Cambridge Graduate Hides Esteemed Background During Job Search in China

Cambridge Graduate Hides Esteemed Background During Job Search in China
Jun 09, 2013 By eChinacities.com

Editor’s note: this article was translated and edited from Wenxuecity.com. It looks at the story of Lin Xi, a Cambridge graduate who has had trouble finding a job upon returning to China. Lin is one of many Chinese graduates from a world-famous university who has found it difficult to find work in China, largely due to the fact that companies consider them to be overqualified. Lin explains how she later had to hide the fact the she studied for a postgraduate at Cambridge and began introducing herself as a graduate of Nanjing University, the place where she studied for her bachelor’s degree.

There will be a total of 6.99 million Chinese university graduates in 2013, a record high, according to recent government statistics. Unfortunately, for most of these graduates, finding a job in China will be a difficult task.

Against all logic, this may even apply to those with impressive overseas academic qualifications. According to one woman who, after receiving her bachelor’s degree at Nanjing University, went on to complete a postgraduate course at the University of Cambridge and in 2011 returned to China to begin her job search. “During interviews, I didn’t want to mention my time at Cambridge,” she explained, “Many companies don’t always want to employ people who have been to such prestigious institutions, so I keep my mouth shut.”

These were the words of 25 year-old Lin Xi (alias), who recently managed to find a job, which for her as well as her parents who were worried about her career, was a huge relief. When asked about the past few months spend searching for a job however, Lin let out a long sigh…

A solid background

Lin graduated from Nanjing University in 2007 with a bachelor’s degree in liberal arts. She was the textbook example of a good student, frequently participating in various social activities and showing a strong interest in overseas culture. After graduating, Lin didn’t find it too difficult to get accepted into a social science postgraduate course at Cambridge, and even managed to get a scholarship, which is a rare thing in the liberal arts field. After her graduation from Cambridge, a proud Lin returned to China to search for a job, though found that the weight that her prestigious degree carried was a little heavy.

During the beginning of her job hunt, Lin targeted positions at several of the world’s top 500 enterprises. She applied for positions at banks, well-known supermarket chains and in the consumer goods industry, sending out almost 100 CVs in total. Lin was after positions related to HR and marketing as well as some management trainee programs. However, for all of the CVs she sent out, she only received a response from a handful of companies, while the rest of her applications were simply ignored. Furthermore, the interviews with the few companies that did show interest in her ultimately proved unsuccessful.

“You graduated from Cambridge…so what are doing applying here?”

Lin gradually came to realize that her lack of a business-related degree caused her to not even be considered by many employers. “With this in mind, a degree from a even highly regarded university is pretty useless,” explained Lin. She then changed the focus of her search, applying for office jobs in medium-sized companies. However, Lin still encountered difficulty. “You graduated from Cambridge…so what are you doing here?” was often the first question she’d be asked in interviews. Lin often tried her best to explain that she wanted the opportunity to provide herself with a platform to learn more skills, however she still faced rejection. “After this, I simply introduced myself as a graduate from Nanjing University during interviews,” Lin says.       

Lin’s case certainly isn’t an exception. Many of her Chinese classmates who studied with her at Cambridge have also found difficulties finding work. They believe that many companies are not willing to hire them because they think they’re expectations are too high. Since they’ve been abroad and have studied at a top school, these employers often think that the abilities of these overseas graduates will be much higher than their other “average” employees. 

Lowering her standards proves effective

Last month, Lin was presented with an opportunity to work in an administration office at a university in Zhejiang. After considering the offer, Lin accepted the job. Despite finally finding a job after a long search however, many of Lin’s old classmates often tell her that a talented person such as her shouldn’t be working in such a low-level position. Although she has received offers from her classmates to work with them, she has decided to set her mind at trying her best at the job in Zhejiang. Lin has also decided that she won’t mention her Cambridge background should someone ask about her education for now: “I believe that once I extend myself further into the world of employment, it will come in handy.”  

A man surnamed Kong, the Director of Resources for a medium-sized company in Nanjing, says that the employment in the first quarter of 2013 has also given him a headache. He agrees that students like Lin Xi, who had returned from studying at a top overseas school but were without business or technology-related degrees, were certainly not a minority. Kong believes that companies are very fond of talented people, but are afraid of them not settling down and moving onto to other positions after acquiring new skills and contacts. However Kong also stated that those who have graduated from foreign universities display an “important standard of comprehensive qualities”, and that once they let companies know that they have set out clear plans for their employment futures, they will have greater chances at finding desired jobs.              

Source: Wenxuecity 

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Keywords: job search in China

3 Comments

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juanisaac

I would have thought that with a masters from such a famous university she could get a job teaching at a university.

Jun 11, 2013 17:39 Report Abuse

flyingheart

It's what we call social inequity, isn't it?! The uneducated foreign monkey with a pack of condoms in his pocket gets the job (and holds it) because he is thought to be able to fill an empty slot of China's labor market that strictly follows the rule of supply and demand, while the civilized well-educated Cambridge graduate isn't or simply doesn't wish to get the same job as the foreigner does. Sometimes the thought can be proved right and other times wrong, depending on several variables including the boss and the performance. Social inequity has a deeper root than moral issues or foreign impacts as generally perceived. It's as true for China as any other country in the world.

Jun 15, 2013 16:48 Report Abuse

juanisaac

You sound like an AMAZING girl.

Jun 30, 2013 20:35 Report Abuse