THEY ALL SAY I'VE MET A GHOST

Chapter 1

A Fan Translation

CHAPTER 1 - ACCEPTING A JOB OFFER (PART 1)

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My name is Shen Jianguo. I am twenty-six years old. I finished graduate school this year, and I am in the process of looking for a job. Over the past few years, I have frequently shared some materials and subjective views concerning my field of study on my homepage. Of course, no one has read them. With my schooling over, I am faced with the awkward period of looking for work. Many of my elders have said that this is a very difficult period. Starting today, I will record my experiences and observations during this period on my homepage, in the hope that I can provide some trifling amount of help and insight to students who are about to graduate and face the difficulties of looking for work.

My field of study is Ideological and Political Education. Its employment prospects aren't as good as some popular fields of study. Shortly before my undergraduate graduation, I also tried to find a job. I submitted many resumes, most of which sank like stones into the sea. Generally, only large businesses seek personnel for Party and government work, but at the time the response I got from them was that their minimum threshold was a graduate education.

So I resolved to take the graduate entrance exams and enrich myself, to become more accomplished and to meet the employment requirements.

In the first half of my graduate year, I sat the National Civil Service Exam, the Public Institution Exam, the Teacher's Exam, and other such exams. Unfortunately, I hadn't prepared enough. I lost too many points on the Administrative Aptitude Test. I didn't even pass the written portion. The Administrative Aptitude Test stresses numerical calculation, detailed logical analysis, and spatial reasoning, as well as the speed of filling in the answers. My abilities are somewhat deficient in these areas, so I missed my opportunity this year. Before I take the test next year, I will definitely have to practice these skills to overcome my weaknesses.

I spent a month knocking around the employment market looking for job postings to submit resumes to, but small companies thought that my graduate education was too high; they needed some sturdy, hard-working undergraduate or vocational student. I raised my hands to show that I was young, strong, and able to bear hard work, but they still refused me, for the reason that the base pay was too high.

As for the large companies, they did occasionally recruit personnel for Party and government work. This time, I did meet the minimum threshold. Unfortunately, I didn't perform well during the interview. The employer thought I wasn't mature enough and politely turned me down.

To tell you the truth, I felt a bit lost. The purpose of taking the graduate entrance exam was to give myself more choices and opportunities for employment, but now I was either over-qualified or under-performing. It was really frustrating.

In addition to that, having already graduated, I would have to move out of my school dormitory in a few days, adding to the pressure.

It seemed that I was at the end of my rope. I was so upset my hair was falling out. Every morning I could sweep away a bunch of short hairs. This made me very worried. Many of the older students I knew had started going bald after thirty. I was twenty-six, not very far from thirty.

If couldn't find a job, I might have to change the photo on my personal page from a head of dense buzzcut hair to a bald pate.

Fortunately, heaven helps the willing. While I was searching everywhere for a cheap room to rent, a training institute I had submitted a resume to replied to me.

This was an all-inclusive training institute, including a Graduate Entrance Exam class, a night school class for self-examination, a Civil Servant Exam class, as well as a college entrance exam crash course, CET-4 and CET-6 English classes, etc. It wasn't well-known. I hadn't even heard of this "Midnight Harbor" training institute.