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April 17, 2014

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‘Golden rice bowls’ lose luster for grads

FOR most fresh graduates in China, the civil service, big state-owned enterprises and multinational companies used to be the coveted “golden rice bowl” jobs — well paid and secure.

That’s no longer true.

As China’s economy grows and more opportunities are available, many graduates are interested in career development and space to grow, rather than just money. That makes private Chinese companies increasingly desirable.

However, the rate of growth is slowing and the economy is being restructured to make it more efficient and give a “decisive” role to the market. It’s hard to say whether the hold over the economy of massive state-owned enterprises (SOE) is long lasting, and graduates are watching the trends.

Multinationals in China are still a magnet for graduates but they also are affected by the global economic slowdown and the slower growth in China.

These trends are borne out in a recent survey by Universum Global of more than 51,000 graduates at more than 100 universities across China.

This year, preference among graduates for private Chinese companies is 30 percent, compared with 14 percent last year. Preference for state-owned enterprises is 25 percent, compared with 33 percent in 2012. Preference for multinationals is 21 percent this year, compared with 44 percent in 2013.

This year, 7.27 million students will graduate and face a continuing job shortage. Last year there were 6.99 graduates. Competition is intense.

Wang Xinjia completed her post-graduate course in advertising at Fudan University last year and applied to major Chinese Internet companies such as Baidu search engine, Alibaba e-commerce giant and consumer review site Dianping. In the past, graduates like Wang would have first applied to big multinationals such as Unilever and P&G.

Last September she took a job as product manager at Baidu.

A marketing job at Uniliver or P&G is a traditional career path, Wang says, but “the world of new media and technology are very intriguing. I want to learn many new things while I am young, rather than repeat the same task and stay in the same job for many years.”

An energetic company culture and room to develop are more attractive to many young people than the rigid hierarchy in most SOEs, government departments and huge multinationals.

They look for practical and efficient training, chances of doing different jobs, possibilities of promotion and springboards to launching their own companies.

“Working for a private Chinese company is the best training for young employees,” says Xu Wei, vice director of sales and marketing at Mingdao software company (mingdao.com). “They can grow up to be a multi-functional employee in this industry, and cross over into other industries.”

Mingdao specializes in developing software for office internal communication. It was launched last August, now has 120-130 employees and is growing fast.

Practical and creative training in private companies is appealing to newcomers. New media, advertising and online consulting are especially attractive.

Netalk, a private online consultancy, has a Discovery Team department in charge of strategic development, and newcomers are expected to work there for a while.

The team holds regular workshops for new employees, according to team director Xu Shen (known as EK), including practical information about how the company works, how the larger industry works, lots of brainstorming and team work across various departments.

Fresh graduates who join the company are at work with others on a guide book about social media and they are collecting case studies, doing real work.

Founded in 2007 by 2 post-1980s Shanghainese, Netalk was purchased last year by Publicis Groupe, one of the world’s biggest advertising and public relations companies headquartered in Paris, and now has more than 350 employees in its Shanghai office. It’s now called DigitasLBi.

“Ten years ago it would be hard to imagine that new media companies could grow so rapidly,” says Xu. “Years ago, they looked for technicians, now there are more positions that suit graduates, such as marketing, sales, administration and creative.”

Many young people want to start their own business and they take a first step by joining successful private companies.

“This gets you closer to your ideal career,” says Xu Wei from Mingdao.

Eight years ago he graduated from Fudan University majoring in journalism and went to work for a local newspaper. He joined Mingdao because he was impressed by the man who founded it, Ren Xianghui.

“Individual entrepreneurs have appeal because of their talent and achievements and their legendary stories encourage young people with the same ambitions,” he says.

Although salaries in private companies are no better than those in traditional companies, the possibilities of promotion are attractive.

“Companies like us are not as ‘step-by-step’ as big ‘mature’ companies with their hierarchies,” Xu says.

He prefers to hire fresh graduates than people with experience in the same industry. “Young graduates are more passionate and want to learn new things. It’s easier to train them and integrate them in company culture.”




 

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