By Charlotta Lagerdahl, Director Brand & Talent, MSLGROUP Asia

You can spot an adventurist by asking about their long term plans –  they never make them. The answer you would probably get is “I go with the flow”, and “let’s see what happens”.

This group is the most unpredictable of the four types of profiles we listed in our whitepaper ‘From Mao to More: Catching up with the next generation of talent in China‘:

Careerists, Idealists, Adventurists and Hedonists

How Google & DangDang court such personalities:

By highlighting “passion” and “people with passion” in recruitment ads, Google has become one of the most attractive employers in China – especially amongst the Adventurists. Google’s messaging appeals to them:

“No matter what major you are in, if you have passion, Google is your home”.

Similarly, Chinese e-commerce company DangDang.com stresses that it does not choose talent based on education. It seeks people with passion. According to DangDang.com, a person with passion will learn fast and work better.

Adventurists value passion – including fun and diversified work assignments – freedom, independence and international assignments above all other aspects. They dream about working in a dynamic and energetic workplace with a multinational workforce. They also like change and get easily bored if they are not stimulated. Of the four types, Adventurists are the ones who talk about being the most engaged in their future job – but only if they really like it.

Hobby/Career?

While Careerists argue that it is not possible to combine a career with a hobby, Adventurists think that it is. Several students interviewed by us pointed out that they want to combine their interests in sports with their job!

And while an adventurist will focus on learning and personal development (like the career-focused youth), they are willing, or want, to try different professions. Of the four profiles, they are the most confused about their future careers.

Control, Freedom

They want to create their own path in the work place, and they want their superiors to be supportive and not interfere too much. They want to be in command of their own work time and treasure flexible work hours and the ability to work from home whenever they want.

Of the four profiles, adventurists have the strongest desire to discover the world outside of China. Freedom is a key concept for them and they feel that working for state-owned enterprises implies too little excitement and too much stability — this life does not suit their aspirations. So such students prefer to work for multinational companies or large Chinese companies that have overseas assignments.

Adventurists also have a desire to communicate with different nationalities and they are more comfortable than the other profiles in interacting with foreigners.

For more insights on the unique challenges that come with the China market, key findings of an altogether new and challenging generation that we have identified as ‘Generation More’, and the most important implications for companies’ communications strategies, download our whitepaper:

Charlotta Lagerdahl has 14 years of professional communications experience from China and Europe. As a communications professional, Charlotta’s expertise is corporate communication, focusing on messaging and strategy, corporate trainings as well as leading big communication efforts while ensuring an aligned message across the entire project and to all involved stake holders. She also leads the brand and talent efforts in China, advising global corporations on employee engagement initiatives.

Originally posted on Asia.mslgroup.com.