As a result of the sluggish Chinese economy, young people are facing difficulties in finding jobs. In recent years, the job of security guard has become increasingly popular among young people, especially the image of security guards who appear to have an easy job.
According to a report by Hong Kong 01, 23-year-old Chen Mu is 182cm tall and quite handsome. After graduating this year and failing the postgraduate entrance examination, he tried various jobs such as fashion modeling, new media operations, cross-border e-commerce, and photography sales stands, but eventually chose to work as an image security guard in Shenzhen, with a monthly salary of 8000 RMB, including meals and accommodation.
His job involves only two tasks: standing at the entrance for “morning greetings” from 8 to 9 in the morning, and “evening welcomes” from 6 to 7 in the evening for the residents’ comings and goings. There is no need to stand guard on weekends. He only truly stands for two hours a day, and the remaining 10 hours he is practically “invisible.”
He uses this “invisible” time to study and prepare for the postgraduate exam, with the security team leaders turning a blind eye. The residents treat him well when they come and go, and he doesn’t face any strange treatment due to his role as a security guard. However, Chen Mu plans to finish his probation period, as after that, the company will start paying social security contributions, which would affect his status as a recent graduate.
He said that when he failed the postgraduate exam, he tried various professions and felt somewhat discontent. He decided to re-take the exam, so he found a job that provided accommodation and time to study as a transition. During the three-month probation period, he saved up 20,000 RMB, enough for his self-study room expenses, and now he needs time for systematic study, so he can’t continue this job.
According to him, their team has four image security guards, two with bachelor’s degrees, and the others with diplomas. The security team leader is also a diploma graduate, and besides him, there is another undergraduate student from Hungary.
Chen Mu turned his experience as a security guard into a security guard diary posted on social media, leading to a continuous stream of people asking him for recommendations for security guard jobs. Among them are young people who, like him, faced setbacks, such as missing the civil service exam by 0.1 point, failing the re-examination at Peking University, and getting 73 points in the civil service exam but falling short. They hope to take a brief pause and then move forward again.
Currently, Chen Mu’s classmates who also failed the postgraduate exam with him have taken up security guard jobs while studying for the exam and working at the same time.
He expressed his hope that when he comes back to work as a security guard at luxury homes in the future, he will have been accepted into his ideal school and return to work during the summer break.