Challenges in obtaining employment in China: Lived experiences of Australian Chinese graduates

Abstract

Previous scholarly work has elaborated on challenges faced by Chinese international returnees at Chinese workplaces. However, limited research has captured to what extent such challenges have involved Chinese Australian graduates in gaining employment in China. Hence this study investigates the challenges involved in obtaining successful employment in China. Drawing on a qualitative study, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 19 Chinese graduates who studied at one Australian university and returned to China upon graduation. The study results highlight significant barriers to employment. Challenges include limited prior working experience, graduation in Australia that is not synchronised with employment months in China and lack of guanxi. This study provides important insights into barriers of employment in China for Chinese returnees from Australia and, potentially, for graduate returnees from other countries to China. It also discusses implications for Australian universities and for Chinese international students in Australia.

Keywords

Challenges employment Chinese Australian graduates Australia China

Introduction

For decades China has been supporting international education as the largest sending country of international students to English-speaking countries, such as the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, and Canada. In 2019, there were 442,219 international students in Australia in the higher education sector; of these, China has the highest percentage – nearly 38% (Department of Education and Training, 2019). A recent study by Singh and Jack (2018) reported further benefits of studying overseas: international students experienced international life through learning an extra language and forming life-long friendships with domestic and other international students, acquiring research skills, and contributing to their home country through the knowledge and skills gained.

Although a number of research studies explore Chinese international students’ employment outcomes after study in the United States (Guo et al., 2013) and the United Kingdom (Huang et al., 2014), others (Han et al., 2015; Kahn & MacGarvie, 2019; Kellogg, 2012) have focused on the positive employment outcomes in China of international graduates from the Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) fields. Yet, very little is known about STEM and non-STEM Chinese international graduates’ post-repatriation experiences in terms of their employability challenges when they return home from Australia (Cooke et al., 2017; Huang, 2013). Chinese international students in Australia are enrolled mainly in non-STEM fields, such as commerce and management, and in STEM disciplines, such as engineering and information technology (Department of Education and Training, 2015). Therefore, it is essential for Australia, as one of the major education destinations for Chinese students, to understand the employment outcomes of students (including challenges) who have studied in Australia and returned to China (Department of Education and Training, 2016). As this research relates to Chinese international graduates from Australia, it would be useful to compare whether the findings are similar to or different from research related to other countries – mainly the United States and the United Kingdom.

The purpose of this paper is therefore to examine the employment challenges faced by such graduates. The main research question is: ‘What are the barriers to employment faced by Chinese graduates of Australian universities upon repatriation?’. This study investigated the dynamics of challenges that must be dealt with in gaining employment opportunities for such graduates. The findings have practical implications, not only for Chinese employers in understanding the challenges that are involved and managed by Chinese international graduates from Australia, but also for Australian universities in strengthening their career development strategies, especially for international students. There are also implications for Chinese international graduates on what to expect when they return home to find jobs.

Literature review

The number of international students from China studying abroad has increased significantly: for instance, in 2012 there were 399,600 students studying overseas, compared to 662,100 in 2018, an increase of 39.65% (National Bureau of Statistics of China, 2019). In the last decade, graduates returned to China mainly because of Chinese economic prosperity, which offers better career and professional opportunities in China, and because of pressure from family and friends to return home (Alberts & Hazen, 2005; Guo et al., 2013; X. Hao et al., 2017; Singh, 2019; Tharenou & Seet, 2014). Recent figures show that the number of Chinese students returning home in 2018 was 519,400, compared to 272,900 returnees in 2012: an increase of 47.46% (National Bureau of Statistics of China, 2019). Between 70 and 80% of students return to China upon graduation from overseas universities (International Consultants for Education and Fairs (ICEF), 2018). A spokesperson from the Chinese Ministry of Overseas Study Department observed that graduates in business and other non-STEM fields are repatriating in greater numbers because the Chinese job market is much more attractive compared to employment prospects abroad in these areas (ICEF, 2018).

Four decades ago, simply returning to China with an overseas degree was sufficient to obtain an ideal job (J. Hao & Welch, 2012). However, since graduate employment is on the rise and there have been many returnees in the last decade, coupled with fierce competition from domestic elite graduates, especially from Tsinghua and Beijing universities (J. Hao et al., 2016), possession of an overseas qualification is no longer in itself sufficient for success in China’s competitive labour market (J. Hao & Welch, 2012). One of the strong contributing factors in obtaining employment in China is through strong social and other network connections – or guanxi (Ferguson & Sonnenschein, 2020; Ren et al., 2011). Ren et al. (2011) identified other important factors, such as ‘areas of qualification in high demand occupations and personal attributes’, yet the role of guanxi was observed as most important by graduates ‘in gaining access to information, generating better jobs in a shorter time and shielding graduates from competition’ (p. 3440). Guanxi was deemed important for gaining employment because employers in the public sector do not publish vacancies widely, and, if jobs are published, this is more for advertising and public relations (Ren et al., 2011).

Scholarly work has researched the challenges faced by these international graduates in Chinese workplaces. Issues at the workplace include different mindsets in work and work ethics between overseas and Chinese workplaces (Gill, 2010; J. Hao & Liu, 2017). For example, Chinese international graduates from the United Kingdom who worked in China reported that it was strange to observe that promotion often was based on guanxi and how well the individual is connected with the leadership team, rather than on an assessment of the quality of work of the person. Workplace communication in China was also another issue for international graduates. This is because what is said is ‘not always straightforward (in terms of language)’ (Gill, 2010, p. 371), and international graduates need to read ‘between the lines’ to understand the subtler meanings conveyed by local Chinese graduates.

In addition to guanxi, employers from multinational companies and local companies in China prefer international graduates to have some work experience (Cheung & Xu, 2015), because such graduates have formed a ‘stronger sense of professional self and self-authorship over the direction of their future working life’ (Tomlinson & Jackson, 2019, p. 12). J. Hao and Liu (2017) observed that it was not easy for international graduates to work in domestic organisations, because Western business protocols and procedures with which they were familiar differ from local rules and regulations. Additionally, Chinese managers favour graduates with prior work experience because ‘it is more cost effective because graduate employees require less training’ and they have a ‘more realistic idea about the industry before beginning a paid position’ (Sonnenschein et al., 2019, p. 5). Yet, Tharenou (2015) has argued that international graduates become more flexible in their thinking and more culturally aware while working abroad, which then enhances their employability and they have more positive employment outcomes in the Chinese labour market. International graduates should therefore gain part-time work experience and internship opportunities that are influential in shaping their employment outcomes in China. With this experience, international graduates are able to find meaning in their work and understand who they are and what their work aspirations are (Tomlinson & Jackson, 2019). However, in a recent study by Singh (2019), Chinese international graduates were unable to obtain work experience in Australia due to their visa status and perceived low-level English skills, and employers in Australia were not supportive in employing international students.

Against this background, very little is known about the barriers to getting jobs for international graduates in China (Huang & Turner, 2018; Tharenou & Seet, 2014), although studies (e.g. Cooke et al., 2017) have argued that being an international graduate is a golden ticket to obtaining employment there. With significant numbers of Chinese international graduates going home to seek employment and develop their careers, an understanding of what challenges are involved in obtaining jobs there is necessary for continuous improvement in supporting overseas graduates’ career outcomes and development (J. Hao et al., 2016; Lin-Stephens et al., 2015). Hence this study helps close this gap by answering the research question.

Method

This research is based on a qualitative hermeneutic phenomenology approach. The rationale for adopting hermeneutic phenomenology is because it has elements both of descriptions of experiences (phenomenology) and interpretations (hermeneutic) in order to understand the lived experiences of Chinese international graduates in regard to their barriers to employment in China (Ajjawi & Higgs, 2007). In hermeneutic phenomenology, the researcher is inclined to interpret the meanings established in relation to a phenomenon (Sloan & Bowe, 2014), which in this study is barriers to employment. The main focus is on understanding the meaning of experiences by searching for themes, engaging with the data interpretively, with emphasis on the essence of the experience (Sloan & Bowe, 2014). Hermeneutic phenomenology is also the chosen approach for this study because the research question is directed towards exploring and understanding Chinese international graduates’ experiences of barriers to employment in China; thus, addressing the gap in the literature outlined in the previous sections.

Interviews are the most common method of data collection used in qualitative (Minichiello et al., 2008) and phenomenological research (Kvale, 2007). Semi-structured interviews were adopted to elicit information, experiences, reflections, perceptions, and feelings of the Chinese alumni in regard to challenges in obtaining employment outcomes (Creswell, 2013). An in-depth interview strategy avoids the rigidity of a structured interview format and allows participants plenty of scope to explain and discuss their experiences (Denscombe, 2007). This is an essential strength, since the main objective of this research is to describe and interpret experiences of participants in terms of their barriers to employment.

Participants

Chinese graduates who had studied in one Australian university were purposively selected. Other criteria included that graduates resided in China, had working experience in China, and were willing to share and articulate their employment experiences. Initial contact was made with the Chinese graduates via the online application WeChat (China’s most popular social media application), which is widely used in China by Chinese alumni. The author was introduced to the WeChat group by the university Alumni Manager. An introduction was necessary because establishing personal relationship is an important element in Chinese culture. The author then sent out invitations to all alumni who were in Beijing and Shanghai to participate in an interview. Alumni who were interested contacted the author via WeChat. The author then followed up with an appointment and sent the Participant Information Statement, Consent Form, and Withdrawal of Consent Form; participants replied to the author’s institutional email (stated on the invitation poster in the WeChat group). Snowball sampling was also used, so that an alumnus who had consented to an interview was invited to suggest other graduates to participate (Minichiello et al., 2008).

Since this research explores barriers to employment, interviews were conducted until the point of saturation was reached where no further interviews could yield new knowledge (Kvale, 2007). Interviews stopped at that point, since new themes ceased to emerge (Kinnunen et al., 2007, p. 63). As a result, 19 alumni in total (8 men and 11 women) were interviewed. Fifteen graduates were employed right after graduation, either in China or overseas; eight held accounting qualifications. Their demographic details are outlined in Table 1.

Table 1.

Demographic details of Chinese Australian graduates.

Participant code	Gender	Graduation	Employment status	Area of qualification	Company
A1	Female	2014	Employed right after graduation	Accounting	IT
A2	Female	2013	Employed right after graduation	Accounting	Law
A3	Male	2000	Employed right after graduation	Business	Manufacturing
A4	Male	2010	Employed right after graduation	Accounting	State-owned Bank
A5	Female	2010	Employed right after graduation	Accounting	Investment Bank
A6	Male	2014	Employed right after graduation	Business/marketing	International University
A7	Female	2008	Employed right after graduation	Tourism and Hospitality	International University
A8	Female	2015	Unemployed	International Relations	Want to do PhD
A9	Female	2014	Employed right after graduation	Tourism and Hospitality	International Logistic
A10	Female	2013	Employed right after graduation	Human Resource	China Human Resource Recruitment
A11	Female	2012	Employed right after graduation	Accounting	Big Four
A12	Female	2006	Self-employed	Business	Entrepreneur
A13	Female	2012	Employed right after graduation	International Business	International Kindergarten
A14	Male	2003	Self-employed	Business	Entrepreneur
A15	Female	2013	Self-employed	Accounting	Entrepreneur
A16	Male	2014	Employed right after graduation	Accounting	State-owned Bank
A17	Male	2011	Employed right after graduation	Computer Science	International Computing/IT
A18	Male	2014	Employed right after graduation	Finance/Accounting	China Real Estate
A19	Male	2014	Employed right after graduation	Finance	China Trust Company

During the interview, the author again provided the Participant Information Statement for the participant to read and to understand the purpose of the research. The Consent Form was also provided to each participant to sign, together with a declaration that all research data would remain unidentified and confidential and would be used solely for research purposes. Participants were given the Withdrawal of Consent Form, but no one withdrew.

Pseudonyms are used in this paper to preserve the identity of the participants. In reporting qualitative comments, the following convention is used: A for Alumni, interview number (i.e. A 1, A 2, etc.).

Data collection

Semi-structured face-to-face interviews were conducted over two weeks in August–September 2017 with the 19 Chinese Alumni in Shanghai and Beijing. The duration of the interviews was between 21 and 49 minutes. The interviews were digitally recorded and transcribed verbatim using a professional transcription service. Given the author’s lack of knowledge of the Mandarin language, all interviews were conducted in English and held mostly at hotel cafes and meeting rooms in Shanghai and Beijing (one interview was conducted in a coffee shop near the author’s hotel). Transcribed interview responses were sent to the participants for their verification of the content and deletion of any information that they did not wish to state; this was before starting data analysis. All participants reviewed their transcripts, which preserved the validity and trustworthiness of their data (McClure, 2003).

Data analysis

The purpose of this study was to explore the lived experiences of participants regarding their barriers to employment, and, therefore, an inductive approach to thematic analysis was adopted. This involved coding the data, collating codes into possible themes, and, finally, generating a thematic map (Braun & Clarke, 2006). The coding process started manually by picking the shortest transcript to read holistically so that a complete understanding of the experiences emerged (Van Manen, 1990). Key words or phrases that described participants (Tesch, 1990) were written on the right-hand margin. Selective reading highlighted significant statements to formulate meanings, following Van Manen (1990). The question ‘What statement(s) or phrases(s) seem particularly essential or revealing about the phenomenon or experience being described’ (Van Manen, 1990, p. 93) was asked to formulate meanings.

Similar codes were grouped and redundant codes removed, reducing the list to a smaller, more manageable number (Braun & Clarke, 2006). Quotes supporting codes were highlighted (Creswell, 2008). This process was difficult, time-consuming, and energy-demanding, as the author carried out the analysis manually (i.e. colour coding to mark the selected text; Braun & Clarke, 2006) and did not use computer software programs, such as NVivo, because the author wanted to be close to the data and have a hands-on feel without the intrusion of a computer (Creswell, 2008). But as coding progressed and themes emerged, the analysis became more structured and organised (Ezzy, 2002). Subsequently, the list of codes was reduced to establish themes relevant to this research (Creswell, 2008).

Findings

Limited prior work experiences

Several graduates in this study were aware that an international degree itself was insufficient in the current Chinese competitive labour market. Also, they acknowledged that lack of prior working experience in China or Australia had disadvantaged them in obtaining a job in the labour market in China. Although many had obtained jobs upon graduation, these jobs were not related to their field of studies. For example:

Having a degree from overseas is just not enough as you need to have skills to work. (A 19)

I am coming back to China with absolutely no work experience in China or in Australia. (A 10)

I don’t have internship experience and Chinese financial institutions like to see people who have previous backgrounds and internship experience in that area. So, it was difficult to get a job which is related to the study that I have done in Australia. (A 5)

As a result of limited work experience, these graduates observed that it was more difficult for them to obtain their ideal job. They, therefore, lowered their expectations. One accounting graduate reported:

I found a job as an accounting intern in China upon graduating from Australia. (A 1)

This graduate wanted to get her foot in the employment door to seek work experience, and, hence, she lowered her expectations and accepted an intern position. This suggests that such graduates are determined to be employed especially in their field of studies in China upon repatriation. Graduates were also aware of their salary position as new graduates without prior work experience:

You are fresh graduate and you don’t have work experience, but asking for a middle manager salary. Of course, “NO!”. (A 12)

In the present study, graduates with limited working experience understood that they were in no position to demand high salaries or supervisory positions, as they realised that their bargaining power had declined, which contrasted with J. Hao et al.’s (2016) finding that graduates from overseas institutions did have high expectations of securing high salary packages for their first job. Cheng et al. (2018) argued that Chinese students who studied in China had easier access to work experience through internships or placements compared to Australian- or United Kingdom-educated Chinese international students. However, this challenge must not deter international students from gaining work experience in the host country, even though there remain numerous opportunities for them to gain prior work experiences in China or elsewhere. International students acknowledged that having work experience, coupled with their international qualifications, would enhance their employment outcomes and prospects in the host country, the home country, or elsewhere (Gribble et al., 2017).

Non-synchronised graduation with employment opportunities

International graduates commented that there was an interlude in being employed in China arising from, first, the information gap on job openings, and, second, graduation ceremonies in Australia were not synchronised with recruitment months in China. This is one of the novel findings of this research, which has not been highlighted or reported widely by other studies. Several international graduates made such observations:

There is an information gap as you are physically in Australia, so when recruitment is starting here in China, no one knows in Australia, as no one tells you, so you are missing the timeline. (A 12)

Because I came back in August and a lot of new graduates in China have already got work in July; so, by that time, it is a little bit hard for me to find an ideal job. That’s the common month in China. Because I think they finish in June or July, and then a lot of students have already got offers from companies directly. So, they start work in July. But I need to wait until my certificates come back, so that took time. (A 13)

When we come back after graduation, the recruitment season is over. For example, the interviews for jobs in China might have started in November last year and if you are successful you will be offered in the following year somewhere in January or February. But my graduation is in July so I have missed the recruitment round and I have to wait. (A 5)

International graduates are disadvantaged, especially in obtaining recruitment information in China, for two main reasons. First, as they have invested their time studying and living in Australia for at least three to four years, they have had limited social interactions with their family and friends back home on employment opportunities. Second, physical distance and a focus on completing studies make it harder for students and graduates to obtain job information in China. In addition, job recruitment in China typically does not coincide with graduation ceremonies held in Australia. Because some Chinese employers screen their candidates well before graduation, students in Australia miss this opportunity since they are unable to attend job interviews.

Hence international graduates in this study felt disadvantaged in obtaining employment information and opportunities available to domestic students. Such a disadvantage limited employment upon graduation, making it difficult to obtain an ideal job that was relevant to, and commensurate with, overseas-obtained qualifications.

Lack of guanxi

J. Hao and Welch (2012) observed that guanxi (the network of social and work relationships) was vital in the huge Chinese employment market. Tharenou and Seet (2014) argued that the benefits of guanxi through business, family, personal, or alumni networks minimised challenges to gaining employment in China. However, international graduates interviewed in this study had not proactively attempted to source guanxi themselves because they had been away from China for a period of time, and this created a gap in building their personal guanxi with friends, extended family, or future employers. Participants commented that lack of guanxi had affected them in finding jobs equivalent to their study discipline when they returned home:

No skills are considered, actually, but relationships with government are essential. It is very important in China. People choose to work for large institutions probably because they can get to know people in government or people in large enterprises. If a student whose parents are very powerful, they can get a job very easily. Especially for those who went to a university in a Western country, I would say something like 80% of their parents can give them some sort of help on their job-seeking in China. For me it is a different as my parents are not powerful. (A 4)

Personally, I have no connections because my parents work in a totally different area, they are actor and actress in Chinese traditional arts. So, they don’t really have too many relationships in the computer industry. (A 17)

I have no connections with anyone, so I just find jobs online. (A 7)

China is based on relationship society. The employers just say, “Who is your parents?” They do not say, “Who are you?” So, it is not easy to find good jobs in China without relationship. (A 8)

It was really tiring to get a job without relationship or connection. (A 12)

Graduates acknowledged the power of guanxi, bluntly declaring that skills were not as important as building relationships in China. The latter is one of the important skills in securing a job related to their study. Even so, powerful parents or middle-class parents were able to assist in the job-seeking process on behalf of the returning recent graduate. One graduate commented that Chinese employers were sceptical about offering a job to someone without a reference from Chinese-based connections, thinking that the applicant might be unaware how businesses operated in China and how people lived and behaved in Chinese society:

It was hard to find my first job. It was difficult because of no reference from known people and the employers think that you have left China for so many years, they may think you are not aware of China, you are not aware of the society. (A 18)

Guanxi, or its absence, thus emerged as a major factor in securing employment in China, at least in the ideal job at an early stage of a career.

Discussion

The main purpose of this study was to explore barriers to employment in China faced by Chinese returnees from Australia. The results have highlighted three key challenges experienced by such returnees in gaining employment in their field of study upon their return. The first barrier to employment in China was their limited prior work experience. Work-integrated learning and higher education literature on employability of international students has strongly emphasised the need for international students to develop employability skills while studying (Phan et al., 2019), either in home-, host-, or third-countries. However, Gribble et al. (2017) reported that international students faced many challenges in seeking host-country work experience: for example, restrictions under Australian visa policy, a lack of formal work experience programmes, difficulties in identifying placement opportunities, issues with English proficiency, and limited local networks. Developing international students’ employability has, thus, been the focus of Australian universities, and some have included this theme in their strategic plans. Enhancing international students’ employability to achieve successful employment outcomes has become a main agenda item, in place of previous views that an international degree itself was of great value for Chinese international graduates in obtaining jobs in China. Inevitably, then, international graduates returning to China might need to adjust their expectations and behaviour when seeking employment at home (J. Hao & Welch, 2012).

Uniquely in this research, Chinese international graduates from Australia did not mention having ‘exclusive rights’ to enter the Chinese labour market with high expectations of salary packages or even a middle-manager position, which have been responses quoted by other researchers (J. Hao & Welch, 2012). However, such graduates did acknowledge the importance of obtaining prior work experience related to their studies for obtaining employment in their field. Chinese employers seek international graduates with prior work experience or internships because these provide a platform for graduates to apply in practice what they have learned in theory (Huang, 2013). Through prior work experience, graduates are equipped with professional experience and employability skills, such as ‘teamwork, problem solving skills, practical operation capacities, professional knowledge and leadership’ (J. Hao & Welch, 2012, p. 253). Chinese international students in Huang et al.’s (2014) study commented that, in order to develop their employability, they understood the importance of undertaking internships and part-time work, as well as paying attention to China’s competitive labour market. There are also useful volunteering opportunities for international students in the host or home country, and these may also be considered work experience valued by employers.

In short, lack of prior work experience (either through internships or part-time jobs) was seen as a barrier to employment in their field of study. International graduates had to gain work experience first by working as interns before being employed in a position or role equivalent to their qualification, whereas previously international graduates returning to China were able to obtain work based on their international degrees. In recent years, because of the large numbers of quality domestic and overseas graduates, especially from the United States and the United Kingdom, employers have had the ultimate say in selecting potential employees who have prior work experience for their organisations (J. Hao et al., 2016). Through such experiences, graduates have been exposed to the work environment and have developed specific employability skills, such as teamwork skills, critical skills, and problem-solving skills. Although there are differing views as to whether work experience abroad does or does not coincide with Chinese workplace values, experience and skills obtained are nonetheless transferable in any job context and are highly valued by employers.

Second, international graduates in this study expressed their frustration at being unable to obtain employment in their field because recruitment seasons in China did not accord with Australian graduation ceremony schedules. The information gap on job advertising in China was a problem for them, too, though this was in sharp contrast to the Global University China Career Union (GUCCU) report of 2018, which stated that international graduates were aware of the recruitment season in China, but were nonetheless unable to apply on time due to their study schedules or their intention to seek work in the host country. Guo et al. (2013) reported that positions in state-owned companies in China were rarely advertised in the local newspaper or online to the general public, because such jobs went to those with internal connections. J. Hao and Welch (2012) pointed out that international graduates also missed out on opportunities to know about the latest local changes, such as government policies and regulations in the employment market. This set of barriers has not been reported widely by other studies, but it needs to be acknowledged because it will have a severe effect on international graduates from Australia: they will lose any competitive advantage in the Chinese employment market to domestic and other international graduates from the United Kingdom or United States.

Last, there is the lack of guanxi or social connections, and efforts to secure this, developed by international graduates during their time away overseas. One of the reasons for this passive attitude is that China has undergone a rapid economic and social transformation and the country is no longer the same as it was when international graduates left a few years earlier (Gill, 2010; J. Hao & Welch, 2012). International graduates from the United Kingdom (Gill, 2010) admitted that they were unable to always keep up with the changes happening in China while studying and living abroad. Simultaneously, changes were also occurring in their own lives when overseas. For example, they were also changing in terms of their thinking and way of life (Gill, 2010), or were perhaps contemplating to work in the host country or a third country (GUCCU, 2018). In contrast, local graduates who stayed and studied in China had made connections that assisted them in obtaining employment upon graduation. Given the importance of social networks in China, it is vital for international graduates to be strategic while studying abroad in building their own social networks for employment purposes (Guo et al., 2013).

In Chinese society, personal guanxi or social networks is also sourced from family and friends. People of ‘higher socioeconomic status benefit more from job referral through guanxi, especially when the guanxi is closer or stronger’ (Cheung & Gui, 2006, p. 862), because higher socioeconomic status is more valuable to the person who is referring the job in the expectation of getting greater returns and rewards from the job seeker (Cheung & Gui, 2006, p. 862). Guanxi is a reciprocal relationship that it is not only limited to family members but extends to friends (Bian & Ang, 1997): close friends address each other as ‘brother’ or ‘sister’ and close neighbours are referred to as ‘uncle’ or ‘auntie’, since the one-child policy means that Chinese people have fewer blood relatives. If graduates want to work in state-owned companies, they rely more on job referral through guanxi (Cheung & Gui, 2006). Use of guanxi can also extend to the helper influencing the potential employer’s hiring decision, not just acting as a bridge to pass on job information to the new graduate (Weng & Xu, 2018). However, several international graduates in this research study had parents who were ‘not powerful’, that is not from a middle-class family or they had parents working in an unrelated industry.

Implications

Several practical implications arise from these research findings. First, Australian universities can create more work placement opportunities for international students to develop their employability, either in the host or the home country, or in other countries while studying abroad. Australian universities are generally resourceful and they are capable of reaching out to organisations that have linkages with China and able to provide Chinese international students with opportunities for internships or part-time work to develop their future career in China. This is a vital initiative because, based on these research findings, possessing an overseas degree is now insufficient to gain employment in China: international graduates need to have prior working experience, guanxi, and local employment information in order to develop a competitive advantage, not only over local graduates, but also over other overseas graduates returning home. In order to gain that competitive advantage, host-country institution should provide part-time work or volunteering opportunities to international students or build awareness about the need to gain some kind of prior work experience before returning home.

Australian universities could also educate Chinese international students in adopting social media tools, such as WeChat (China’s largest social media outlet), to connect them with alumni working in China as a platform for employment discussion and information sharing on the labour market demands there. International graduates have to be guided and provided with a mindset of being career-ready global graduates, equipped with global citizenship skills. Australian universities provide career support services to all students, but services should also specifically cater to the needs of international students, such as providing tailor-made CVs, resume writing workshops, advice for Chinese international students on the Chinese labour market, training on retrieving job information from and in China, and other related workshops that would benefit international students who wanted to return home and build their career.

In view of the finding from this research, Australian universities should also be aware that recruitment months in China do not coincide with graduation periods in Australia. Australian universities should consider re-scheduling graduation ceremonies to accommodate this in order to give their graduates a competitive standing in gaining employment according to their qualifications. This would have a considerable impact for career development in the vast Chinese labour market.

Second, Chinese international students in Australia must also reciprocate and be proactive in using the opportunities provided to them by their institutions. They should have a mindset towards attaining work experience in China or Australia before returning home. In Australia, they can seek to be volunteers in non-profit organisations, take leadership roles in Student Clubs and Unions at their universities, undertake part-time or casual employment in organisations, and use university career services linked to developing employability skills and careers. They can also seek relevant work experience through internships in Chinese companies through their parents’ guanxi, as suggested by Ren et al. (2011), when they return home during the summer or winter university holidays. Chinese international students must be proactively engaged in their career management practices by gaining relevant job information (either online or through networks) when job searching, developing their personal guanxi, and strengthening their social networks with family members and friends while still abroad in order to gain rewarding employment in their field.

Conclusion

Chinese international graduates have invested in gaining an Australian higher education degree and, in return, this investment has, over time, yielded positive outcomes in gaining international professional skills and knowledge that allow them to develop their careers in China’s competitive labour market (Cheng et al., 2018; J. Hao & Liu, 2017; J. Hao et al., 2016). However, due to job market competitiveness, employment opportunities for high-skilled international graduates have changed. Graduates lacking relevant prior work experience find it difficult to secure jobs in China. Lack of adequate information on employment recruitment months in China and graduations in Australia that are not synchronised with those employment months have disadvantaged graduates with Australian qualifications. This is an important finding, overlooked in the research literature as well as by Australian universities and Chinese employers. It must be highlighted for relevant stakeholders in Australia and China, including current international students and Chinese employers, that they should ensure that international graduates have a level playing field in obtaining successful employment. Last, the limited guanxi of international graduates also presented as a barrier to employment that arises from long absences overseas (Guo et al., 2013). This, they must take steps to address themselves.

While this article has focused on employment challenges faced by Australian graduates in China, it also offers recommendations on how these challenges can be minimised to support the transition of international graduates into the competitive Chinese employment market. First, international graduates need to have work experience in a related field. This can be obtained through internships, placements, work integrated learning, and part-time jobs in China, Australia, or in other countries. Work experience is vital because it provides an added advantage to international graduates when they return home if they seek to be employed by Foreign Direct Investment companies or state-owned organisations. Second, strong social networks (guanxi) are vital for employment. Graduates returning home must make every effort to meet their parents’ networks, their own high school friends or alumni, and senior graduates who have returned home and work in China. Third, Australian education providers have to be aware of the recruitment practices in China and the implications for lack of synchronised schedules in graduation.

Although these findings have contributed to the emerging literature on Chinese international graduates’ employability, several limitations also need to be noted. First, the findings cannot be representative of all Chinese international graduates, because they reflect responses only from Chinese alumni of one Australian university. Future research might involve Chinese graduates from other higher education institutions globally, such as from the United Kingdom, the United States, or Canada. Comparative studies could provide a better understanding of the challenges faced by Chinese international graduates in securing employment. Second, future research could replicate this study on a larger scale, using a quantitative research design. With a larger data set, it would be possible to examine the impacts of these challenges on international graduates as well as on local Chinese graduates. Despite these limitations, this study has added to the knowledge of employability challenges faced by Chinese international graduates and offered a much-needed international perspective to ongoing international student employability research from Australia.

Footnotes

Declaration of conflicting interests

The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Funding

The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This project is funded by La Trobe China Studies Research Centre.

ORCID iD

Jasvir Kaur Nachatar Singh

References

Ajjawi

Higgs

(2007). Using hermeneutic phenomenology to investigate how experienced practitioners learn to communicate clinical reasoning. The Qualitative Report, 12(4), 612–638. http://www.nova.edu/ssss/QR/QR12-4/ajjawi.pdf

Alberts

H. C.

Hazen

H. D.

(2005). “ There are always two voices…”: International students’ intentions to stay in the United States or return to their home countries. International Migration, 43(3), 131–154. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2435.2005.00328.x

Bian

Ang

(1997). Guanxi networks and job mobility in China and Singapore. Social Forces, 75(3), 981–1005. https://doi.org/10.1093/sf/75.3.981

Braun

Clarke

(2006). Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qualitative Research in Psychology, 3(2), 77–101. https://doi.org/10.1191/1478088706qp063oa

Cheng

Adekola

O. A.

Shah

Valyrakis

(2018). Exploring Chinese students’ experience of curriculum internationalisation: A comparative study of Scotland and Australia. Studies in Higher Education, 43(4), 754–768. https://doi.org/10.1080/03075079.2016.1198894

Cheung

A. C. K.

(2015). To return or not to return: Examining the return intentions of mainland Chinese students studying at elite universities in the United States. Studies in Higher Education, 40(9), 1605–1624. https://doi.org/10.1080/03075079.2014.899337

Cheung

C. K.

Gui

(2006). Job referral in China: The advantages of strong ties. Human Relations, 59(6), 847–872. https://doi.org/10.1177/0018726706067151

Cooke

F. L.

Yao

Jiang

A. S.

(2017). Space, agency and overseas employment for Chinese university graduates in a transient global labour market. The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 28(18), 2622–2655. https://doi.org/10.1080/09585192.2017.1299780

Creswell

J. W.

(2008). Educational research: Planning, conducting and evaluating quantitative and qualitative research (3rd ed.). Pearson Prentice Hall.

10.

Creswell

J. W.

(2013). Qualitative inquiry & research design: Choosing among five approaches (Vol. 3). Sage Publications.

11.

Denscombe

(2007). The good research guide for small-scale social research projects (3rd ed.). Open University Press.

12.

Department of Education and Training. (2015). Chinese international students in Australia: 2015. https://internationaleducation.gov.au/research/Research-Snapshots/Documents/China%20Infographic%202015.pdf

13.

Department of Education and Training. (2016). China – Outbound and inbound international students. https://internationaleducation.gov.au/research/Research-Snapshots/Documents/China_outbound%20and%20inbound%20tertiary%20students.pdf

14.

Department of Education and Training. (2019). End of year summary of international student data 2019. https://internationaleducation.gov.au/research/International-Student-Data/Documents/MONTHLY%20SUMMARIES/2019/December%202019%20End%20of%20year%20summary.pdf

15.

Ezzy

(2002). Qualitative analysis: Practice and innovation. Allen & Unwin.

16.

Ferguson

Sonnenschein

(2020). Comparing Australian graduate employees’ “use of connections” and Chinese “sea-turtle” graduate employees’ use of “guanxi”. Australian Journal of Career Development, 29(1), 24–35. https://doi.org/10.1177/1038416219876113

17.

Gill

(2010). The homcoming: An investigation into the effect that studying overseas had on Chinese postgraduates’ life and work on their return to China. Compare, 40(3), 359–376. https://doi.org/10.1080/03057920903464555

18.

Global University China Career Union (GUCCU). (2018). Chinese overseas talents career development analysis report. https://blogs.illinois.edu/files/6758/673483/135989.pdf

19.

Gribble

Rahimi

Blackmore

(2017). International students and post-study employment: The impact of university and host community engagement on the employment outcomes of international students in Australia. In Tran

Gomes

(Eds.), International student connectedness and identity (pp. 15–39). Springer.

20.

Guo

Porschitz

E. T.

Alves

(2013). Exploring career agency during self-initiated repatriation: A study of Chinese sea turtles. Career Development International, 18(1), 34–55. https://doi.org/0.1108/1362043131130

21.

Han

Stocking

Gebbie

M. A.

Appelbaum

R. P.

(2015). Will they stay or will they go? International graduate students and their decisions to stay or leave the US upon graduation. PLoS One, 10(3), https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0118183

22.

Hao

Liu

(2017). The impact of Australian accounting education on repatriates’ career development. Australian Accounting Review, 27(1), 52–60. https://doi.org/10.1111/auar.12141

23.

Hao

Welch

(2012). A tale of sea turtles: Job-seeking experiences of hai gui (high-skilled returnees) in China. Higher Education Policy, 25(2), 243–260. https://doi.org/10.1057/hep.2012.4

24.

Hao

Wen

Welch

(2016). When sojourners return: Employment opportunities and challenges facing high-skilled Chinese returnees. Asian and Pacific Migration Journal, 25(1), 22–40. https://doi.org/10.1177/0117196815621806

25.

Hao

Yan

Guo

Wang

(2017). Chinese returnees’ motivation, post-return status and impact of return: A systematic review. Asian and Pacific Migration Journal, 26(1), 143–157. https://doi.org/10.1177/0117196817690294

26.

Huang

(2013). International experience and graduate employability: Perceptions of Chinese international students in the UK. Journal of Hospitality, Leisure, Sport & Tourism Education, 13, 87–96. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhlste.2013.07.001

27.

Huang

Turner

(2018). International experience, universities support and graduate employability – Perceptions of Chinese international students studying in UK universities. Journal of Education and Work, 31(2), 175–189. https://doi.org/10.1080/13639080.2018.1436751

28.

Huang

Turner

Chen

(2014). Chinese international students’ perspective and strategies in preparing for their future employability. Journal of Vocational Education & Training, 66(2), 175–193. https://doi.org/10.1080/13636820.2014.894933

29.

International Consultants for Education and Fairs (ICEF). (2018). A record number of Chinese students abroad in 2015 but growth is slowing. http://monitor.icef.com/2016/04/a-record-number-of-chinese-students-abroad-in-2015-but-growth-is-slowing/

30.

Kahn

MacGarvie

(2019). The impact of permanent residency delays for stem PhDs: Who leaves and why. Research Policy, 1–22. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.respol.2019.103879

31.

Kellogg

R. P.

(2012). China’s brain gain?: Attitudes and future plans of overseas Chinese students in the US. Journal of Chinese Overseas, 8(1), 83–104. https://doi.org/10.1163/179325412X634319

32.

Kinnunen

McCartney

Murphy

Thomas

(2007). Through the eyes of instructors: A phenomenographic investigation of student success [Conference session]. Proceedings of the Third International Workshop on Computing Education Research, Atlanta, GA.

33.

Kvale

(2007). Doing interviews. Sage Publications.

34.

Lin-Stephens

Uesi

Doherty

(2015). Chinese returnees’ conceptions of positive career outcomes after graduating from Australian universities – quantitative findings. Australian Journal of Career Development, 24(2), 120–129. https://doi.org/10.1177/1038416215576344

35.

McClure

J. W.

(2003). The experiences of Chinese international postgraduates studying in Singapore [Unpublished doctoral dissertation], Griffith University.

36.

Minichiello

Aroni

Hays

(2008). In-depth interviewing: Principles, techniques, analysis (3rd ed.). Pearson Education Australia.

37.

National Bureau of Statistics of China. (2019). China statistical yearbook. http://www.stats.gov.cn/tjsj/ndsj/2019/indexeh.htm

38.

Phan

H. L. T.

Tran

L. T.

Blackmore

(2019). Internationalization, student engagement, and global graduates: A comparative study of Vietnamese and Australian students’ experience. Journal of Studies in International Education, 23(1), 171–189. https://doi.org/10.1177/1028315318803717

39.

Ren

Zhu

Warner

(2011). Human resources, higher education reform and employment opportunities for university graduates in the People’s Republic of China. The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 22(16), 3429–3446. https://doi.org/10.1080/09585192.2011.586871

40.

Singh

J. K. N.

(2019). Why do Chinese international students studying in Australia repatriate? Australian Chinese graduates tell it all. Journal of Further and Higher Education, 1–13. https://doi.org/10.1080/0309877X.2019.1669771

41.

Singh

J. K. N.

Jack

(2018). The benefits of overseas study for international postgraduate students in Malaysia. Higher Education, 75(4), 607–624. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-017-0159-4

42.

Sloan

Bowe

(2014). Phenomenology and hermeneutic phenomenology: The philosophy, the methodologies, and using hermeneutic phenomenology to investigate lecturers’ experiences of curriculum design. Quality and Quantity, 48(3), 1291–1303. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11135-013-9835-3

43.

Sonnenschein

Barker

Hibbins

(2019). Benefits of work-integrated learning: Perceptions held by Chinese international students enrolled in an Australian university and managers in the Chinese hotel industry. Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Education, 31(3), 139–148. https://doi.org/10.1080/10963758.2018.1487784

44.

Tesch

(1990). Qualitative research: Analysis types and software tools. The Falmer Press.

45.

Tharenou

(2015). Chinese international business graduates: A career dilemma: Repatriate or stay? Journal of Management & Organization, 21(1), 37–59. https://doi.org/10.1017/jmo.2014.68

46.

Tharenou

Seet

P. S.

(2014). China’s reverse brain drain: Regaining and retaining talent. International Studies of Management & Organization, 44(2), 55–74. https://doi.org/10.2753/IMO0020-8825440203

47.

Tomlinson

Jackson

(2019). Professional identity formation in contemporary higher education students. Studies in Higher Education, 1–16. https://doi.org/10.1080/03075079.2019.1659763

48.

Van Manen

(1990). Researching lived experience: Human science for an action sensitive pedagogy. Althouse Press.

49.

Weng

(2018). How guanxi affects job search outcomes in China? Job match and job turnover. China Economic Review, 51, 70–82. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chieco.2018.05.006