Alterations in the career orientations of university graduates to employment amidst the pandemic

Based on the materials of empirical studies conducted in 2020 and 2021, the alterations to the employment orientations of university graduates that have occurred amidst the difficult economic situation due to the coronavirus pandemic. The source of empirical data was an online survey conducted in early May 2020 and 2021 amid students of the Ural Federal University, Ural Mining University (Yekaterinburg). The main changes to employment orientations among those who intend to seek employment by profession, related or unrelated to the studies they have taken at university are highlighted. There has been an increase in the proportion who want to seek professional employment among those who have studied engineering and a decrease in the number of those who have such an orientation among those who have studied natural sciences, humanities and social sciences. Respondents showed that in the face of job cuts, employers preferred those who were skilled in new IT tools, able to cope independently, able to work remotely and quickly incorporate into new employment. Among those surveyed, the majority consider themselves fully prepared to meet these requirements. Attention should be paid to developing the ability of students to adequately evaluate their own ability when seeking employment.