Three months after Pan Xinyue graduated from Tsinghua University in Beijing, she joined her current company as a sculpture illustrator.

"I love my job. It gives me space to really unleash my art inspiration," said the 22-year-old who majored in fiber art.

Countless young job seekers are stepping into China's worst economy in decades brought on by a global pandemic this year, but it seems employment prospects for Pan and many other graduates from the country's top universities have not been dampened by the economic downturn – something that did not come as a surprise for experts.

"Some [media reports] have said the class of 2020 will be expecting the hardest job hunting season ever, but in reality, we are seeing an unprecedented demand for good talents," said Chen Lijun, a public policy professor at Zhejiang University, during a panel discussion this week about career prospects for new Chinese graduates.

Professor Chen has been studying the job market in the eastern province of Zhejiang – home to many industrial and manufacturing clusters – since July, when the country began its post-pandemic recovery period.

"We were expecting a U-shaped rebound (of employment rate), but it turned out to be V-shaped," she observed, meaning that the recovery had been faster than previously thought.

"As the coronavirus wears on in other parts of the world, a great deal of orders [signed previously outside China] were moved to China… and now companies are not able to handle surging orders on time and are desperately in need of extra labor," Chen explained. "Those will include high-tech positions, and jobs that require more in-depth research."

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Despite Chen's optimism, throughout the country, getting employment levels back on track remains a work in progress. According to data from the National Bureau of Statistics, the unemployment rate in September – nine months after the COVID-19 outbreak – for those aged 20 to 24 with a college degree remains four percent higher than that of last year.

The slow recovery of employment is taking place amid tectonic shifts across industries spurred by the pandemic. A number of sectors have been battered by the coronavirus, while others have adapted, evolved and expanded – and this could have a great effect on the labor market.

"We are seeing a wave of professions going digital because of COVID-19," Wang Yanping, general manager of LinkedIn China's Public Affair Department, told CGTN.

"Online platforms, including e-learning companies, have a lot of jobs," he explained.

Data from industry research firm Yiqun shows that the population of online workers during the 2020 Spring Festival, in late January and early February, was up 85.53 percent from the same period last year, as almost everyone remained out of offices but continued to carry their jobs via laptops and Zoom meetings. This rapid change is leading to increasing demand for training programs.

"My advice to job-seekers: Be sensitive to the market signs," Wang said.

Sarah Zheng, a recent graduate from Xi'an Jiaotong University, has decided to take a gap year.

"Hopefully I can finish my application [for a master's degree in the UK] by the end of next May," the sociology student said, after her job hunt came up empty. She had reached out to six companies, but only one wrote back with a two-paragraph rejection letter.

Now going back to school seems like the only viable option. It's an investment that Zheng believes would pay dividends in the future.

"When the economy falls, the education sector thrives," said Zhang Ning, an official with the Ministry of Education. But he pointed out that the COVID-19 pandemic could bring uncertainties to students looking to travel abroad.

Last year, 74.1 percent of Chinese graduates from the country's top 10 universities chose to continue their study outside China, according to LinkedIn data.

"No one knows when the pandemic will end," he said, adding that "this brings tangible difficulties to international exchanges."

Popular post-graduate destinations among Chinese students – including the United States and European countries – are still grappling with the virus and travel restrictions for international visitors are still in place.

But Zheng is not too worried, although her parents are. They've already scheduled a tour around the campuses of several Chinese universities.

"The coronavirus won't be here forever. We'll move on sometime next year," Zheng said.