New Graduates Finding Jobs Via “China Back Door” Internships
With America’s current unemployment rate still hovering around 8% and five European Union economies teetering on the brink of collapse, more and more university graduates are now desperate to find jobs related to their majors. Some recent graduates, even Michael Jensen who graduated cum laude from an Ivy League school now says finding a professional position is almost “Mission Impossible” as he is forced to work as a hotel manager despite his degree in information management. But his classmate Bryan Selzer is one of some 8,000 university graduates who discovered the “China Back Door” route to fortune 500 companies. Stop scratching your head and I will explain…18% of all multi-national companies and 12% of Fortune 500 companies are now recruiting their entry-level new hires through their China operations where starting salaries and taxes and both averaging about 30% less than back in the U.S. Recent graduates are first recruited as interns and after three to six month internships, the best performing interns are offered full or part time positions. Typically, 20% of interns are offered positions while the others go home with some great international work experience on their resumes and some new language skills that make them far more attractive to HR directors.Recently a group of 22 interns were taken on by Microsoft in Beijing and Randy Johnson from New Jersey was thrilled by the experience even though he was not offered a position. During his 3 month internship he made the effort to learn Chinese and after returning home, interviewed with a foundation that was looking for a “Bilingual native speaking American with some China experience”. Three weeks later he was offered a management position with an international NGO with a starting salary of $40,000 and medical insuarnce that he never had before.
This trend is growing and by 2015 it is projected that 30% of all European and North American professionals will be hired and placed through this semi-secret China channel. Now that the cat is out of the bag the reactions in American, Canadian, and U.K. job markets is mixed. Older folks are outraged that the hiring has been outsourced but the young graduates are quite excited at the chance to see and explore China with a viable way to get their foot in the door of huge MNC’s who cannot resist the tax and recruitment cost reductions that China provides.
Over thirty industries engineering to IT and medical technology are now outsourcing their recruitment but the target employees are still American, British, Canadian, Australian, and bilingual Europeans who can speak English or Chinese. Even some Chinese State-Owned Enterprises are recruiting interns for their overseas operations and after training in Beijing or Shanghai, the new hires are sent to Venezuela, Brazil, or Europe for two and three year assignments.
This trend was first introduced in 2009 by corporate based in Beijing, the latter of which has over 300 corporate partners and diverse experience in 18 industries while China Express specializes in high tech placements but is now expanding its menu. These companies offer full-service placement packages that includes airport pick, accommodations, and social activities for new arrivals who find themselves in the new China frontier will little or no language skills. Within a week however they are speaking enough Chinese on their own to get around on the world’s most modern subway systems in the world’s two biggest cities – Shanghai and Beijing.
72% of all China-based placements are with international companies but only a lucky few are landing jobs with Fortune 500 firms which are always the most selective. Still the average salaries of these China back door new-hires is averaging $28,579. Those who take the time to learn Chinese obtain positions with salaries averaging $47,420 There are over two dozen NGOs and even the United Nations is now following suit and taking advantage of the China connection.
HR directors are happy to have the China registrars pre-screening the foreign candidates since it saves them both time and dollars in the tedious and time-consuming recruitment process. Further, the management teams of the registrars are all nativeEnglish speakers and citizens from America, Canada, or the U.K. so most “misunderstandings” are eliminated.
Some corporate registrars charge fees that range from $1,000 to $10,000 since many provide accomodations, Chinese lessons, social activities, networking, training, transportation, and visa services in China during the internship period, The good news is that most companies will reimburse these costs as well as air fares when applicants are hired when applicants negotiate their contracts when hired. All related internship costs are tax-deductible as an educational expense in the homeland of applicants. Some registrars provide discounts or rebates to those applicants who complete their internships but who are rejected for full-time employment.
Until the world’s economies recover from the 2008 financial meltdown and the Euro crisis, China may remain as the best viable employment channel option for professionals for yet another year or two. Carpe diem!
