Shanghai’s first job fair for graduating students this year was held on Sunday and attracted about 16,000 people. More than 500 businesses offered nearly 13,000 jobs at the fair organized by human resources and educational authorizes in Shanghai. They received 12,000 resumes and made more than 3,500 offers on site. “State-owned enterprises and domestic private companies have usually been main employers of college graduates,” said Ding Feng, director of the city’s talent service center. “Foreign companies have more active campus recruitment plans and some have already selected candidates.” The employers come from all kinds of industries, though manufacturers, IT and architecture accounted for more than half of the employers. To attract the young job-seekers, some companies wrote salaries directly on their posters while some offered to help those from outside of Shanghai get permanent residence permits in the city or offered two years of free accommodation. Finance, telecommunications, integrated circuits enterprises attracted huge crowds of students to their booths at the fair. Huang Jiadong, a postgraduate majoring in industrial economics, said he focused on finance and 5G companies as these areas were regarded as important for the development of the whole country. He has already received some offers but still went to the fair to see if there were better opportunities. “I do not care too much about the pay since I’m a Shanghainese and do not have to face some of the high living expenses, such as rent,” he said. “Instead, I’m looking for the career development employers can offer.” Pan Wenhua, a masters student majoring in business at Donghua University, told Shanghai Daily that she had applied for state-owned companies only. “There were stereotypes about state-owned companies, saying there were slow in development and rigid in their management,” she said. “But many are reforming with promising prospects. I prefer them because they offer both stable jobs and good career development, as well as descent pay.” From Shanxi Province, Pan said she wished to work in Shanghai because of the opportunities the city could offer. She said she had submitted resumes to some telecommunications companies and banks at the fair. "The living costs are high in Shanghai, but the pay here is also high," she said. "I think if I can earn 8,000 yuan (US$1,150) a month, it will be enough to stay in the city." Shanghai Daily saw that many companies offered annual salaries of  60,000 to 100,000 yuan, but there were also some jobs promising as much as 350,000 yuan per year. Jia, an HR officer from Lanry, an electronics company, told Shanghai Daily that they were seeking engineers and would pay over 10,000 yuan a month, but the requirements were also very high. "We want quick learners, able to carry out research and design products independently soon," she said. Among the job seekers was Scalingi Giuseppe from Italy. He was accompanying his girlfriend to the fair and seeing if there were any jobs suitable for him. Giuseppe learned Chinese at Hebei Normal University and has worked at a consulting company in Shanghai for four years, serving foreigners seeking to work in China. He said Shanghai had plenty of job opportunities for foreigners and it was  easy for them to settle down. He wished to continue working in human resources but was looking for some better opportunities. About two thirds of the jobs offered at the fair required bachelor’s or higher degrees, and 6.7 percent were for postgraduates. Tan Xingxing, an electronic information major from Shanghai Institute of Technology, said he wished to find a job related to digital integrated circuits, but most companies required postgraduate degrees. “I saw some integrated circuit companies are looking for engineers, but they want postgraduates as the jobs require outstanding R&D ability,” he said. “That’s why I also took the national postgraduate exam last month. I feel that I didn’t do well in the exam, so I need to hurry up in job seeking.” He said he was only able to drop off resumes with three companies in the morning. Ding Feng, director of the city's talent service center, said students need not be anxious as the job market is relatively stable in Shanghai. The center will organize more job fairs, including ones for students returning from overseas, shipping and financing industries, and badly needed talent. Zhou Hongxing, deputy director of the Shanghai student affairs office, suggested that students to stay calm and choose jobs according to their own interests and abilities. According to Zhou, local higher educational institutions will see 193,000 graduates this year, about 3,000 more than last year. Among them, 49,000 are postgraduates, 98,000 have bachelors degrees and another 46,000 come  from vocational or junior colleges.