Employment information needs of Chinese young adults in Sheffield

The authors investigate the question of how Chinese young adults (18—26 years old) in Sheffield seek employment information, and what sources and channels they use. Data collection was via a semi-structured questionnaire (78 responses) and via nine follow-up interviews with respondents to the questionnaire. Fifty-five percent felt that they had encountered barriers when seeking information. The channel which the largest number of employed respondents had used to find their current job was newspapers/magazines, and this was also the channel that the largest number would recommend to a friend. However, the Internet was respondents' favourite and most widely used channel and they perceived both advantages and disadvantages in using it for job seeking. We found that, as in previous studies, affective issues and personal connections were influential in choice of job, and that luck was also perceived as a factor. Recommendations for ways in which services could be better tailored to Chinese young people's needs are made.