Recent statistics show that more and more college graduates prefer flexible jobs to "iron rice bowl" jobs in government departments or public institutions.

Once the dream for many Chinese, iron rice bowl jobs refer to occupations with guaranteed job security, a steady income and benefits.

Rapid economic development has brought new jobs like sports manager, landscape architect, nutritionist, wine taster, make-up artist and color coordinator. Confronted with many choices, graduates planning careers pay more attention to the life expectancy of a job or the career perspective, rather than stable incomes.

A widely-accepted tenet in Western countries is that the percentage of self-employed workers reflects a country's development.

In Paris, the number of self-employed reached 30-40 percent. Although still low in China, the percentage rose as job competition became increasingly fierce. In the past, people who couldn't find a job were forced to employ themselves or do flexible jobs. However, more and more graduates follow their interests and choose jobs with more freedom and challenges. Generally, these jobs are also more flexible.

In 2008, 100,000 citizens turned to flexible employment in the city of Hangzhou, the capital of east China's Zhejiang Province. In 2010, 20-25 percent of 100,000 college graduates in northeast China's Shenyang shunned iron rice bowl jobs for flexible employment.

College graduates often plan careers according to job demands. Among flexible employment opportunities, the most popular jobs are as designers, translators, educators, health consultants, entertainment performers and retailers. Therefore, those jobs are likely to see personal mobility.

This new trend results in frequent job-hopping. But who are most likely to change jobs? Workers in high demand.

In China, human resource managers and technical workers, like software engineers and project managers, are likely to change jobs because their skills are coveted. When presented with a new offer, people almost always follow the rewards, such as a higher salary or better benefits, and change jobs.

There's an old saying that running water never grows stale. A person willing to change is more likely to find success. History tells us that countries which rely on marine industry or product exports usually develop rapidly. The reason is they dare to risk.

Therefore, the society should respect individual intentions and encourage innovation.

(This post was first published in Chinese and translated by Huang Shan.)