When one job isn't enough

"Slash careers" are catching on in China. Zhao Sichen (center) is an English teacher/project manager/brand ambassador. [Photo by Liang Luwen/China Daily]

Advantage of expertise

The modern jobs market, particularly in large cities, offers young professionals more flexible employment and new platforms to pursue their career goals.

Zhao Sichen used to have a regular 9-to-5 job as an English teacher at Tsinghua University High School. The 31-year-old still teaches but now runs her own language-teaching studio targeting primary and middle school students in Beijing.

"The way many students learn English is rather time-wasting," says Zhao. "I want to explore an English-teaching method that not only improves students' test-taking skills but also their language proficiency."

Outside the class, Zhao also works as a project manager in charge of education programs at Netease. And she works with outdoor-sports brands on online promotion.

Zhao actually sees her various professional identities as linked.

"I always wanted to be an educator, and education is the nucleus of my career," she says. "My interests in fitness and management are also educational."

Hu Xiaowu, deputy director of the Institute of Urban Science at Nanjing University, says that having multiple jobs is more about economic security than a lifestyle choice.

"In modern China, financial security no longer exists, unless you create it. To some extent, having multiple income streams is one of the best ways to create stability."

Hu also points out that it's more common for people to combine work that offers financial security with work that feeds passion.

"Since there is so much work that can be done flexibly now, it's easy to do many kinds of work in the same workweek or even the same workday," Hu says.