9 top tips for Chinese job seekers returning home

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Studying in the UK can give you significant advantages  to help you in your job search. Here are our top tips to help you make the most of your time in the UK and use it to your advantage when you return to China.

  1. Particularly if you are on a one year Masters course, take any opportunity you can to get an internship. Careers offers part time internships during term time, and you will have a four month period at the end of your course when you can work on your Tier 4 student visa. Or you might want to consider finding an internship and staying with a  Tier 5 Temporary Worker visa, which could enable you to stay in the UK for an extra 12 months. Undergraduate students can do a full time summer internship.
  2. Have realistic salary expectations – some employers suggest that returnees may expect a higher salary than students who have remained in China to study
  3. Look to emerging markets such as IT and mobile internet where companies such as Tencent and Alibaba have great potential opportunities in many business functions
  4. Check out financing opportunities to set up your own business – this is an area of great growth for enterprising graduates in China
  5. Start searching for jobs early and be aware of recruitment timelines in China
  6. Make contact with Chinese alumni as soon as you can and ask for their advice.  Our new York Profiles and Mentoring platform (launching in Spring term) will help you make contact graduates who have successfully returned home and found work
  7. Think hard about the advantages you can offer and make sure you highlight these in your applications – improved English ability, international outlook, ability to adapt to a new environment, UK network and contacts, quality of education in UK, new learning methods, ability to learn quickly
  8. Target your CV and show you’re passionate about working for the company you are applying to
  9. Check out all our resources developed specifically to support you on our Focus on China pages.

Good luck!

These tips are based on presentations from a British Council/AGCAS event:  “The Chinese Job Market” attended by the University of York (November 2015). Contributors included:

  • Highway Careers Service Co. Ltd
  • New Oriental Education & Technology
  • HR Director, Tencent
  • CEO of Gearpi

You may also find “Advice from graduates in China” interesting.