BEIJING – The biggest-ever job fair, at one of Beijing’s top universities, attracted more than 2,000 job seekers on March 17 — as well as more than 200 recruiters, ranging from manufacturers to Internet companies to government agencies, said the organizer.

“I’ve already submitted three resumes, as I believe the wide net catches more fish,” said Wang Zhijia, who will graduate from Renmin University of China with a degree in economics.

As students swarmed the long corridor between booths, it also revealed something about the world’s second-largest economy, as an unprecedented 8 million or so college graduates-turned-job hunters will enter the labor market.

This is twice the number of 2006, according to the Chinese government, and nearly the population of Switzerland. Some Chinese netizen have already described 2017 as “the hardest year for job-hunting.”

Job fairs play an important role in Chinese graduates’ job finding. It gives the job-seeker a chance to submit many resumes in a short time, and also gives companies a chance to interview their prospective employees briefly.

Last year, for example, 69% of Renmin graduates found their jobs via job fair, revealed by a report from the university’s Career Center. It’s a big number.

“To help graduates find jobs, this year we set March as the Month of Spring Recruiting, with one fair each week,” said Li Shuang, spokesman of the Renmin career center.

March is the first month after Chinese New Year, and students come back to Beijing from their hometown to continue job-hunting — especially at a job fair that offers a wide range of work opportunities, in a short time. The Renmin job fair even attracted other students.

Yang Xue, a student of a science-technology university in northeast China, came to Beijing, where the largest amount of key universities located, with her classmates.

“We noticed this fair on WeChat” — a leading Chinese social-media platform — “and we come here with great hope.”

Indeed, job fairs held by key universities attract more recruiters with high quality. Among those, many came in groups under the recommendation and organization of local governments.

There were also some state-owned enterprises which provide decent salary and Beijing Hukou (permanent residence permits), such as China State Construction Engineering Corporation (CSCEC), the hottest one in the afternoon, receiving a thick stack of 177 resumes through the job fair, including Yang’s.

However, the amount of this kind of “better job” is limited, “We may hire only three of them, ultimately,” said Zhong Qing, from CSCEC Human Resources.

Compared with that, some small and startup corporations without a high salary or Beijing Hukou are relatively not that popular.

“Some students just admire the high salary and Beijing Hukou, without considering their competitiveness. This is a main reason of failure in job finding,” said Li Shuang.

To find a job in “the hardest year for job-hunting,” Li advised students to adjust their job expectations: “Find the position matching your ability.”