Employability Skills

1. Employability Skills Session 5 What do graduates do?

2. The Chinese graduate labour market • Key facts: • Competition for jobs from Chinese graduates is extremely high – over 6 million graduates join the labour market every year. • UK educated Chinese nationals have to compete with well educated graduates from Chinese universities. • Average age on graduation is 24. • Relevant paid work experience is more highly regarded by employers than voluntary and casual paid experience. • Average graduate starting salary US $6000 per annum (2009). • Average working week 8 am – 5 pm, 5 days per week with 13 days off for national holidays.

3. The Chinese graduate labour market • Key facts • Possessing a good command of your Chinese + the English language, and relevant practical experience, greatly enhances your chances in the graduate labour market. • Labour force 812.7 million (2009). • Unemployment rate = 4.3% urban areas (2009). • Unemployment rate = 10% rural areas (2009).

4. The Chinese graduate labour market • Key facts • Notable differences between incomes of Chinese living in towns and cities compared to rural areas. • Salary very much dependant on educational attainment, university attended and relevant paid experience.

5. What are the main options? • Permanent job • Directly related to your degree major • A vocational degree such as Computing could lead onto a career in IT. • Where your degree subject would be useful • A degree in psychology could be useful for a career in market research or HR (Human Resources). • Not related to your degree subject • Over 50% of graduates enter careers of ‘any degree discipline’. Careers such as accountancy, general management and sales do not require you to have studied any particular degree subject.

6. What are the main options? • Other types of employment • Temporary • The first job for many graduates is temporary. Employers recruit many staff into temporary contracts either via agencies or directly. It can be a way of ‘testing staff out’. • Voluntary work • Some graduates take this option as a way to improve their CV/Resume and generally broaden their practical experience. For some careers such as social work, youth work, teaching, the legal profession it is essential to gain some prior experience, so voluntary work is one way to do it. • Self-employment • There are many organisations set up to help you start up your own businesses – see session 3 – Employability resources to help you identify these and session 4 – Career matching – what career suits you? to help you establish if you are suited for a career in entrepreneurship.

7. What are the main options? • Time out • You may need to take time out for family reasons. • You may feel like broadening your horizons by doing some travelling which you could also combine with work – see session 3 Employability resources for ideas on how you might do this. • If presented positively employers really value the additional skills and practical experiences you can bring into their work place. • It may also be possible, with some employers, to delay your start date to enable you to do some travelling. This requires careful negotiation though.

8. What are the main options? • Further study • Increasing numbers of Chinese graduates choose to continue their studies; for many this is the route into their chosen career. You need to carefully examine your motivations for choosing this option though – there are detailed resources listed in session 3 Employability resources to help you assess this as a possible option. • There are two forms of postgraduate study: • Taught programmes – e.g. MAs and MScs • They follow a similar structure to undergraduate degrees and may or may not have a strong career focus. • Research programmes – e.g. PhDs • For those who want to study their subject in more detail – here your relationship with your supervisor is critical for helping you to achieve success.

9. Major Industries Did you know that….. The Chinese economy has transformed from a planned economy to a more market driven one. This has created a shift from state-owned to private companies which has accelerated economic growth at a rate of more than 9% per year (average). • Major industries: mining, textiles, chemicals, consumer products, telecommunications equipment, satellites and transportation, e.g. cars, ships, aircraft. • Recent growth areas: plastics, rubber and pharmaceuticals. • Shortage occupations: graduates with IT and related technical qualifications are in demand. • Major companies: many major international companies in China including: Nestlé, Google, Shell, IBM, HSBC, Microsoft, Airbus, Clifford Chance and Procter & Gamble.

10. Major sectors • Agriculture – accounts for 39.5% of working population. • Architecture, planning and construction - Growing demand for non-residential buildings + residential has created opportunities in real estate, urban planning, architecture and engineering • Banking, finance and insurance – China has gained benefits from joining the World Trade Organisation. Rise in corporate and retail banking. Opportunities for accountants, business analysts, consultants, tax managers, sales managers and claims managers. • Biotechnology and biomedicine An increasingly ageing population, and numbers of patients with growing numbers of Chinese residents with health insurance has created work opportunities for graduates in biochemical and biomedical sciences. • Environment China, though still heavily dependant on fossil energy resources, particularly coal, has become a global leader in renewable energy which has seen significant investment in wind, small hydro and solar hot water projects. There are also significant opportunities for Chinese companies exporting and investing in waste management, water and wastewater treatment, low carbon energy which could well create job opportunities in these areas of activity.

11. Major sectors • Health care products and services Government initiative has encouraged an expansion of the health care sector and support for the pharmaceutical industry. This has created a rise in company start-ups and multinationals investing more in research and development • ICT (Information Communications Technology) Chinese software is emerging as a diverse and highly fragmented market. There is a shortage of core technologies and skilled labour. China is keen to increase its efficiency in this area and will invest in IT and telecommunications solutions in the future. Four million jobs expected to be generated in China by the IT services outsourcing industry by 2015.

12. Major sectors • Manufacturing Relatively low production costs have made China a favoured location for outsourcing. There is also a growing national demand for domestic retail products. Work opportunities for production managers, industrial engineers, sales managers and marketing professionals. • Mining As China is heavily reliant on coal it is expected to continue to invest in production of high tech mining equipment. Construction of new mines, safety and research into clean processing will create more opportunities in this sector.

13. Fast Moving Consumer Goods 7th largest consumer market in the world 45% top retailers are hypermarkets or supermarkets Increase in foreign retail companies moving into China China Programme - Tesco Careers Major sectors

14. Location, location, location • When looking for a job, consider where there the best job opportunities might be. • Jobs in major established centres (Shanghai, Beijing and Guangzhou) compared with growing cities (Shenzhen, Dalian and Chengdu, Chongqing). • Think about differences in the requirements of government, private and multinational employers. • Residency permits, cost of living and salaries

15. Beijing • Political and cultural capital. • 16.8 billion direct investment and post Olympics benefits have created 1.82 million new jobs. • Government predicted GDP would grow 9% until 2010. • IT and telecommunications key sectors with international companies like Motorola, Nokia, Microsoft, Cisco and SAP all basing their headquarters here. • Has 18 foreign bank branches and is home to China’s central bank – The People’s Bank of China.

16. Shanghai • Commercial and financial centre of China. • International companies such as Barclays, PWC, Nomura, McKinsey and KPMG all have headquarters in Shanghai. • In 2006 Shanghai attracted $7 billion of foreign investment. • Shanghai has recorded a double digit growth for 15 consecutive years since 1992. • In 2008 Shanghai’s nominal GDP posted a 9.7% growth to 1.37 trillion RMB.

17. Guangzhou • First to open its doors to foreign investment. • Heart of the Pearl River Delta Economic Zone with a dynamic economy. • Has benefitted from close proximity to Hong Kong. • Export focussed manufacturing accounts for 74% of GDP. • Growth in small, medium sized enterprises (SMEs) since 2002. • Key industries: IT, Telecommunications, pharmaceuticals, electronics, Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCGs) and petrochemicals.

18. Growing cities • Preferential tax policies have opened up foreign investment in China • Chengdu: Alcatel, Coca- Cola, Intel and Toyota • Dalian: Accenture, GE and Panasonic • Tianjin: Hyundai, Samsung and Yamaha • Nanjing: Ericsson, Fiat and Toshiba • Chongqing: Ford, Honda and Metro • Hangzhou: Bayer, IBM and Danone Electrolux

19. How do you ensure you obtain graduate level employment? • You will need to make yourself ‘employable’ in order to remain in employment • You need to acquire a range of personal skills, knowledge and relevant practical experience which you can transfer from job to job if necessary. • Be prepared to keep developing your career, keep acquiring new skills, knowledge etc. through continuous professional development (CPD) opportunities.

20. How do you ensure you obtain graduate level employment? • You need to beproactivewhen searching for jobs. • Many jobs are found now by using more subtle job search techniques rather than responding to advertised vacancies: • Networking • Work/practical experience • Making speculative approaches • Doing first step non-graduate jobs to gain a start working with a company.

21. How do you ensure you obtain graduate level employment? • If you are keen to work for a major international company make sure you develop your English skills – some companies will only accept graduates who are fluent in the English language. • If you have studied abroad in an English speaking company you have an advantage. • Make use of your network ‘Guanxi’ in China to help you find posts. • If you are considering studying in the UK you will need to extend your network whilst there – join associations such as the Chinese University Alumni Association. • Make sure you know where to look for jobs – see session 3 Employability resources for a comprehensive list of vacancy and employer resources.

22. How do you ensure you obtain graduate level employment? • Increasing numbers of graduates all over the world now make use of social networking as a way of uncovering job opportunities. • Sites such as Weibo, QQ, Tao Tao, Fan Fou and others in China can help you do this. • See session 3 Employability resources for a list of further resources.

23. What skills and abilities do you need to succeed in a career in the 21st century? • To manage your career: • Self-awareness and self-promotion • ‘Political’ awareness • Networking skills • Negotiation skills • Strategic thinking • To get a job: • Team working • Communication skills • Prioritising • Problem solving • Commercial awareness

24. In summary……. • Make the changing labour market work for you by: • Identifying, creating and managing your own opportunities. • Setting yourself goals, developing skills and experiences to help you achieve them. • Ensuring you produce quality application forms and perform well at interview.