"Because our center was conducting recruitment of college graduates for the first time, our understanding of the recruitment majors was inadequate, and Wen Hua (pseudonym) was included in the scope of those who passed the qualification review..." Since last November, 21-year-old Wen Hua, a young man from Lianyungang, has experienced "dramatic ups and downs": he stood out in the campus recruitment, and was later told by the employer that his application qualification had been revoked because his major did not match.

On February 22, Wen Hua told a reporter from China Youth Daily · China Youth Network that he could not understand the conduct of the Fire Rescue Center of Lianyungang Port Holding Group Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as the "Rescue Center"). He said that if the Rescue Center's "understanding of the recruitment majors was inadequate," why should the college student "pay the price"?

Recruitment Turmoil

Wen Hua is a senior student majoring in Network and New Media at Taizhou University. Approaching graduation, he chose to participate in the campus recruitment of state-owned enterprises. In September 2023, Wen Hua applied for the clerk position posted by the Rescue Center.

According to Wen Hua's recollection, only one person was to be recruited for this position. The recruitment announcement stated the major requirements for the position as Chinese language, Chinese language and literature, secretarial studies, journalism, and related majors.

"My major belongs to the same broad category as journalism. The courses offered are also related to journalism." Wen Hua believed that his major met the recruitment requirement of "journalism and related majors." He submitted the application form and passed the qualification review.

On October 30, Wen Hua received the recruitment examination notice sent by the Rescue Center. On November 2, Wen Hua took the exam online.

Four days later, Wen Hua received a phone call from Mr. Zhao, a staff member of the Rescue Center. The other party told Wen Hua that he had been formally admitted and could go prepare for the physical examination.

Subsequently, the Rescue Center also sent Wen Hua a text message. The message stated, "You have been admitted by the Fire Rescue Center of Lianyungang Port Group Co., Ltd. Please reply by 9 a.m. on November 7 whether you agree to accept the admission. If you do not reply by the deadline, it will be deemed as a waiver of admission qualification."

Wen Hua immediately replied: agreeing to accept the admission. A screenshot he provided shows the reply time of the text message was 5:08 p.m. on November 6.

On November 7, Wen Hua went to the ** People's Hospital of Taizhou City for a physical examination. That evening, Wen Hua received a call from Mr. Zhao and was told that his admission was revoked because his major did not match.

Wen Hua said: "If my major really did not match, why didn't the Rescue Center inform me at the first opportunity after the qualification review?"

Wen Hua's father successively went to the Lianyungang State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission and the petition departments to defend his rights. "Finding a job is not easy, especially after preparing for the exam for so long." He said he only wanted to solve the problem, and his biggest demand was for his son to work smoothly.

A petition matter handling opinion letter issued by the Rescue Center and provided by Wen Hua shows that after investigation, because the center was conducting recruitment of college graduates for the first time, its understanding of the recruitment majors was inadequate, and Wen Hua was included in the scope of those who passed the qualification review; he was notified to take the exam and an admission text message was sent to Wen himself on November 6 last year.

The opinion letter emphasized that on November 7, 2023, upon notice from the relevant department of the group, Wen Hua's application qualification was revoked, and he was informed by phone. During this period, in response to questions raised by Wen Hua and his family about a "tailor-made recruitment," the Rescue Center arranged for dedicated staff to visit them in person to explain. To eliminate violations, the relevant department of the group decided to cancel the 2024 recruitment plan for the clerk position at the Rescue Center, and no recruitment work may be carried out for three years.

Wen Hua wrote in the receipt for the petition matter handling opinion letter: "I do not accept this result."

Rescue Center Says Recruitment Followed Procedures

For Wen Hua, the position he had originally been admitted to was ultimately canceled, causing him to miss the best autumn recruitment period.

"Who should pay for the mistake of the group's Human Resources Department? Me?" Wen Hua said.

On February 22, a reporter from China Youth Daily · China Youth Network contacted a staff member surnamed Song at the Rescue Center. On the phone, the staff member said the recruitment followed procedures and that specific questions should be directed to the group's Human Resources Department, adding, "We have no authority to handle this matter."

Subsequently, the reporter called the contact number of Lianyungang Port Holding Group Co., Ltd. The staff member who answered said they would make a note and call back.

Previously, Chen Jie, director of the organizational personnel post responsible for college recruitment at the group's Human Resources Department, said in a media interview that the matter was caused by a mistake by staff at the Rescue Center, a subordinate employer of the group. The Rescue Center was later merged into the Port Group, and this year was the first time it conducted college recruitment. The review staff responsible at the Rescue Center did not adequately understand the majors, which led to the above situation. "Before our group had completed the final review, they sent out the admission notice in advance, which was also wrong."

Chen Jie told the media that because Lianyungang Port Group has many subordinate units, each year the subordinate units report their staffing plans, and the specific review is the responsibility of each employer, with the group only responsible for the final review before public announcement.

Cao Chunhui, a lawyer at Jiangsu Weiao Law Firm, said that the Rescue Center's "withdrawal" after issuing the admission notice does not conform to legal provisions. An admission notice is an offer in the sense of civil law; after the worker accepts the admission notice and replies, it constitutes acceptance, and once the acceptance takes effect, it has legal binding force on both parties. The entity that issues the recruitment announcement externally is the employer, and the employer must bear the corresponding responsibility. How it conducts the review is an internal process; if problems arise, the employer cannot use this as a reason to evade responsibility.

Chen Jie denied to the media that there was a "tailor-made position," saying that Xiao Wen was not first place; he was admitted as the runner-up after the first-place candidate gave up. Chen Jie said that through this matter, the group will also learn a lesson, strengthen skills training for relevant personnel of subordinate units, strengthen process management, and prevent similar situations from happening again.

How to Understand "Understanding of Recruitment Majors"

Chen Jie introduced that this recruitment referred to the examination procedures for civil servants and public institutions, adopting a full-process review, and if a problem is found at any stage, the recruitment will be terminated. Xiao Wen's situation was that during the review by the group's Human Resources Department before public announcement, it was found that his major was inconsistent with the recruitment requirement. "What we required was the journalism major, not the journalism category. What we reviewed was the specific major, not the broad category. Xiao Wen's major is Network and New Media, so the two are inconsistent, and the final decision was to revoke his application qualification."

In this regard, a professor at the School of Journalism of a well-known university in Nanjing said that Network and New Media and Journalism are indeed two different majors, both belonging to the journalism category, and "in practice there is not much difference." If the group had eliminated Xiao Wen at the first stage, there would be no problem; the key now is that he had already been admitted, and finding this reason afterward is somewhat far-fetched.

In addition, he also believed that there was absolutely no need for the position of "clerk at the Fire Rescue Center of Lianyungang Port Group Co., Ltd." to be restricted to the journalism major.

Zhang Zhi'an, a professor at the School of Journalism of Fudan University, said that regardless of procedural justice or substantive justice, the journalism major and the Network and New Media major are very close, and moreover the employer's recruitment notice contained the wording "journalism and related majors," where "and related majors" can cover Network and New Media. Employers should be more responsible in the recruitment process for college students.

In addition, Zhang Zhi'an called for the fact that many employers' recruitment announcements now use the wording "journalism major," which does not quite conform to the new trend of talent cultivation in journalism schools, and suggested using "journalism and communication-related majors," which better fits the current situation of major development.

Cao Chunhui said that the employer's revocation of admission clearly violates the principle of good faith and causes losses to the worker such as time costs. As a state-owned enterprise, the Rescue Center should set a better example for society and improve the rules and regulations governing the recruitment process. Workers can negotiate with the employer to resolve the matter, and if negotiation fails, they can also resolve it through litigation. In practice, judicial authorities generally determine the employer's liability for compensation based on the worker's previous income level, a reasonable time to find another job, and the degree of the employer's fault.