A few days ago, I took a vacation and went home, and arranged to meet up with an old classmate who works in the railway system. We had a lot to talk about. The railway department, a traditional state-owned enterprise, doesn't seem much different from the unit system in terms of work. Although there are indeed professional aspects to the job, the core elements seem to be party building and publicity. All these things sound very interesting to someone like me who works in the volatile internet industry. Many of the so-called stereotypes about the system are, to some extent, quite reasonable.
The most memorable part of our conversation was about work and promotion. I asked my classmate out of curiosity, "What growth and gains have you achieved over the years of working? Or what would you say is your core competitiveness when it comes to promotions or job-hopping?" The point of my question was to understand what skills my classmate has acquired and improved in his work, what he possesses that others don't, or what he has that others also have. (Naturally, I thought about what could be shown off in a job interview when job-hopping.) However, his answer was: connections, face-time, and the skills that could be related to, perhaps, article writing, video editing, and being able to do anything.
After hearing his answer, my first thought was that these things are only applicable within this system. If one leaves this system, wouldn't all these be wasted? But why would one leave this system? As my classmate said, once you enter the unit, you basically won't be fired, and they take care of your life, old age, sickness, and death. Under such circumstances, the individual and the collective are firmly tied together. The collective promises not to abandon the individual, and the individual is not willing to leave the collective.
Having worked for less than a year, I honestly feel a bit tired of working in the internet industry, dealing with a makeshift team, doing uninteresting tasks, and often under great pressure. I'm not sure if it's a problem with the company or the industry, but the turnover rate is really high. Some of those who joined at the same time as me have already left. Where can they go? But at least they can leave.
I know the state-owned enterprise system is attractive, but I really can't accept a job without an exit mechanism. What if something inappropriate happens? Can I find a job after I quit?
However, if all else fails, there's always the civil service to fall back on. Could it be that the final destination is the civil service? It seems I can start brushing up on some questions.