New vocations bring opportunities to job seekers

Lu Shuxi shows the sample products in her live stream room. [CCTV.com/Photo]

With new economies and business models emerging, many novel vocations have arisen. Many job seekers have seized these opportunities to create their distinctive careers. 

Cross-border e-commerce host

In the live stream room of Lu Shuxi, a student from the Foreign Trade College of Yiwu Industrial and Commercial Vocational College, most of the overseas consumers are from the United States, with a smaller number from the UK, Malaysia, and Singapore. Bead accessories are their main products. “Overseas consumers like to DIY these beads into pens, bookmarks, keychains, or wear them directly as bracelets,” she said.

Since starting as a cross-border e-commerce host from scratch, Lu has achieved great success in her career. “Nowadays, I have about a hundred overseas consumers per day, with the order success rate of over 90%. And the benefits are also quite good when compared to other graduates,” said Lu.

According to customs data, in 2023, China’s cross-border e-commerce imports and exports reached 2.38 trillion yuan, up 15.6%, while in the first quarter of this year, the figure was 577.6 billion yuan, up 9.6%. 

This opportunity has allowed countless manufacturing enterprises in China to better engage in global trade, offering many foreign language graduates more job opportunities as cross-border e-commerce hosts.

Drone operator

In Shenzhen city, citizens can quickly receive “air-dropped” deliveries like milk tea and hamburgers by simply pressing a button. This convenient and novel consumption experience is brought by drone pilots.

With the development of the low-altitude economy, drone pilots have gradually become an emerging career.

According to Luo Xikun, a drone pilot at Meituan (a Chinese shopping site), logistics drones are operated by an automated backend and do not require specialist persons to control them. Once the items are loaded, the drone will follow the pre-planned course for delivery. To ensure that the drones function effectively, drone pilots must monitor the system in real-time.

Before becoming a drone pilot, Luo worked as a regular delivery rider. He has deeply felt the convenience that technological development has given to people's lives, not only reducing communication time but also greatly boosting delivery efficiency. Traditional riders have an average delivery time of 30 minutes, whereas drone deliveries take only 20 minutes, with the quickest completing a delivery in 10 minutes.

Hanfu stylist

With the increasing popularity of Hanfu (Chinese Han people's clothing) consumption, the demand for Hanfu makeup and styling is growing.

With the growing popularity of Hanfu (Chinese Han people's attire), there is a greater demand for Hanfu cosmetics and styling. Hanfu stylists are in high demand, attracting a large number of young people to this profession. "Every month, over 20 Hanfu studios come to our school for recruitment, and many students have found jobs even before graduation," said Li Ying, an assistant principal at a training school in Xi'an city, northwest China's Shaanxi province.

“The Hanfu economy has given rise to new careers, indicating that traditional culture is increasingly accepted and loved by the public,” said Shi Qian, the executive director of the Hanfu Culture Committee of the Sichuan Traditional Culture Promotion Association.

Pet specimen maker and pet trainer

Data shows that in 2023, the urban pet consumption market in China reached 279.3 billion yuan, and it is expected to reach 361.3 billion yuan by 2026. The emerging pet economy has also given rise to various new professions, including pet groomers, departures, and bone setters.

Sun Yonglin, the general manager of a biological technology company in Dalian city, northeast China’s Liaoning province, said that many young people are unwilling to part with their pets that have been with them for many years, so they choose to preserve their fur and make them “reborn” as specimens. “Many pet owners contact me to preserve their deceased dogs in their skin and fur, and the cost of making a bioplastic specimen is 16,000 yuan,” Sun said.

Xiao Huawu, a pet caretaker, runs a pet hotel in Changsha city, central China’s Hunan province. The hotel is specifically for the care of Golden Retrievers, Labradors, and Poodles. The dogs staying at the hotel live in individual rooms equipped with independent cameras and air conditioning. When the weather permits, Xiao would take the dogs to the outdoor tracks and large lawns for playtime. He says that people often choose to board their pets when they travel or take vacations, with daily fees ranging from 100 yuan and above.

Xu Dabo, who has been training dogs for nearly 30 years, is the vice president of the Hunan Dog Breeding Association. He noted that with the increasing demand for pet training, the number of pet trainers and training schools has been growing year by year. In addition to training dog behavior, pet trainers also teach pet owners about canine psychology, how to engage in scientific feeding, and how to deal with separation anxiety between humans and dogs.

“Pet groomers have become a scarce talent in the industry, with a shortfall of 6 million per year,” said Chen Jinshu, who founded a pet grooming school in Changsha. As a member of the examination team for pet grooming and care vocational skills level certificates, Chen pointed out that many vocational schools and universities in China have started offering courses and majors in pet care and training, bringing more high-quality talents to the pet industry.

Source: China News Service; trans-editing by Guo Yao