Unrelenting pursuit: How a Mexican alumnus started his career in China

On 13 January 2026, José Miguel Guízar Real was standing at the Mexico City airport, waiting for his luggage, when his phone finally picked up a signal. He was exhausted after a long flight from China.

Guízar Real had just graduated with a MRes in Molecular Bioscience from XJTLU, but months of job hunting brought nothing but rejections and silence, and he was starting to think about getting a PhD instead.

Then he got a text. It was from Yilin Zhou, Career Officer at the Student Admissions and Career Development Office, and it said a company was looking for someone with a biology background who can speak Spanish, English, and Chinese. That one message changed everything.

Today, he works full-time in Suzhou as a science communicator and social media specialist. Here’s his story.

José Miguel Guízar Real visiting his family in Mexico

Why China, why XJTLU

When Guízar Real was a child in Chihuahua, Mexico, he watched videos about Eastern cultures and grew fascinated by the everyday lives of people there. That curiosity stayed with him through his bachelor’s degree at Tecnológico de Monterrey, one of Mexico’s leading private universities. While many of his peers looked to the US for postgraduate study, he looked to Asia instead.

The reason was practical too. His interest in molecular biology, a highly specialised field, meant he needed an environment with more room to grow. “I knew the opportunities were bigger in China,” he says. “I wanted to take what I knew and really build on it.”

He applied to a few universities, and XJTLU won him over for a simple reason: the support he received long before he arrived.

“The attention that I got from XJTLU was much better and more attentive,” he says.

Between acceptance and arrival, XJTLU Global held regular online meetings walking him through each next step. Documents were his biggest headache, but the team arranged English translation so his documents could be processed.

“The person in the Global team was constantly in touch with me, making sure everything was okay,” he says. “She helped me out a lot.”

José Miguel Guízar Real on vacation in Kazakhstan

A difficult search

After graduating, Guízar Real first set his sights on Shanghai. But months of searching on international job platforms and countless application emails led nowhere. Amid the exhausting searches, the sudden message from the Student Admissions and Career Development Office came as a surprise.

Before he received the text, he had already consulted the team in person, handed over his CV, and asked what they could find. Openings for biology graduates were rare at the time, but Zhou managed to find him a suitable opportunity.

Zhou then spoke to the company about his achievements, passed on his CV, and arranged a first conversation with HR. From there, Guízar Real went through rounds of interviews until he finally passed the last round.

Looking back, he recalled the difficulties of preparing strategically and giving the right impression. “I had no experience with that,” he admits, so he researched the company and asked the Career Development Office for interview advice.

“It was not easy. I’m very grateful to the Career Development Office,” he says.

Making science make sense

The company, Neumina, sells science-backed supplements. Guízar Real joined as a science communicator, translating dense scientific language into something anyone can follow, using metaphors and everyday words.

“We want to communicate science properly to the community,” he says. “So they have the understanding and can see it translated in our products.”

Over time, his role also expands into marketing. His typical day starts with scripts. He checks what’s trending on social media, then drafts and proofreads video scripts on vegetables, proteins, supplements, and other science-related topics. His main task is accuracy.

“There are a lot of videos out there throwing around big numbers and buzzwords,” he says. “Our hook is: we’re not lying to you. We have the facts right here.” Transparency, he says, is what the company stands for; he is here to ensure that.

He appears in the videos himself, which is a challenge in itself. Guízar Real describes himself as an introvert, shy in front of a camera or an audience. Before this job, he had barely posted anything online. “I still cringe when I watch my videos, but I’m getting better. I try to use more expressions and make it easier for people,” he says.

José Miguel Guízar Real translating fan comments to answer their questions

Two lessons he carries forward

Looking back, Guízar Real says two lessons from his time in China matter most: adaptability and patience. Both took shape at XJTLU, helped him grow personally and professionally, and still guide his work today.

“I don’t mind adapting. I think it’s a very important skill, and everybody should develop it.” His experience has taught him that living in a new country or joining a new workplace means understanding local customs and meeting the standards of respect and responsibility that people expect of you.  “It’s necessary to live where you are, and to understand where you are,” he says.

Patience took longer to learn. Many graduates expect a top salary straight away, he says, but careers rarely work that way. His advice is simply what he tries to do himself: keep doing your best, keep delivering results, and grow within your role. “Only then can you start thinking about a bigger position, in that company or somewhere else.”

By Xinmin Han

Edited by Vionna Fiducia Theja

Photos courtesy of José Miguel Guízar Real