Job Search in China / Turning to plastic surgery for an advantage

Battling for jobs with millions of other new graduates, Chinese students are turning to plastic surgery for an advantage — with one clinic offering noses inspired by the Eiffel Tower.

Chinese employers can be frank about their preference for attractive job candidates — sometimes even posting height requirements in recruitment adverts.

With a record seven million graduates entering the job market this year, combined with a growth slowdown, China’s state-run media dubbed 2013 the “toughest ever year” for would-be white-collar employees.

Now surgeons across the country say that increasing numbers of students are going under the knife in the hope of boosting their prospects, expanding a cosmetic surgery market that is already the third-largest in the world.

Dozens of plastic surgery clinics have plastered advertisements across the southwestern city of Chongqing, with posters promoting surgeon Wang Xuming’s “Eiffel Tower” procedure showing the shape of a well-sculpted nose next to the French landmark’s gentle curve.

“We’ve been influenced by the beauty of the Eiffel Tower, we don’t just add to the nose, but rebuild it,” said Wang, adding he performs around a dozen such operations each month.

“It’s helped them a lot”.

Chosen excerpts by Job Market Monitor. Read the whole story at 

via Students edge China jobs race by a nose | The New Age Online.