Grad student's janitorial job choice sparks debate

Some say he's wasting education; others laud him for finding work in slow market

Reports that a college student pursuing a master's degree in physics enrolled to work as a janitor at a secondary school in Suzhou, Jiangsu province, have ignited heated debate online about whether he has made the best career choice.

According to a notice issued by the Suzhou High School Affiliated to Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, the 24-year-old is expected to work as a janitor at the school.

A previous notice issued by the school did not list any requirements for a candidate's academic background, and only said it was looking for a male under age 50.

The master's student, Li Yongkang, told the Gusu Evening News that he had previously obtained a job offer from the school to work as a teacher.

However, he was unable to get his master's degree as he had not published enough academic papers during postgraduate study, so he could not work at the school as a teacher.

Meanwhile, he was satisfied with the school's work environment while doing an internship there, so he applied to become a janitor at the school and got the job.

"Becoming a teacher is my dream, and I will start my new job while also waiting for the next opportunity to realize my teaching dream," he said.

Wang Jian, Party secretary of the school, said it had consulted with Li and will arrange for him to become a teaching assistant on the school's physics teaching team.

The news sparked heated discussions online and became a trending topic on social media platforms, with many saying that his choice was a waste of education resources. Others said Li's choice should be respected and some said that given the current tough job market, he was lucky to find a job.

Due to the long-held belief among Chinese people favoring white-collar work over labor-intensive work and the apparent salary gap between the two, most people in the country still prefer office work to blue-collar work.

According to the National Bureau of Statistics, the unemployment rate of young people age 16 to 24 excluding students stood at 18.8 percent in August, up 1.7 percentage points from a month earlier.

The country is expected to have 11.79 million new college graduates this year, 210,000 more than a year earlier, according to the Ministry of Education.

Hu Xunhan, a senior undergraduate student in journalism at Changsha University of Science and Technology, said she has chosen to pursue a master's degree because she wants to study at a better university and defer entering the job market for a few years because it is too competitive.

Tao Yongfeng, director of the student enrollment and employment guidance office at Xiangtan University, said it is normal for college graduates to choose jobs that are "not-so-decent" from a traditional viewpoint nowadays and, in fact, it has become a new trend.

"It has become more evident that 'looking fancy' is not the top concern for college graduates looking for jobs," he said. "They are more focused on finding something they are interested in and suitable for, which I believe is the best choice for them."

As college graduates born after 2000 are less concerned with financial burdens, salary also becomes less important, and they place more value on interest, room for growth, the work environment and workplace culture, Tao said.

They are taking more time to carefully make the best choice for themselves. While many students have chosen stable jobs in government institutions, an increasing number of students are also starting their own businesses or working in new industries, he said.