Chinese Man, Looking For Job, Prints His Resume On T-Shirt

A recent college graduate in China has turned himself into a walking billboard by printing his resume on a T-shirt, wowing online observers. The guy named Song Jiale, 21 recently graduated with a bachelor’s degree from the School of Geomatics at Wuhan University in central China’s Hubei province. Before starting his postgraduate studies, Song tried to get an internship but was unsuccessful despite numerous applications. Inspired by elderly locals in his hometown in central China’s Henan province who often walk around with advertising signs, Song came up with the idea of printing his resume on a T-shirt. “With so many people walking on the streets, I’m like a walking billboard that gets noticed by employers and HR managers,” Song wrote on Xiaohongshu, a Chinese social media site.

The front of his T-shirt reads: “Class of 2024 looking for jobs, please see back.” On the back is a copy of his resume, which includes his name, university, field of study, student activities and internships. He also cleverly placed a QR code above his photo to make it easier to contact people. Next to the QR code, it says: “HR managers who are impressed and any other graduates who want to build a network, just scan this code!” “Finding a job is just as hard as finding a partner, let’s help each other,” it continues.

Wearing his resume T-shirt, Song travelled back to Hubei from his hometown by train. While his eye-catching outfit didn’t land him a job immediately, it sparked a series of conversations with curious fellow travellers. It also gained him viral attention on mainland social media after a passerby posted his picture online, which was viewed around 385,000 times on Douyin.

This attention led to several companies reaching out to him. Eventually, Song found an internship at a company in the running apparel industry. The viral post may have been a key factor in his acceptance.

“When I arrived at the company for an interview, an employee raised her phone and asked, ‘Is that you?’” Song said on Xiaohongshu. Online observers praised Song as a talent in social media marketing. “You should work in social media,” one person said.

“I wish he could work in our company. Don’t you see how good he is at creating viral content? He’s a real talent,” another said. China’s job market has become increasingly difficult. This year, 11.58 million new college graduates entered the job market, 8,20,000 more than last year, and the unemployment rate for young people between the ages of 16 and 24 rose to over 18 percent.