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'Waste of talent': Anger at top Chinese University Graduate Working as Domestic Servant
AsiaOne ^ | MAY 28, 2021

Posted on 05/30/2021 4:23:56 PM PDT by nickcarraway

The résumé of a graduate from a top Chinese university seeking work as a domestic helper has stunned internet users, and is a sign of the increasingly competitive jobs market in China for new graduates.

Your Trust Home Service, a Shanghai-based high-end housekeeping company, released the resume of the graduate, whose identity was redacted, on a recruitment platform on Wednesday and quickly generated online discussion, news portal Thepaper reported.

More from AsiaOne Read the condensed version of this story, and other top stories with NewsLite. Many were shocked to learn a graduate was working as a domestic servant.

“Please remember the most prestigious universities, like Tsinghua and Peking University, train talented people who are supposed to improve or change our nation, and to bring benefits to all our people. Isn’t working as a family tutor a waste of such talents?” wrote another person.

“The fact that a Tsinghua graduate ended up working as a family tutor is the result of strong competition in the job market,” another user commented.

The 29-year-old woman from Nanjing graduated from the prestigious Tsinghua University, ranked 15th best in the world by QS World University Rankings last year, with a bachelor’s degree, although it’s not clear which major she studied.

She described herself as being fluent in Mandarin and English, and good at cooking the foods favoured by many families in Shanghai and the surrounding Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces.

She expected to find a job with a salary of 35,000 yuan (S$7,200) per month, her résumé showed.

Read Also The ultimate guide: Starting salary for fresh university graduates 2021 edition The ultimate guide: Starting salary for fresh university graduates 2021 edition

A manager from the housekeeping company said she had already been booked by a client, the report said.

“Talented people like her are rare, but she is not the only one,” the manager told Thepaper. “We also have nannies with a master’s degree, including those graduating from top overseas universities.”

The high salary for a domestic worker triggered heated discussion on social media.

“She is not an ordinary nanny. She is basically a private teacher,” wrote one person at Thepaper. “Look at her payment. It is so high that what she earns is equivalent to senior managers at enterprises. I envy her.”

“We can’t judge whether an occupation is noble or degrading. It’s just a person’s choice,” a user said on social media app WeChat.

The manager said those domestic helpers with diplomas from leading universities are usually hired as family tutors, teaching children a range of subjects. They can be paid anywhere from 15,000 yuan and 50,000 yuan per month.

“Some clients’ kids study at international schools. So they require the tutors to speak English while teaching kids,” the manager said.

The number of university graduates in China has increased year on year over the past two decades. More than nine million students will graduate from universities this summer.

More than 40 million people have graduated from universities and colleges there over the past five years, with 77 per cent of them finding jobs upon graduation, the Ministry of Education said.

But the graduates’ salaries were not as high as many had expected. According to the Beijing-based consultancy Mycos, the average monthly salary for university graduates of Class 2018 and Class 2019 was 4,624 yuan and 5,440 yuan respectively.

Besides family teachers, some graduates took up other jobs that were deemed unconventional for people with university degrees.

Earlier this month, the China Youth Daily reported that some graduates had found work at pig farms.

To lure these graduates, the livestock farming companies offered 120,000 to 200,000 yuan a year for employees with a bachelor’s degree, 180,000 to 300,000 yuan for master’s degree holders and at least 300,000 yuan for a PhD holder.


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Education; Weird Stuff
KEYWORDS: collegedegree; domesticworker; education; employment; tsinghuauniversity; university
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1 posted on 05/30/2021 4:23:56 PM PDT by nickcarraway
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To: nickcarraway

We have the same problem here.


2 posted on 05/30/2021 4:27:13 PM PDT by DIRTYSECRET
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To: nickcarraway

She probably can hold an interesting conversation.


3 posted on 05/30/2021 4:29:43 PM PDT by Scrambler Bob (My /s is more true than your /science (or you might mean /seance))
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To: nickcarraway

LOL, in lines 8 and 9 it lists her height and weight.


4 posted on 05/30/2021 4:33:06 PM PDT by untenured
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To: nickcarraway

“not clear which major she studied.”

Without that info, there is no way to determine whether a high paying job should have been hers.


5 posted on 05/30/2021 4:34:39 PM PDT by dynachrome ("I will not be reconstructed, and I do not give a damn.")
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To: nickcarraway

$7,200 a month is good money for being a private teacher. Plus get to go with the wealthy family on all of their vacations, etc.


6 posted on 05/30/2021 4:35:37 PM PDT by 21twelve (Ever Vigilant. Never Fearful!)
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Spy...


7 posted on 05/30/2021 4:40:24 PM PDT by 4Liberty (Honest GOP can’t use legal options cause Dems use illegal ones (threats). The Robert Creamer Party! )
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To: nickcarraway

China’s top-down, centrally-controlled system is hyper-competitive. One of the commentators pointed out that a rich family in China will pay big $$$ to have what they feel are the best tutors for their kids. Just like in the USA, for a family worth $hundreds of millions or $billions, $5K-$10K per month isn’t a big deal.


8 posted on 05/30/2021 4:49:13 PM PDT by PGR88
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To: nickcarraway

Yeah, well Americans are in the same boat thanks to H1B visas.


9 posted on 05/30/2021 5:09:19 PM PDT by metmom (...fixing our eyes on Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of our faith...)
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To: nickcarraway

During the mid 1970`s recession, I hired a physicist PhD. graduate from UC Berkeley desperate to find work to train as an electronics assembler because there were no jobs. I had 5 assemblers. She increased production by 300% by herself. The others couldn`t keep up with her... She was Chinese-American born in California. So I gave her a raise.


10 posted on 05/30/2021 5:17:21 PM PDT by bunkerhill7 (That`s 464 people per square foot! Is this corrrect?? It was NYC.)
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To: nickcarraway

If she has a degree in gender studies or art history, regardless of the university, she is lucky to have a job as domestic help. Her next step is the unemployment line with those majors


11 posted on 05/30/2021 5:17:58 PM PDT by chuckee
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To: untenured

She is 77 pounds?


12 posted on 05/30/2021 5:33:26 PM PDT by nickcarraway
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To: bunkerhill7

Did she move on when the economy improved?


13 posted on 05/30/2021 5:34:41 PM PDT by nickcarraway
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To: DIRTYSECRET

Uhhhhhh. Yeah no


14 posted on 05/30/2021 5:35:23 PM PDT by stuck_in_new_orleans ( )
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To: chuckee

I doubt they have gender studies in China.


15 posted on 05/30/2021 5:35:25 PM PDT by nickcarraway
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To: nickcarraway

50kg, i.e. roughly 110 lbs.


16 posted on 05/30/2021 5:53:44 PM PDT by untenured
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To: nickcarraway

Wish I had a private tutor like her to teach me a few things when I was young...


17 posted on 05/30/2021 5:58:38 PM PDT by tired&retired (Blessings )
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To: untenured

5’ 1” and 110 pounds......


18 posted on 05/30/2021 6:01:55 PM PDT by WellyP (question!)
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To: nickcarraway

How does one say BULLCRAP in Mandarin???

“She expected to find a job with a salary of 35,000 yuan (S$7,200) per month, her résumé showed.”

She is fishing for sympathy, and a job.


19 posted on 05/30/2021 6:02:51 PM PDT by Organic Panic (Democrats. Memories as short as Joe Biden's eyes.)
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To: nickcarraway

1 kilo = 2.2 pounds 50 kilos, 110 pounds.... nice trim size!


20 posted on 05/30/2021 6:04:47 PM PDT by WellyP (question!)
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