Times change. In 1851 when John B. L. Soule, an editorial writer in Terre Haute, Indiana, advised “Go west, young man, and grow up with the country” , it would have been difficult to foresee globalization and the movement of employees and employment opportunities around the globe. But with the continued growth of the Chinese economy, younger colleagues are often curious what’s happening here on the jobs front and ask for advice.
Well, this last weekend brought an interesting juxtaposition of global employment events as unemployment hit a 26-year high in the US while China held its largest-ever “Conference on International Exchange of Professionals” here in Shenzhen. The conference is known as the “job fair for foreigners” although there are other informational and break-out sessions. The job fair is intended to bring employers, universities, search firms, and training companies together to share best practices, informational sessions, and interact with professionals interested in working in China or for Chinese firms abroad. First held in 2001, the conference has now been made a regular event and, according to the government, will be held annually now in Shenzhen.
Conference organizers this year claimed about 140 employers came bearing up to 10,000 jobs and 80,000 attendees submitted 20,000 applications. (Hmmm…. 10,000 jobs? 20,000 applications? Sounds like good odds, eh?) Certainly, walking the conference floor had something of a UN “feel” to it with lots of very interesting versions of English in use. Chinese graduate students seeking to return to China were definitely in evidence as were a whole passel of foreigners.
But please don’t pack your bags! You can’t just waltz in here and expect employment. Chinese language capability was important for most positions and companies leaned heavily toward IT and high-tech types of jobs. MBAs? Um, not so good unless you’ve got special financial or technical expertise. And my sense is there would be lots of issues. Despite eagerly seeking external talent, Chinese companies may not have sophisticated hiring or evaluation systems and so be really quite unclear on what to do with the foreigner once found. And don’t get me going on visa issues. Ugh.
On the upside, there were lots of opportunities to teach English. While not glamorous or remunerative, teaching English is a great way to do a toe-dip and check out whether your own global mindset is really as global as you think it is.
The press is filled with speculation – and has been for years – about the Chinese ability to sustain such strong growth. Talk of bubbles, real estate and otherwise, but certainly among the job hunters this last weekend, definite optimism at the job fair and a strong belief that the range of jobs available would only grow next year.