Xu Dajiang's hint was pretty obvious—he was just short of outright saying, "Professor Qiao, go ahead and make an outrageous demand for official positions. After all, I won't be the one dealing with the headache."
Of course, Qiao Ze didn't really need such hints. Although he personally didn't care much about official positions, his time at Xilin University of Technology had already helped him grasp the various rules of the academic training and research system.
In general, the requirements for Ph.D. graduates are increasing linearly these days. But the requirements for employment are rising just as steeply.
Especially within universities and research institutes.
Nowadays, even getting into a slightly better university requires a Ph.D. as a minimum, along with the looming "publish or perish" pressure. It's also becoming a trend for research institutes to hire without offering formal positions. And once you're in, securing a promotion is extremely difficult.
