Self-employment holds promise of success

"We encourage those with enterprising spirit to go for unregistered employment. These young entrepreneurs may create job opportunities for other college graduates," said Wu Xianglun, head of the office of student affairs at the Foreign Trade and Business College of Chongqing Normal University.

"We will provide them with skills training courses. We have also set up an incubator for student startups."

About 4 percent of the graduates from Wu's college in 2013 chose "unregistered employment". The figure rose to 5 percent last year and is expected to continue rising on the booming wave of e-commerce, Wu said.

"The popularity of unregistered employment also shows a change in college graduates' mindset about finding a job," he said. "Given that the Ministry of Education encourages innovation and entrepreneurship, and the job market is tough, increasing numbers of students want to have the initiative to choose what they like to do rather than land a job first and then consider what their ideal careers are."

College students majoring in translation, graphic design, broadcasting and programming have easier access to part-time jobs with their expertise. But they still have concerns about social security when they think about whether to pursue full-time freelancing after graduation.

"I may get paid more for a part-time translation piece than for a similar assignment during a full-time job. However, there's no guarantee of when I can get a job or when I will get paid for it. So I won't go freelancing directly after graduation," said Xi Qi, a 24-year-old student who has a bachelor's degree in Malay and is pursuing a master's degree in international journalism at Communication University of China.

"Also, it's difficult for a freelancer to get social security because part of the fees need to be paid by a fixed employer," she said.

Chu Zhaohui, a senior researcher at the National Institute of Education Sciences, said that college graduates who choose to freelance as an expedient are able to improve their professional skills and accumulate connections in their communities to help with job-hunting later.

Zhang Beixi contributed to this story.