Home is where the jobs are – China's graduates return to base

By ZHANG Xu

Jobs have been hard to come by for China's many graduates, 11.6 million of them last year alone. The long-time aspirational destinations – Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen – are no longer the first choice. Many of the brightest and best now have turned to small towns, grassroots government agencies, or, the traditional favorite, state-owned enterprises.

Big cities can be very unwelcoming for job seekers and more graduates are opting for opportunities far from the centers of influence. A recent report by MyCOS, an educational research institution, shows the new pulling power of life in a slower lane.

Jiemian News talked to four of last year's graduates/students who hope to graduate this year. Beset by uncertainties and dilemmas in career planning, is it time to take their new knowledge and skills back to their hometowns and revitalize their own turf?

'I want to be good at my job'

LU Yaoyao, 22, is an Anhui native and went to Anhui Polytechnic University. It's an adequate school, but not a name that anyone knows. Lu has taken a job in a small branch of a bank in Bozhou, a small town in Anhui famous for TCM herbs.

“I was brought up by grandparents since my parents went to work in Zhejiang when I was young. It’s the way in my village. Young people become migrant workers or small business owners in big cities while the old stay behind, taking care of the children. The bond between my grandparents and me is very strong, so I am happy to have found a job in my hometown, where I can keep an eye on them.

"I never considered a job in Shanghai, Beijing or Shenzhen. Competition for jobs there is fierce, and the pace of life is so speedy. It's not for me.

"I failed the national graduate entrance examination last year, but I didn't plan to try again. So in March, I applied for jobs at the Agriculture Bank of China (ABC). What I learned in university was exactly what the bank wanted. I easily passed a written examination and interview and got the offer.

"While I was waiting for the results of the interview, I found another job in a loan company. The work environment was terrible. I instantly became depressed and quit the job on the second day. By contrast, working in the ABC brings me great happiness. The clients trust me and my boss respects me.

"I still study every day. I want to be good at my job and I am very satisfied with my current progress. I hope to do my job well and then I am sure I will find a good balance between my job and my personal life in the future.”

'The security of the civil service exam'

ZHOU Qian is a 22-year-old graduate of Wuhan University of Media and Communications in the capital of Hubei Province. It's a long way down the national rankings. Zhou passed the civil service exam and has taken a government job locally.

“I was born in Hubei and my mother is chronically unwell, so I have always wanted to find a job near home, ever since I was a child.

"In my final year, I interned at a new media company, writing content. One day, I was told that a girl who had worked as a director for the company for years had been fired. I was shocked. I suddenly realized the uncertainty of the industry. And a schoolmate then told me that companies hire interns constantly as cheaper labor, but few are taken on full-time after graduation.

"These things came as a blow to me and I decided to throw myself into the security of the civil service exam. But I was still looking for a job and had applied for many.

"Sure enough, as I was waiting for the exam result, I got a job offer. Then, on my second day, the results came out. I had passed. I quit, joined the civil service and I am waiting to start my new job.

"Much of my anxiety has disappeared. Once I start working, I believe I have many things to look forward to, such as filming and editing at my leisure, which may even be more fulfilling than the jobs I didn't really want anyway."

'It’s important to find some hope'

LIAO Wei, 23 is from Guangzhou University, which just falls outside China's top 100 colleges. He's taken a local government job in a small town in the city of Maoming.

“I started to hunt for a job in the first semester of my last year. And found nothing to get too excited about. With my major (civil engineering), prospects were bleak. There are an awful lot of civil engineering graduates in China. I was determined to prepare for the civil service exam.

"Then I failed in both national and provincial exams and as a result, when the Government of Guangdong began to recruit, I chose a post without much thought and joined the selection procedure with little hope and didn't think much about it.

"I accepted an offer from a company in Shenzhen and was then more than surprised to be informed that I had passed the exam. I declined the offer from Shenzhen and I performed well in the interview, so I got the job as a public servant, despite poor exam scores.

"It was only later that I realized that my job as a public servant was in a suburb with no subway and that I needed to spend one and a half hours going to and from work by bus every day. I have no courage to tender my resignation. It would be a pity to quit a life-long job just because of an annoying journey to work.

"I used to be full of hope for the future, thinking that I would go to graduate school and meet many more people. But now, I feel like everything has become so rigid.

"My hopes are pinned on the national graduate entrance examination. If I pass, I will escape from my present life. It’s important to find some hope for oneself.”

'I have lost my dream job'

Su Jie, 25, attended a good school in Central China. She passed China’s civil service exam and is now a public servant in Jiangxi Province in the south of the country, where she grew up.

“For me, stability has always been my first priority. Being a public servant is a decent job, especially for a girl. I took the national examination for 2023 admissions to the civil service and chose a post in Jiangxi, back home, near where I grew up. But I missed by only position available so opted for a different city, and a much less desirable job, but still close enough to home.

"I have been in the position now for just one week, but I have already learned a very important lesson: work is harder than school life. And social relations are completely different.

"I'll settle down and get used to the job in time. Everything has its gains and its losses. While I have gained a good job, I have lost my dream job. I am resilient and can separate my work from my personal life. Once I adjust to the work routine, I have plenty of hobbies.”