The job market for university graduates is heating up in the second week after Spring Festival in China, with recruitment needs and the number of job seekers increasing by 1.2 and 1.4 times respectively year on year, both higher than the overall market level, a new study found.

During the week between February 25 and March 3, job postings for graduates increased 121 percent over the same period last year, according to online recruiting platform zhaopin.com. The increase was almost 11 percent higher than the overall job market during the same period.

At the same time, with the release of postgraduate entrance examination results, more new graduates entered the job market, and their job-seeking behavior became more active, resulting in a 143 percent year-on-year growth in candidates, far exceeding the 106 percent growth of the overall national job market.

The real estate and Internet sectors had the strongest recruiting needs, accounting for around 12 percent of total job openings for recent graduates.

The intermediary services, education and training sectors are also targeting young job seekers.

More than two-thirds of surveyed graduates said competition is intense and finding suitable jobs is difficult. The biggest obstacles are a lack of relevant internships or work experience, followed by insufficient professional skills and low academic qualifications.