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http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/1 ... ner=rss&emc=rss
Shiho Fukada for The New York Times
Mick Zomnir, 20, a rising junior at M.I.T., landed a summer internship at JFP in Beijing.
By HANNAH SELIGSON
Published: August 10, 2009
BEIJING — Shanghai and Beijing are becoming newlands of opportunity for recent American college graduates who faceunemployment nearing double digits at home.
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Shiho Fukada for The New York Times
Joshua Arjuna Stephens, a 2007 graduate of Wesleyan University, works in Beijing for XPD Media, which makes online games.
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Eventhose with limited or no knowledge of Chinese are heeding the call.They are lured by China’s surging economy, the lower cost of living anda chance to bypass some of the dues-paying that is common to first jobsin the United States.
“I’ve seen a surge of young people comingto work in China over the last few years,” said Jack Perkowski, founderof Asimco Technologies, one of the largest automotive parts companiesin China.
“When I came over to China in 1994, that was thefirst wave of Americans coming to China,” he said. “These young peopleare part of this big second wave.”
One of those in the latest wave is Joshua Arjuna Stephens, who graduated from Wesleyan Universityin 2007 with a bachelor’s degree in American studies. Two years ago, hedecided to take a temporary summer position in Shanghai with ChinaPrep, an educational travel company.
“I didn’t know anythingabout China,” said Mr. Stephens, who worked on market research andprogram development. “People thought I was nuts to go not speaking thelanguage, but I wanted to do something off the beaten track.”
Twoyears later, after stints in the nonprofit sector and at a large publicrelations firm in Beijing, he is highly proficient in Mandarin andworks as a manager for XPD Media, a social media company based inBeijing that makes online games.
Jonathan Woetzel, a partnerwith McKinsey & Company in Shanghai who has lived in China sincethe mid-1980s, says that compared with just a few years ago, he wasseeing more young Americans arriving in China to be part of anentrepreneurial boom. “There’s a lot of experimentation going on inChina right now, particularly in the energy sphere, and when people areyoung they are willing to come and try something new,” he said.
Andthe Chinese economy is more hospitable for both entrepreneurs and jobseekers, with a gross domestic product that rose 7.9 percent in themost recent quarter compared with the period a year earlier.Unemployment in urban areas is 4.3 percent, according to governmentdata.
Grace Hsieh, president of the Yale Club in Beijing and a2007 graduate, says she has seen a rise in the number of Yale graduateswho have come to work in Beijing since she arrived in China two yearsago. She is working as an account executive in Beijing for Hill &Knowlton, the public relations company.
Sarabeth Berman, a 2006 graduate of Barnard Collegewith a major in urban studies, initially arrived in Beijing at the ageof 23 to take a job that would have been difficult for a person her ageto land in the United States: program director at BeijingDance/LDTX,the first modern dance company in China to be founded independently ofthe government.
Ms. Berman said she was hired for herfamiliarity with Western modern dance rather than a knowledge of China.“Despite my lack of language skills and the fact that I had noexperience working in China, I was given the opportunity to manage thetouring, international projects, and produce and program our annualBeijing Dance Festival.”
After two years of living and workingin China, Ms. Berman is proficient in Mandarin. She travels throughoutChina, Europe and the United States with the dance company.
WillyTsao, the artistic director of BeijingDance/LDTX, said he had hired Ms.Berman because of her ability to make connections beyond China. “Ineeded someone who was capable of communicating with the Western world.”
Anotherdynamic in the hiring process, Mr. Tsao says, is that Westerners canoften bring skills that are harder to find among the Chinese.
“Sarabethis always taking initiative and thinking what we can do,” he said,“while I think the more standard Chinese approach is to take orders.”He says the difference is rooted in the educational system. “In Chineseschools students are encouraged to be quiet and less outspoken; itfosters a culture of listening more than initiating.”
Mr.Perkowski, who spent almost 20 years on Wall Street before heading toChina, says many Chinese companies are looking to hire native Englishspeakers to help them navigate the American market.
“I’mworking with a company right now that wants me to help them find youngAmerican professionals who can be their liaisons to the U.S.,” he said.“They want people who understand the social and cultural nuances of theWest.”
Mr. Perkowski’s latest venture, JFP Holdings, a merchantbank based in Beijing, has not posted any job openings, but hasreceived more than 60 résumés; a third are from young people in theUnited States who want to come work in China, he said.
Mick Zomnir, 20, a soon-to-be junior at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology,is working as a summer intern for JFP. “As things have gotten moredifficult in the U.S., I started to think about opportunitieselsewhere,” he said. He does not speak Chinese but says he will beginstudying Mandarin when he returns to M.I.T. in the fall.
A bigdraw of working in China, many young people say, is that they feel itallows them to skip a rung or two on the career ladder.
Ms.Berman said: “There is no doubt that China is an awesome place tojump-start your career. Back in the U.S., I would be intern No. 3 atsome company or selling tickets at Lincoln Center.”
Forothers, like Jason Misium, 23, China has solved the cash flow problemof starting a business. After graduating with a degree in biology from Harvardin 2008, Mr. Misium came to China to study the language. Then hestarted Sophos Academic Group, an academic consulting firm that workswith Chinese students who want to study in the United States.
“It’s China’s fault that I’m still here,” he said. “It’s just so cheapto start a business.” It cost him the equivalent of $12,000, which hehad in savings, he said.
Among many young Americans, the Chinaexit strategy is a common topic of conversation. Mr. Stephens, Ms.Berman and Mr. Misium all said they were planning to return to theUnited States eventually.
Mr. Woetzel of McKinsey said workexperience in China was not an automatic ticket to a great job backhome. He said it was not a marker in the same way an Ivy League education: “The mere fact of just showing up and working in China and speaking Chinese is not enough.”
That said, Mr. Woetzel added, someone who has been able to make a mark in China is a valuable hire.
“AtMcKinsey, we are looking for people who have demonstrated leadership,”he said, “and working in a context like China builds character,requires you to be a lot more entrepreneurial and forces you toinnovate.” |
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发表于 12-8-2009 00:52:52
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