When a "sea turtle" (a Chinese pun for overseas returnees) becomes "sea weed" (a less amusing play on words which also means being out of a job), when bright graduates sink in the flooded China job pool, when cut-throat competition is squeezing starting salaries, I, as a job hunter fresh out of an overseas college, can't help thinking of the beginning of A Tale of Two Cities: "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times... it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way."

Gone are the talent-poor days of the 1990s, graduates find job-hunting hard now. Experts question whether this privileged generation is up against economic realities, or unrealistic expectations. Either way, many students are sucked into the workforce at entry-level posts, grumbling that they're overqualified and underpaid. The intense competition has led to a truly tough landing from campus to society, and no one can escape it. So who can make a golden parachute?

Apart from expanding employment through developing the economy, much more could be done by the government. Developing and promoting a public employment service system could help lower the costs of job-hunting as well as improve its efficiency and laws or regulations against gender or "hukou" discrimination must be laid out as soon as possible.

Career planning, as a process of decision-making and setting priorities, must be an integrated part of the college education rather than something that happens or doesn't happen at the end. Its goal is for students to graduate with tools to make career decisions for the rest of their lives, enabling them to handle changes in their future whether they are internally motivated or motivated by circumstances outside their control.

However, most importantly, I think job-seekers must take their fates into their own hands. God helps those who help themselves. Four steps should be taken to succeed in job-hunting.

First of all, getting prepared psychologically is always necessary to face daunting work, which job-hunting certainly is for most people. Keeping a positive and optimistic attitude is necessary for tackling the job issue.

Secondly, figure out several effective job-search strategies and prioritize. There are numerous job-search strategies utilized by job seekers today, such as direct contact, networking, career and job fairs, ads/job announcements, Internet job searches and third-party recruiting. Good job-search strategies are individually tailored, which means you take advantages of your own strengths and social resources. In other words, you should select and focus on the most energy-saving ways rather than rush into a job fair or send applications aimlessly.

Third, job search strategies should be well planned before carrying them out. Take networking as an example: What you will do includes: (1) Develop a list of contacts; (2) Make contacts with those on your list. Be honest about your reason for contacting them; (3) State clearly how you want them to assist you; (4) Send a thank-you letter and make sure they know how to contact you.

Last but not least, let us raise our courage and move towards the job pool, which may be full of challenges and reefs.

"You jump, I jump, believing we are not on the Titanic!"