WHO is the big winner in the job-seeking market? The answer is not the employer and certainly not the employee - it is the job fair organizer which has become a red-hot business in the city.

The 3-page report set out in the January 16-22 issue offered a full coverage of the job market, with many job seekers being disappointed in their search for the career of their choice.

Job fairs are supposed to offer some hope to students dreaming of finding a career. But complaints about job fairs are also increasing. What is on offer seems always to be different from what has been advertised - there are few or even no international companies, fewer stalls and high ticket prices for desperate job seekers.

Insiders said organizing job fairs is now a high-profit business with the main profit coming from ticket sales at the door and from the renting of stalls. Ticket prices may range from 5 to 10 yuan (US$0.60 to US$1.20) but at some fairs targeting high-level applicants, tickets can cost 20 yuan. When a fair attracts a large attendance, most tickets cost at least 10 yuan. In addition, companies have to pay 600 to 1,000 yuan (US$73 to US$121) to the organizers. But some organizers will pay 200 to 300 yuan back to the person renting a stall.

Reporter's note:

For many years, Chinese never had to worry about finding a job because the State took care of it - the so-called "iron rice bowl". Everyone had a job and everyone received the same (meagre) wages.

But now things are changing.

China implemented the enrollment enlargement policy in colleges in 1999 and 2003 saw the first batch of graduates emerging from college to face a career crisis. The number of college graduates hit 2.12 million, almost double that of 2000.

"Popularizing higher education among common people was a social advance but the imbalance between supply and demand has worsened China's employment position," said Lu Zu'er from the Shanghai Science and Technology University.

The policy for graduates seeking a job has also changed. Since 2002, graduates have been allowed as long as two years to look for a job. During that time they can choose to keep their record and registered residence in the university or their hometown. Previously, if a student didn't find a job after graduation, their record and residence would revert to their hometown no matter whether it was in a city or an isolated village.