“My major is management science and engineering. I know some basic programming and have some PM experiences,” Samuel, a fresh graduate from Jiangsu University, said to an employer at the 3E International Fair held Saturday.

After a brief talk with the French company, the young man from Ghana got an interview invitation, a good start for his job-hunting that day.

Like Samuel, over 1,000 people (including graduates from universities in the Yangtze River Delta region, overseas returnees and expats) took part in the 3E International Fair (“3E” means Entrepreneurship, Employment, Enterprise) on October 23.

(Samuel at the fair)

This is the second edition of the 3E International Fair since 2020. This year, the number of job positions offered increased from 200 to 550, with fresh graduates from universities in Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Shanghai participating, and registered expats were from more than 30 countries and regions, according to Linda Painan, chairperson of The Expatriate Center (TEC), a non-profit organization for expats in Shanghai and one of the organizers of the Fair.

(Launch ceremony)

(Group photo of VIPs)

124 companies gathered to seek talents. 13 seminars and workshops in total were also organized, as well as 1-to-1 consultations and the holding of the Social Entrepreneurship Competition finals. Hundreds of young people gathered here at Shanghai Mart (in Changning District) to pursue their dreams.

(1-to-1 consultations are provided to the participants.)

(Business leaders talk with a job seeker.)

Art Logics, a French company specializing in testing technology, set up a company here in Shanghai in 2009. It has recently moved to Changning District while planning to expand its market in China. The company is therefore looking for engineers. NYU Shanghai was also hiring people. “Except for some foreign teachers, staff at NYU Shanghai are mainly Chinese employees. But as we are a Sino-US joint venture university, we want talents with foreign language abilities and cross-cultural communication skills to join us,” said Ms. Zheng from the HR department.

The Fair also developed a bilingual online mini-program in WeChat for job seekers’ convenience. When the event concluded, there were 241 applications for jobs via both online and offline platforms and 45 people passed their first-round interviews on the spot.

(Group photo of the final teams of the Social Entrepreneurship Competition)

The Social Entrepreneurship Competition brings together innovation and international think-tanks to inspire more like-minded people and help to bring domestic entrepreneurship to another level. As a speaker, Colin from Canada took the responsibility of mentoring a Chinese team named JS Creative, who would then pitch their ideas to the judges about their products and services in child safety education. In Colin’s opinion, the team is very good as they take the social responsibility to help educate families about child safety and have protected thousands of children so far. Eventually, team JS Creative won the first prize in the adult category.

“Shanghai’s entrepreneurial environment is big and rich,” added Colin, “and many people are willing to fund even small startups.”

(Team JS Creative gives a speech at the final competition.)

(Colin [right] with an employer)

Colin joined the 3E International Fair for the second time, consulting for free for startup teams. He is also delighted that his own company got a better booth position this year. He enjoys being a speaker and mentor for others, as he always wants to “give back and help the next generation to succeed” by sharing his experiences with them.

The event was held by The Expatriate Center and the Global Shapers Community Shanghai Zizhu, with support from the local government and several foreign commerce chambers.

(Photos provided by TEC)