some college students are affected by employment pressure and are hasty and impatient when applying for jobs. They do not have a detailed understanding of the employer and sign the contract hastily. Once they find that they have not been able to do so, they will regret it. This kind of behavior of college students Their impatience often makes them restless and lack self-control.

3. Inferiority: Some college students have a strong inferiority complex due to imperfect self-awareness or introversion or some physical defects. They lack self-confidence when choosing a career and dare not boldly recommend themselves. Dare to take the initiative to show off your abilities and personality.

4. Aloofness: Some college students with relatively superior conditions have too high self-esteem. In the process of choosing a career, they look down on this unit and that career. They look down upon the mountains and are so ambitious.

(3) Failure to correctly understand success and the mentality of luck and speculation

Affected by social trends, many college students are eager to take shortcuts to success, dreaming of Bill Gates-style success, and suddenly become violent. If you want to get rich and become famous in one fell swoop, you lack the psychological preparation for hard work and are unwilling to start from small things, start from the grassroots level, and achieve your own career in a down-to-earth manner.

(4) The psychology of dependence is heavy

In the process of choosing a career for college students, some college students place their hopes on their parents and relatives, hoping to cultivate human relationships to complete their transition from students to The transformation of professional people; there are also some college students who place their hopes on the school, hoping that the school will be a "full-time nanny", showing a passive waiting mentality and lacking the initiative to seize the opportunity to create opportunities.