(Chinese Version)

[Our aim is to record individuals and entrepreneurs in the Internet industry through TMTpost’s new column Photo Gallery: whether young ambitious entrepreneurs who have just found their place in the world of business, star investors who walk through different venues, programmers who spend hours of time writing codes in front of the computer screen, or Internet operators, geeks, even delivery guys…It is their collective efforts and devotion that constitute the Internet world we live in right now, so their moments are worth recording, and remembering. Photos don’t lie, but they don’ tell the whole truth; photos are free, but they are also full of traps. Therefore, only we present the images we see, and you are free to have your own understanding of these individuals.]

Editor's Notes:

This issue of Photo Gallery records the job-hobbing season of the Internet industry, during which process many have suffered. Some might suffer from waiting their ideal offers, some might be suffering from choosing the right one. Some of them are ambitious college graduates fresh out of college, while some are seasoned professional talents that have had enough of the life as drifters. Life is actually much more complex as well as amazing than we think it is. Perhaps through this issue of Photo Gallery, we can find stories that we can relate to. Maybe you are just fighting hard to get a place in this society just like they are. You might be suffering just like these people, and you might be confused by the current situation, or looking forward to the future. We hope that the following ordinary stories will bring the hope and courage you need.

February 20th 2016. Zhang Yinhu, who is about to end his life as a drifter in Beijing, says goodbye to his friends on the phone.

8 years ago in the summer when Zhang was fresh out of college, he bought a stand ticket of a train from Changsha to Beijing which would take 17 hours to arrive. After arriving in the capital, Zhang rented a crappy single apartment in TJLnet. In the beginning he only wanted to find a job as a programmer so as to have his own income. It took him nearly 2 months to finally get his very first job. During this process he had doubted himself and felt lost before, thinking that he might not have what it takes to survive and achieve success in Beijing. His hard work eventually brought him to a renowned e-commerce company.

Before the Spring Festival this year, Zhang Yintai made up his mind and decided that he would leave Beijing for his hometown, Changsha, the capital of Hunan province. Zhang had already applied for several companies and had already had interviews with them. By far Zhang has received many offers. Subsequently, he picked a supermarket brand that is currently building its own e-commerce platform, in which company he will work as the architect. The monthly salary of the new job is ten thousand RMB less that what he had in Beijing. On March 4th, he will leave Beijing, the city in which he had fought for professional success for 8 years. Zhang said that he is the only child at home, and for that he needs to go back home to accompany his parents. “I also need to go home to solve some of my personal matters,” Zhang added.

On February 23th 2016, at Beijing Zhongguancun Juchuan Space, Niu Wei is reading recruitment posters from the hands of entrepreneurs. Niu is going to graduate this summer from college. This time he came to Beijing to accompany his friends who have found jobs in the capital. Apart from that, he also wanted to see what the famous Zhongguancun is like. In college, Niu Wei studies computer science and he wishes to work in the field of the Internet. “Beijing has too many talents. I think I will work in my hometown for a while to accumulate working experience before coming to Beijing,” Niu said. “I believe it will make me more competitive in the local job market in Beijing.” In the afternoon, he left the capital.

Beijing. Feng Tengjun is waiting for the second round of interview at an Internet company. After years of working, Feng started to partner with others to start their own business. He has experienced the glory from the early stage of his entrepreneurial journey as well as the devastating blows from the market, losing all he had got from years of hard work. When his company was seeking ways to transform itself, Feng’s mother fell sick and needed to undergo a major surgery. Worse still, his pregnant wife’s physical condition was also bad and needed to be taken care of. Subsequently, Feng had no choice but exited the company for his family. Now his family is much better off and doesn't need his support that much, thus he is currently looking for a stable job related to marketing and channels in the Internet sector. He wants to be able to continue to study and look after his families.

At 4 pm February 23rd, Beijing’s job market. Two hours after a small offline Internet industry job fair has ended, a recruiter is still waiting for interviewees. There are a lot of IT companies around here, and therefore at least one small Internet industry job fair will be held here every week. And due to the thresholds for companies to recruit at the job fair, many small startup teams choose to approach potential professional talents outside the event. For them, it’s a practical and feasible method.

February 26th. After the fourth interview, Sun Chang’s throat has become hoarse and is sweating a bit. Sun is one of the recruiters at Yongche.com, the very first contact that job applicants will make with the company. Sun likes the feeling of talking to people face to face and one on one. “Every applicant here has something special for me to learn.” Sun said. “Which benefits me a lot.”

“I am holding half of Zhongguancun’s people in my hand,” the owner of these nine phones told me. He carries 9 phones with him everyday and operates his business on WeChat. In short, he sells resumes on WeChat. His resumes are quite cheap, priced at 200 RMB per 25 resumes. Before going solo, he had worked in a company as an HR. Now he calls himself the moth of recruiting sites. Even though he doesn't want to be photographed by our cameras, he is more than willing to show his phones. “In this line of business we better stay low and make money,” he said. “February and March are the peak months for us. If we could do it well we would be able to earn an income that could last for a year for us.”

Chaoyangmen, Beijing. Pearl, consultant of Elites Executive Search, is looking for potential recruits. The company Pearl is serving now, the Elites Executive Search, provides services on recruiting medium and high-level talents for Internet companies. “Medium and high-level professional talents are generally very careful with their career choice,” Pearl said. Some potential recruits might not be satisfied with the offer and would spent months or even half a year to negotiate and communicate with their potential employers until they get their ideal offer. Headhunting companies will charge them service fee, which usually is 20% to 25% of their annual salary. Similarly, experienced headhunting consultants also enjoy a rather high income. “Headhunting is a job that really shows value,” Pearl concluded. “Helping people find their ideal jobs just simply makes me feel good.”

On February 29th, Lagou.com’s career consultant Michael is talking to potential candidates via the phone in the meeting room. Michael’s job is provide one-on-one career consulting services for people with an annual income of over 300,000 RMB and use Lagou.com as the platform to bridge employers and job hunters. During his four years as a career consultant, Michael has once encountered a case that he still remembers clearly today. A candidate of his, who was once a waiter at a hotel, met a girl that had achieved great success in the Internet sector. He really liked her and tried to pursue her. But the girl refused him, saying that he couldn't make a better future for them. After being rejected, this guy just buried himself into the study of IT and tried very hard to learn to develop. Later he actually found a job at a small Internet company. Then miracle took place. This company was later acquired by Alibaba, and subsequently he also joined Alibaba. And after several years of working and learning in one of the most successful companies in the world, he became big in the industry as well. “When he was trying to leave Alibaba for another company, I was his career consultant. He was picked by Luogic Show and received an offer within 24 hours,” Michael said. “Now that girl has become his wife, who is now a full-time housewife at home. He acted on his goals and now has the ability to make a good life for his loved one. In this industry hard work do pay off. If you can hold on to your dream and carry on despite of hardships, then you will eventually see the light.”

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TMTpost Photo Gallery

Special column of TMTpost
Aiming to record individuals and entrepreneurs in the Internet industry
Photos don’t lie, but they don’ tell the whole truth
Photos are free, but also full of traps
This is an Internet age, and we want you to discover stories with us online

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[The article is published and edited with authorization from the author @fliesslaughterhouse, please note source and hyperlink when reproduce.]

Translated by Garrett Lee (Senior Translator at PAGE TO PAGE), working for TMTpost.