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Getting a job in Asia?
#26

Getting a job in Asia?

amazing stuff, dude! i gone for consulting gig as a user interface designer / usability consultant to one british software company with the offices in dalian, shanghai, beijing. was a cool experience.

what you wrote about china applies to most of emerging countries too. here around latin america is no different. yeah, being a foreigner, and not a typical laowei / gringo, as well as being an interesting person with plenty of stories and knowledge to share, opens you many doors. business connections and ladies to pick up alike
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#27

Getting a job in Asia?

I agree with most of the comments here. I was in the same situation you seem to be in a few years ago. I had graduated in business (concentrating in MIS) and had lived in Beijing for about 6 months. I was fine with teaching English but like you I was looking for a job that would increase my skill set and enable a seamless transition back home if I stayed. Long story short, it is harder to find jobs though I now have a job where I go to Asia and Brazil regularly in supply chain and logistics.

Pretty much what you have going for you is an education and language. I was also an HSK 6 at the same time! The issue is this: around 2004-05 the talent pool began increasing in China from three main factors:

1) Local education and experience was increasing. They are preferred because they are much cheaper than you or I.
2) Many educated overseas Chinese who speak English and Chinese and have Western education/experience began to return from the US/Europe/SE Asia. This group is particularly had to compete with in the job market because they have what you have and better given language and cultural affinity.
3) More expats came as China was the place "to be".

I did a lot of networking and talked to a lot of execs. In summary, I found Western expats tend to be either

1) Lots of experience and an expat for a Western company
2) English teachers & adventure seekers
3) Entrepreneurs
4) In either consulting, marketing, or PR/investment relations and other jobs where Chinese want to interface with the West.

Remember China is no longer a hardship post. It is "the place" to be for everyone. If you don't want to do 3 or 4 I would suggest getting experience since that is key. Your language will help to so keep that up. If there is a career you are interested I suggest networking at that industry fair in China or contacting Westerners who have written articles in professional journals/magazines about doing that job in China. They can be the best help.

Getting experience back home (if you can get a job) isn't bad and will make you more marketable. Few companies today want to spend money training. Also realize that despite inflation the "China rush" is pushing down salaries at entry level (Maersk offered me $28k for an HK job...how can you live on that in HK?) Experienced level salaries are higher because of talent shortages but locals are still preferred. Sorry if this is long-winded but I hope it helps.
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#28

Getting a job in Asia?

Basically, the party is over. Go to Brazil.
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#29

Getting a job in Asia?

Quote: (02-02-2011 07:14 PM)manilaguy Wrote:  

Basically, the party is over. Go to Brazil.

Yeah, this is probably accurate. Don't put all your eggs in the China basket. China will likely overheat soon via the property market. The problem is Brazil (and Australia) depend on that property market and its ancillary demand (demand for commodities) to feed their own export economies and they might go down a lot if the dragon does...
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#30

Getting a job in Asia?

Vietnam is where China was about 20 years ago. It's got a population of 90 million and about 70 percent of the population is under 35 years old, great demographics. They are basically like Chile or California in terms of geography (one long coast) and resource rich.

It has a lot going for it. I know you seem set on China but I just wanted to throw that out there since people seem to be talking about alternatives (myself included, see China vs. Brazil Showdown thread).

No matter what overheating, inflation, social unrest, pollution, or severely fucked up demographics does to China, it will match and then surpass the US inevitably. As such, I personally view China as not a short term play but as a global player that I need to become intimately familiar with. It helps that I already have substantial experience there at my age.

My lack of mandarin fluency is also making it difficult for me to get jobs I want at an attractive salary in Shanghai and Beijing. I have been increasingly looking at second tier cities like Dalian and Chengdu. There is a range of second tier cities, I'd say 10-20 depending on your definition and who you are talking to. They are considered integral to the next wave of massive development in China.

http://www.china.org.cn/english/China/230323.htm

In a lot of these cities the foreigner advantage that was so prevalent ten years ago still exists for expat willing to step outside their comfort zone. I've experienced both Beijing and Shanghai and would value work experience in a second tier city just as valuable, but in different ways.

One thing that is commonly happening to a lot of my expat friends in Beijing and Shanghai is that they are getting ridiculous promotions in very short periods of time. I'm talking about twenty somethings who lead departments on projects they would need an MBA and 8+ years of work experience to get in the US.

Ex. American student who went to college with me, did a post-bac language program in Beijing, then randomly ended up in a nuclear consultancy. In 2.5 years of working went from entry level to senior project manager and regularly sources parts for next generation nuclear power plants with Korean and Dubai-based nuclear developers.

Only in the emerging markets - there is no time like right now to get out there.
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#31

Getting a job in Asia?

I've been meeting a lot of well-connected Chinese people... here in the US!!

Seriously, if you want a good start on networking, the way is through befriending international students. The chinese kids I meet here are the top 5% most intelligent of the Chinese population, supposedly according to the tests they took which qualify them for abroad studies funding. Consider, when nerdy Xui Li graduates from her American university she is going straight back to China.

Same with the Japanese. I have a considerable number of Japanese friends who are now professionals in Tokyo who attended US schools and were recruited by Japanese companies inside the USA (by means of the annual exclusive Japanese job fair).

I guess my point is, foreign networking starts from home!
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