美国人来中国找工作(中英对照)

Shut Out at Home, Americans Go to China
BEIJING — Shanghai and Beijing are becoming new lands of opportunity for recent American college graduates who face unemployment nearing double digits at home.
Even those with limited or no knowledge of Chinese are heeding the call. They are lured by China’s surging economy, the lower cost of living and a chance to bypass some of the dues-paying that is common to first jobs in the United States.
“I’ve seen a surge of young people coming to work in China over the last few years,” said Jack Perkowski, founder of Asimco Technologies, one of the largest automotive parts companies in China.
“When I came over to China in 1994, that was the first wave of Americans coming to China,” he said. “These young people are part of this big second wave.”
One of those in the latest wave is Joshua Arjuna Stephens, who graduated from Wesleyan University in 2007 with a bachelor’s degree in American studies. Two years ago, he decided to take a temporary summer position in Shanghai with China Prep, an educational travel company.
“I didn’t know anything about China,” said Mr. Stephens, who worked on market research and program development. “People thought I was nuts to go not speaking the language, but I wanted to do something off the beaten track.”
Two years later, after stints in the nonprofit sector and at a large public relations firm in Beijing, he is highly proficient in Mandarin and works as a manager for XPD Media, a social media company based in Beijing that makes online games.
Jonathan Woetzel, a partner with McKinsey & Company in Shanghai who has lived in China since the mid-1980s, says that compared with just a few years ago, he was seeing more young Americans arriving in China to be part of an entrepreneurial boom. “There’s a lot of experimentation going on in China right now, particularly in the energy sphere, and when people are young they are willing to come and try something new,” he said
And the Chinese economy is more hospitable for both entrepreneurs and job seekers, with a gross domestic product that rose 7.9 percent in the most recent quarter compared with the period a year earlier. Unemployment in urban areas is 4.3 percent, according to government data.
Grace Hsieh, president of the Yale Club in Beijing and a 2007 graduate, says she’s seen a rise in the number of Yale graduates who have come to work in Beijing since she arrived in China two years ago. She is working as an account executive in Beijing for Hill & Knowlton, the public relations company.
Sarabeth Berman, a 2006 graduate of Barnard College with a major in urban studies, initially arrived in Beijing to take a job that would have been difficult for a 23-year-old to land in the United States: program director at BeijingDance/LDTX, the first modern dance company in China to be founded independently of the government.
Ms. Berman said she was hired for her familiarity with Western modern dance rather t

han a deep knowledge of China. “Despite my lack of language skills and the fact that I had no experience working in China, I was given the opportunity to manage the touring, international projects, and produce and program our annual Beijing Dance Festival.”
After two years of living and working in China, Ms. Berman is proficient in Mandarin. She travels throughout China, Europe and the United States with the dance company.
Willy Tsao, the artistic director of BeijingDance/LDTX, said he hired Ms. Berman because of her ability to make connections beyond China. “I needed someone who was capable of communicating with the Western world.”
Another dynamic in the hiring process, Mr. Tsao says, is that Westerners can often bring a skill set that is harder to find among the Chinese.
“Sarabeth is always taking initiative and thinking what we can do,” he said, “while I think the more standard Chinese approach is to take orders.” He sees the difference as rooted in the educational system. “In Chinese schools students are encouraged to be quiet and less outspoken; it fosters a culture of listening more than initiating.”
Mr. Perkowski says many Chinese companies are looking to hire native English speakers to help them navigate the American market.
“I’m working with a company right now that wants me to help them find young American professionals who can be their liaisons to the U.S.,” he said. “They want people who understand the social and cultural nuances of the West.”
Mr. Perkowski’s latest venture, JFP Holdings, a merchant bank based in Beijing, hasn’t posted any job openings, but has received more than 60 résumés; a third of them are from young people in the United 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 more difficult in the U.S., I started to think about opportunities elsewhere,” he said. He does not speak Chinese but says he will begin studying Mandarin when he returns to M.I.T. in the fall.
A big draw of working in China, many young people say, is that they feel it has allowed them to skip a rung or two on the career ladder.
Ms. Berman said: “There is no doubt that China is an awesome place to jump-start your career. Back in the U.S., I would be intern No. 3 at some company or selling tickets at Lincoln Center.”
For others, like Jason Misium, 23, China has solved the cash flow problem of starting a business. After graduating with a degree in biology from Harvard in 2008, Mr. Misium came to China to study the language. Then he started Sophos Academic Group, an academic consulting firm that works with Chinese students who want to study in the United States. “It’s China’s fault that I’m still here,” he says. “It’s just so cheap to start a business.” It cost him the equivalent of $12,000, which he had in savings, he said.
Among many you

ng Americans, the China exit strategy is a common topic of conversation. Mr. Stephens, Ms. Berman and Mr. Misium all said they were planning to return to the United States eventually.
Mr. Woetzel of McKinsey said work experience in China was not an automatic ticket to a great job back home. He said it was not a marker the way an Ivy League education is: “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 their mark in China is a valuable hire. “At McKinsey, 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 to innovate.”

国内失业，美国人去中国找工作
北京报道——最近，美国大学毕业生面临着接近两位数的失业率，更多美国大学毕业生选择到上海和北京来就业。
这些大学毕业生中甚至有对中国了解不多或根本不了解的。吸引他们的是中国经济的快速增长，较低的生活费用以及绕过美国的第一份工作通常需要缴纳的税款。
“在过去的几年里，我已经看到越来越多的年轻人来中国就业”，在中国最大汽车零部件公司之一的亚新科工业技术（Asimco Technologies）的创始人Jack Perkowski说。“1994年我来到中国，那是美国人到中国的第一波浪潮”，他说：“在过去的几年里来到中国的美国年轻人，正是美国人到中国的第二波大浪潮。”
Joshua Arjuna Stephens是在最近这波大浪潮中来到中国的美国年轻人，2007年他从美国卫斯廉大学（Wesleyan University）获得了美国研究专业学士学位。两年前，他决定到中国上海的一家教育旅游公司——China Prep，做暑期兼职。
“我当时对中国根本不了解”，从事市场研究和项目开发的Stephens说：“人们认为我是疯了，到中国却不会普通话。但我想不落俗套地做点事情。”
两年后，在非营利部门和北京一家大型公关公司工作后，他精通普通话，并在北京一家经营网络游戏的社会媒体公司—— XPD Media，担任经理。
上海麦肯锡的合作伙伴Jonathan Woetzel，自1980年代中期就来到中国居住。他说，仅与几年前相比，越来越多的美国年轻人来到中国，投入创业热潮。“如今，在中国进行着许多试验，特别是在能源领域。当人们还年轻时，他们愿意来尝试新事物。”
随着最近一个季度国内生产总值（GDP）比去年同期增长7.9%，中国经济越来越适宜企业家和求职者。根据官方数据，城市失业率为4.3%。
耶鲁大学北京同学会主席，2007届毕业生Grace Hsieh说，自从她两年前来到中国，她看到越来越多的耶鲁大学毕业生到北京工作。Grace Hsieh目前是

北京一家公关公司——Hill & Knowlton的客户经理。
Sarabeth Berman，2006年毕业于巴纳德学院（Barnard College）城市研究专业。初到北京，任BeijingDance/LDTX（中国第一个独立于政府的现代舞蹈团）项目总监，这是一个23岁年轻人在美国难以企及的职位。
Berman女士说她受聘于她所熟悉的西方现代舞蹈，而不需要深入了解中国。“尽管缺乏语言能力和在中国的工作经验，我却得到了机会来管理旅游、国际项目以及策划和实施我们每年的北京舞蹈节。”
经过在中国的两年生活和工作后，Berman女士精通普通话。她随舞蹈团游遍中国、欧洲和美国。
BeijingDance/LDTX的艺术总监Willy Tsao说，他雇用Berman女士是因为她有沟通中国与国外的能力。“我需要有人能够与西方世界沟通。”
另一个雇用她的原因是，西方人可以带来在中国人身上难以找到的技能。
“Sarabeth总是主动思考我们能做些什么”，他说：“而我认为标准中国做法多是服从命令。”他看到了根植于教育体系的差异。“中国学校鼓励学生安静，少些直言不讳。这促成了保守胜于创新的文化。”
在华尔街待了近20年后来到中国的Perkowski先生说，许多中国公司正在寻找美国人来帮助他们定位美国市场。
“我工作的公司正在希望我帮助他们找到些年轻的美国专业人士作为他们在美国的联络人”，他说：“他们需要了解西方社会文化差异的人士。”
Perkowski最新的企业——JFP Holdings，是一家总部设在北京的商业银行，至今还没有对外发布过任何职位需求，却已经收到超过60封求职简历，其中1/3是来自想到中国工作的美国年轻人，他说。
Mick Zomnir，20岁，一个即将读大三的麻省理工学院（MIT）学生，正在JFP做暑期实习。“由于在美国，找工作变得越来越难，我开始考虑在其它地方工作的机会”，他说。他不会讲普通话，但他表示，秋季回到麻省理工学院后将开始学习普通话。
吸引他们到中国工作的原因是，他们认为到中国工作可以使他们跳过一两个职务级别，获得更高职务级别。
Berman女士说：“毫无疑问，中国是个棒极了的抢跑职业生涯的地方。回到美国，我可能是一些公司实习生的3号人选，或是在林肯中心售票。”
对于其他人来说，像Jason Misium，23岁。中国已经解决了外国人到中国创业的现金流动问题。2008年从哈佛大学获得生物学学位后，Misium来到中国学习语言。后来，他创办了一家帮助欲到美国留学的中国学生的学术咨询公司——Sophos Academic Group。“我还在这里，这是中国的错”，他说：“在中国创业是如此低成本。”创办公司花费了他储蓄中

的一部分，约12，000美元，他说。
在不少美国年轻人中，从中国退出战略是谈话中的一个共同话题。Stephens先生、Berman女士和Misium先生都说他们计划最终返回美国。
麦肯锡的Woetzel先生说，在中国的工作经验并不自然成为在美国找到一个好工作的敲门砖。他说，这不比接受常春藤联盟教育可以出名，“生活、工作在中国，会讲普通话是不够的。”
Woetzel先生补充到， 能够在中国成功的人是有价值的雇员。“在麦肯锡，我们正在寻找已经展示了其领导才能的人，在中国这样的环境下工作，更需要创业和创新精神。”