The issue of college students' employment is always a hot topic in China and beyond. The global financial crisis since 2008 has made the things worse. However, it is not infrequent that, in order to seek a better job, some of them even prefer not to get employed. Therefore, it is theoretical significance and practical important to explore the career choice motivation of college students as well as its influencing factors. Some researchers found that college students’ career values and motivation were influenced by their family background; meanwhile, other researches indicated that the differences in social status often led to the discrepancies of social dominance orientation, which in turn, affected individuals’ career choice. Based on these findings, the aim of the present study was to investigate the relationship between college students’ family social status and their career choice motivation under global financial crisis, and to examine the mediating role of social dominance orientation between the two. We hypothesized that college students’ family social status affected their career choice motivation, and their social dominance orientation played a mediating role in the relationship between the two. The present study tested the hypotheses using the method of questionnaire survey. A total of 504 undergraduates from five universities participated in this survey. The questionnaires used in the study were: subjective family social status measure, career choice motivation measure, and social dominance orientation scale. Correlation analysis showed that: (1) Family social status was significantly positively related to intrinsic career choice motivation (r =.097, p<.05). (2) Family social status was significantly positively related to social dominance orientation (r =.119, p <.01). A regression analysis showed that family social status predicted intrinsic career choice motivation (beta =.097, p<.05) and social dominance orientation (beta=.119, p<.01), in the first and second step. Social dominance orientation acted as a mediator between family social status and intrinsic career choice motivation (Z=-2.05, p=.040 in Sobel test), when social dominance orientation entered in the third step. However, the results also showed that extrinsic career choice motivation had no significant correlation with either family social status or social dominance orientation. The theoretical and practical implications of the findings from the study were discussed. It was argued that family social status not only predicted intrinsic career choice motivation directly, but also produced a compensatory negative effect on intrinsic career choice motivation through social dominance orientation. It suggests, based on the findings, that both the family background and the personality factors affected by it should be considered in college students’ employment guidance.