TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Job hunters have to beat 16 candidates on average to get an offer amid the pandemic, according to an online job bank on Sunday (July 4), per Radio Taiwan International.
Job bank Yes123 spoke with 1,220 graduates and 1,012 companies in a survey that revealed both job seekers and companies have been facing challenges during the job-hunting season.
The survey pointed out that about 80 percent of job hunters will lower their expected salary after being jobless for as long as 5.5 months. The proportion is around 5 percent higher than last year.
The pandemic and job-searching anxiety have surged simultaneously, as graduates between jobs are more anxious than others have been in the last two years.
“They are forced to accept a lower starting salary to win a job competition. It is better than having no job and struggling for a livelihood,” Yes123 spokesperson Yang Tsung-pin (楊宗斌) said.
As for companies, it takes an average of 17 interviews to find the candidate for a position — a noticeably low 5.9 percent selection ratio.
Yang also suggested graduates avoid posing certain questions to companies during interviews, including asking for higher salaries, pay raises, overtime pay, annual bonuses, or subsidies. Questions about compensatory leave or extra working hours are also not recommended, in addition to requests to know the result of the interview, he added.
