Although the economic opportunities in China are growing, providing a variety of prospects for Chinese students returning to the country, returnees still face a number of challenges when it comes to job-hunting, according to an article by China Daily.
In 2015, the number of Chinese students who chose to go home after completing their studies overseas increased from 186,200 in 2011 to 409,100.
The talent pool in China will still grow larger, as graduates from domestic institutions are expected to increase to about 7.56 million this year. Expats are also given a new set of preferential policies to encourage them to set up businesses in the country.
Due to the large increase of domestic graduates and foreign talent, some people worry that there might not be enough opportunities for overseas returnees.
"China's need for talent won't shrink," said Zhou Chenggang, director of the newly launched Institute for Global Career Development, in response to the concern.
"Enterprises now tend to pay more attention to the personal virtues and abilities of their prospective employees, regardless of students' status and background--whether they are domestic students, expat students or Chinese students returning from overseas," Zhou said in an interview with China Daily. "In that sense, those returning from overseas have advantages."
One of the challenges encountered by overseas returnees is missing out on major job expos in China, a study by the Center for China and Globalization revealed.
"The job-seeking season for graduates starts in October or November, which is when most employers start accepting resumes and doing interviews," said Guan Hongtao, a 26-year-old returnee who graduated with a master's in public health from the University of Queensland Australia. "However, most Chinese students studying overseas will only graduate and be ready to apply for jobs in February, and start to look in July."
To address the issue, some companies such as New Oriental Highway Career Service Co. are working with overseas universities to let students apply for jobs while waiting to graduate.
"We are cooperating with more career offices at overseas universities and more enterprises in China to try to break down some of these barriers, so students who are studying overseas but want to work back home can find jobs earlier," said Yu Zhongqu, president of the Beijing-based company.