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1. Chinese Proficiency - The amount of time needed to became proficient enough in Chinese to use it as an asset for business is more than just a semester or a year. Going abroad to China is a great idea for "international experience" but assuming you can honestly write down Chinese as a language on a resume is far fetched and dishonest. I've spent most of my working career in both local and multinational firms in Beijing and the environment has changed. Because of the population of skilled workers in China hiring foreigners in entree level positions is unnecessary and impractical. Big multinational firms like Unilever still allow foreigners to apply but basically none get hired because of the Chinese proficiency needed is nearly native level. Chinese is a great language to know but many people, not just you, make the mistake in thinking that Chinese is a key ticket now. But you have no experience in Chinese business culture or a strong grasp on an extremely alien culture environment compared to the US. There is a famous story amongst expats about this very thing. When GS decided to open up a new section in their Beijing operations they interviewed 3 people. A Hong Konger, an American with a Wharton MBA with years of experience in the sector that could speak Chinese, and a Chinese-American. None were hired because they did not have a grasp of the business culture.
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