Students unwilling to step into career of old

Students unwilling to step into career of old

People choosing to take up some of the older professions are considered to be "losing face", the director of Qinghuachi, Beijing's largest chiropodist [ki'rɔpədist;kai'rɔpədist] 足科医生 center, told METRO after students from Beijing's top university gave a cold shoulder to its recent campus recruitment.(校园招聘)
"To be a chiropodist, is like most professions where people earn money based on their skills, it deserves respect," Wang Lihua, from the center, said on Thursday.
Qinghuachi, Beijing's oldest chiropodist center and bathhouse [ˈbɑ:θhaus](浴室), with over 100 years' history, went to Renmin University of China, one of China's top universities, during the three-day Dragon Boat Festival to look for some "promising disciples" who wanted to learn the old skills.
"We want to recruit college students as they are innovative [ˈinəuveitiv](创新的) and eager to learn," Wang said.
But it appears that the opportunity failed to appeal to students, as the center reportedly did not receive any resumes(简历) during the recruiting days.
"Actually, we did receive some resumes this time, from someone who learned medicine, as well as some other majors," Wang explained, without revealing [rɪˈvi:lɪŋ](透露) the exact number. It is not the first time the center has recruited college students, she added.
One anonymous [əˈnɔniməs](匿名) Netizen(网名) left a comment on Sina.com claiming it was insulting [inˈsʌltiŋ](侮辱的) to college students, as he thought it was totally unnecessary [ʌnˈnesɪˌseri:](不必要地) to have a chiropodist with a college degree.
A fourth-year student told Beijing Daily: "It would be so humiliating [hju(:)ˈmɪlɪeɪtɪŋ](侮辱的) if someone got to know I chose to work as a chiropodist after graduating from one of the country's best universities."
She said she would rather do junior [ˈdʒu:njə](较低级别) office work, even if the salary was less.
However, Du Wei, a 25-year-old student from Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunication(北京邮电大学), told METRO: "I don't mind it at all. It is a skill. When you master it, it can guarantee you can support yourself,"
"Actually, as our society moves forward(向前发展), the students with better knowledge will contribute [kənˈtribjut，kənˈtrɪbjuːt，ˈkɒntrɪbjuːt](提供) more ideas to the inheritance [ɪnˈherɪtəns](遗产) of the old skills," Wang explained. Nowadays, the center is no longer what it used to be, but it still receives around 1,000 customers a day.
And she hinted(暗示) their purpose is not only simply training the students to be chiropodists, but hoped, after they learned the whole picture of the industry, these apprentices(学徒) would shoulder the responsibility [riˌspɔnsəˈbiliti](责任心)to manage the "100-year-old brand" in the future.
Chiropody [kiˈrɔpədi](手足病的治疗)was listed as an intangible [ɪnˈtændʒəbəl](接触不到的) cultural heritage [ˈheritidʒ](遗产) by the Beijing municipal [mjuˈnisipəl](市政的) government in 2009.
Chiropody is not the only traditional craft facing a skill shortage(技能缺失). The Beijing Ivory Sculpture Plant(北京象牙雕刻厂) is another example.
Young college students nowadays are inclined to(倾向于) pursue dream jobs that look decent [ˈdi:sənt，ˈdiːsnt](体面的) or appealing [əˈpi:lɪŋ](吸引人的), according to Chen Chang, a Beijing-based career-planning expert.
"But it cannot be denied(否认) that each job has its interesting and meaningful parts. If you put your heart and soul into it, you will find it, "she said.
"Not everyone is fit to be a chiropodist, that usually requires someone who is meticulous [miˈtikjuləs](细致) and likes to serve other people," she told METRO.