Working out a career path

It was when he attended a job fair in Hefei in 2010 that the civil engineering graduate first realized the difficulty of finding a job.

Although unrelated to his major, his first spell of employment was at an interior design company with a monthly salary of 600 yuan ($83.78). After spending 150 yuan to rent a shared flat, there was only 450 yuan left to maintain his basic life. Due to the low salary, Yin quit the job eight months later.

In January 2011, he found a job at a scaffolding company in Nanjing, Jiangsu province, earning 1,700 yuan a month. It was physically challenging and he usually got up at about 4 am and finished work after 7 pm.

During this period, he didn't give up studying and passed the association constructor certificate exam.