Jobs for Everyone in China??

If you read the NY Times, you may have come across this piece about "American Graduates Finding Jobs in China", which describes Shanghai and Beijing as paradises where recent graduates--denied entry into the job market at home in America--can not only easily and frequently find work, but also in positions of more responsibility than those they might have access to in the U.S. Of course, none of the fortunate youngsters interviewed in the article came to China knowing a lick of Chinese. Wonderful, huh?

What you might not have seen, unless you know where to look, is the response to the article on Danwei:

Danwei received email from two old China hand journalists yesterday regarding the New York Times story linked here:

Wise Hack A:

Here's one of those great stories that the ever lazy hack pack recycle every so often - floods of Yanks coming to China for jobs.

No evidence whatsoever for this but it gets churned out again every couple of years I note.

Wise Hack B:

Please please mention the NYT "no Mandarin required" article and what
an absolute crock of shit it is. Thanks.

Stan Abrams at China Hearsay concurs:

Sorry, that is some real skewed bullshit writing there.

For a more detailed response to the article, with practical and realistic advice on the subject, I suggest you read Shaun Rein's piece on Forbes.com. The bottom line:

One of the best ways to start a career in China is at a school. Apply for Mandarin language study for a semester, or see if you can get a job teaching English. That will get you a visa, you'll begin to learn the language and appreciate the culture, and, importantly, you'll begin to network and find out where the great job opportunities are.

Sound familiar?