By Wei Wang MSFS ‘14
Looking for a summer internship in China? Sure, it sounds exciting, adventurous and full of possibilities. However, isn’t China, a country that is located thousands of miles away from the U.S., a little bit out of reach? The answer given by the Georgetown Asia-Pacific Forum, a student organization founded by MSFS students, is a resounding “no.”
At an October 10th event titled “Internship and Career Opportunities in China,” the Asia-Pacific Forum invited Bailey Carroll, the co-founder and managing director of NorCap China Internships, and two Georgetown students, who interned in China last summer, to speak with MSFS students about opportunities in China. The panel shared first-hand experiences in finding internship and jobs in a country with the fastest economic growth in the world, and how to get the most out of these opportunities.
James Zimmerman (MSFS ‘13), the founder and president of the Asia-Pacific Forum, found his internship in Beijing, proving that the conventional networking method can be an effective way to connect MSFS students with substantive internship opportunities in China. Zimmerman met the founder of the Beijing company, who is a MSFS alumnus, at a school event. James suggested that students use the MSFS alumni directory to find contacts who are working and living in China to explore more internship and career opportunities.
Carroll and her colleagues at NorCap China Internships have built an “expressway” to match students to internships in China that fit career goals and interests. The company was founded by a group of graduates from top US universities who now live and work in Beijing. Carroll, a Yale graduate, spent years studying and working in Beijing and has helped many friends and families find internships in China. When she realized the huge demand for the service, she and her partner decided to start a business to help more students gain experience and knowledge through working in China.
Why China?
Carroll stated that China is a country where many industries are still developing and need to borrow skills from developed countries like the US. Graduates from America can be very valuable to the companies and organizations in China, and get hands on, practical experience in return.
Allen Wong, who interned with Adidas in China last summer, believes that China is an ideal place for business majors like him to build up their skill set and display their global leadership. “The working experience in China can help expedite your promotion after you come back to the U.S.,” he said.
To Douglas Chen, another student from the business school who spent the last summer working for Estée Lauder in Shanghai, China is a top internship destination for students in America. American students are considered to have a stronger understanding of a multicultural business environment and well-developed communication skills, so they are welcomed by global companies in China.
Match Skill Sets with Employers’ Needs
Despite a lot of opportunities, it still requires a large amount of effort to find the intersection between students’ career goals and skills and potential employers’ needs.
According to Bailey Carroll, most opportunities are concentrated in big cities such as Beijing and Shanghai, and the environment is the hottest industry in China since the country’s latest five-year plan of development requires the growth of the green economy. Besides that, finance, accounting, PR, marketing and journalism are also industries in great need of foreign talents.
Some students already have specific goals in mind for a China internship. Collmann Griffin, a MSFS/JD dual degree student who once lived in northern China, wants his next experience to be in southern China, such as Hong Kong, Guangzhou and Hangzhou. In addition, he knows that there are many American lawyers with law degrees from American universities working in the legal field in China, mainly handling contract or security laws, and that is what he is aiming to do as well.
On the other hand, Leon Bai (‘14), another first-year MSFS student from Singapore who is going to concentrate on the international relations and security, found it more challenging for him to develop specific goals about interning in China since there are few relevant opportunities available for foreign nationals.
Is Mandarin a must?
To many students who are not Mandarin speakers, the language barrier is their biggest concern when considering internships in China. When asked about his interest in a China internship, Austin James, a first year student, said “as someone who speaks zero mandarin, I want to see if it is still possible to work in China. As Hillary Clinton’s speech about the pivot to Asia points out, China is becoming the center of the world economy, so working there would be worthwhile.”
According to Carroll, few internships require Mandarin, and other skills can compensate. “Internship is different from full-time employment. Most of the qualities the employers are looking for is enthusiasm, flexibility and openness,” she said.
When to Begin
As the internship opportunities in China become more and more competitive, Carroll believes it’s better for students to make a decision and apply for the internship after winter break.