Overseas interns build careers with roots in China

By Belle Taylor (China Daily) Updated: 2014-04-13 12:17

The University of International Business and Economics' School of International Education has established more than 20 internship bases around the country for its overseas students, including foreign graduates of Chinese courses. Provided to China Daily

Rosser was willing to work for a local wage to get her foot in the door. After completing her internship, she was offered a job in guest relations at Temple Hotel, where she is "head of Western sales, customer service, quality training - basically making sure everything is five-star".

The job offer wasn't just happy coincidence. Rosser had her sights set on employment from the get-go.

"I was very upfront, very honest, very blunt. I said I want an internship with a possibility of a job at the end with a possibility of career development toward management," she says.

Rosser is taking a long-term view.

The money may be less than she would earn back home.

But would she have been able to secure a job with such responsibilities in Australia?

"Absolutely not," she says.

Rosser was one of hundreds of graduates to secure internships through CCRC Asia, which was established in 2006 as a recruitment consultancy but quickly changed focus when its internship arm exploded. Last year, they arranged for 1,300 young people from all over the world to work in China.

"There is more international awareness of how important China is," UK external relations manager Alice Thompson says when asked why university graduates are willing to work for free.

"International governments are also becoming more aware of this, looking to increase interactions with their countries and China," she says.

She cites the United States' 10,000 Strong initiative, aimed at getting more young people from the US to study in China. CCRC has also won a contract from the British Council to organize internships for young Brits in China.

"In a recent alumni survey, something like 95 percent of our interns said the experience made them want to maintain engagement with China in their future careers," Thompson says. "We also have feedback from most of our alumni saying it helped in interview situations because they have something to talk about that really sets them apart, something that the interviewer doesn't necessarily know so much about."

Not everyone is seeking a job, however. American Jacob Clark did an internship with a Beijing import-export company last year.

"The main thing I wanted to accomplish was to get international work experience on my resume. And I also want to be in a work environment where I can practice my Chinese," Clark says.

"I think you get insight into how the management is run. It's run pretty differently between American companies and Chinese companies. Before working in a company, I had heard about differences but I had never seen it for myself."

Clark isn't planning on looking for work in China directly after graduation.

But he says he'll consider building a career on either the Chinese mainland or Taiwan in the future.

As the Western world looks to build stronger links with the world's second-largest economy, it's the younger generation - people like Clark and Rosser - who are forging closer ties with the Middle Kingdom by building careers with roots in China.