Recently, the news of a post-90s Tsinghua female master’s graduate turning to learning cooking after being unemployed due to difficulty in finding a job has sparked discussions online.
According to a report by Li Zhi News, the girl’s name is Tong Jieqiong, who studied International Construction and Project Management at Tsinghua University. After graduating from Tsinghua University in 2019, she has been engaged in research and policy work in the field of climate change.
She mentioned that in the five years since graduation, she has worked as a researcher at the university and also worked on climate change adaptation at an international organization. By the end of 2024, after experiencing a round of job changes, she decided to attend Shandong Lanxiang Vocational School to become a chef, in hopes of adding more confidence to her future career choices.
On January 3, the topic “Female Tsinghua Graduate Goes to Lanxiang Full-time to Learn Cooking” trended on Weibo. Tong Jieqiong posted a video saying, “Since I trended, various media or friends have come to ask me why I chose to come to Lanxiang, and the direct reason is that I was unemployed.”
She explained, “I thought, because my job content would be more specific, so it was hard to find a job, and I had plenty of time to search for a job.” She added, “Unemployment may not be something we can choose, but what we do after being unemployed is completely within our control.”
However, in an interview with Haibao News, she also expressed that she still loves her original work in climate finance and currently does not consider being a chef as her career. She mentioned, “If I still can’t find a job, I may continue to take noodle-making or beauty courses at Lanxiang.”
The topic of “Tsinghua female master’s graduate transitioning to a chef” has stirred discussions online. Many netizens shared their own stories, with one saying, “I graduated from a prestigious university and worked as a project manager for 3 years, and now I’m at a grassroots level.” Another commented, “I graduated from a lower-tier university and it’s fine if I install wooden flooring.”
In recent years, China’s job market has been tough, with graduates from prestigious universities applying for positions like grassroots urban management staff, street office workers, bird deterrents, sanitation workers, and couriers.
A netizen, under the username “Stunning Thunder Sister,” recently posted, “The job situation this year is so dreadful. I went out to eat, and the couple at the next table couldn’t find jobs, so they discussed working in a factory to save some money every month. I thought they were college students, but the girl said: if you graduate with just a bachelor’s degree without taking the postgraduate entrance exam, it would be better, back then, it was easier to find a job with a bachelor’s degree than it is now with a master’s.”
Many netizens expressed regret, with comments like, “I really regret taking the postgraduate entrance exam. Although I found a job at a big company after graduation, it would have been much more comfortable if I had started working right after my bachelor’s. The newcomers in the job market in the past year or two are in a tough spot… I see no hope at all.” Another said, “I also graduated with a master’s degree this year, finding a job is truly tough, and I deeply regret pursuing this postgraduate degree.”
The sentiment of hopelessness and frustration among job seekers, especially recent graduates, resonates strongly in the online discussions, reflecting the challenging job market conditions in China.