Post: #1

I just posted this on a different thread but I thought I"d do it here too.

I've seen a lot of these kinds of questions on this forum and elsewhere: "how do I get a job", "how do I launch a career", "how do I build a professional network", "how do I get a good job with no relevant work experience."

I used this exact method for years to continue getting job offers in China, Korea, and the US. Check it out. If you need help or advice, let me know.

CAREER LEAPFROGGING BY YMG:

1. DESTINATION - Choose your city/destination abroad - preferably where you speak the local language and/or have some friends, but if not that is fine too

2. VISAS/LOGISTICS - Depending on your budget, sign up for the cheapest long term language classes you can OR find a gig teaching English (not as easy as it sounds). This will provide you a long term visa so that you don't have to worry about going in and out of the country.

GOALS OF THIS STAGE:
-Secure long term visa
-Either improve language skills or make income from teaching

3. INTERNSHIP PHASE -

Over the course of 3-6 months while you are in this city, simultaneously study/teach while interning part time for free at a company you are interested in. The fact that you are an English speaking foreigner with a BA will often be enough to get you that position, although probably not a full time job (yet).

This is important - while interning there, propose to carry out an independent project for them. The problem with many internships is that you do bullshit grunt work and dont get to update your CV in a way that will provide you with relevant job experience to market to your next employer. Thus, if the next position you want to get into is marketing and sales, propose that you will design and carry out a marketing and sales presentation independently. This way, you have control over the specific "bullet points" you will update your CV with. Since they aren't paying you anything they really have nothing to lose.

While I was in Seoul, I independently carried out two feasibility analyses for an energy consultancy and did a range of stuff - business development, budgeting, planning, research, sales, presentations....by the end of my six months I had a wide range of "real job experiences" that have enabled me to get six interview offers from Shanghai and Hong Kong.

When you update your CV by the end of this internship, you will be able to engineer the exact work experiences that you carried out during your independent project. In addition to this, you can call yourself an "Intern Project Manager" instead of just "Intern", which demonstrates the ability to work independently and management experience.

GOALS OF THIS STAGE:

BUILD WORK EXPERIENCE IN DESTINATION COUNTRY
BUILD PRECISE RESUME BUILDERS THAT EMPLOYERS WILL SEEK
IMPROVE LANGUAGE SKILLS
GROW PROFESSIONAL NETWORK

4. NETWORKING WHILE INTERNING -

This stage occurs DURING the internship phase of your career leapfrogging plan.

You should assume that the company you are interning for will not give you a full time job offer. If they do, that's great. But don't rely on it - make a list of important events happening in your city, compiled from resources such as internations.org, craigslist.org, the US embassy website, the US chamber of commerce website, and other business association events. Your alumni network is a good resource too.

Develop your "elevator pitch", which you will be implementing over and over again. This is a 20-30 second summary of who you are, what you are doing in that city, and what you hope to do in the near future. Make business cards for yourself - unless the company you are working for are jackasses they will likely give you a biz card with your name on it, with the title "project intern" or something. This is important for a couple of reasons.

-It gives you a face and larger organization to associate yourself with
-People will subconsciously take you more seriously for some reason when you are associated with a company and have a card - sad but true
-People with hiring power that you meet generally prefer to "steal" someone from a different company rather than taking some fresh unemployed kid off the street

Network like crazy at all these functions and follow up on your contacts. Make plans to meet at later dates, whether for other functions or to even go out and have cocktails or coffee. ALWAYS ADD VALUE TO INTERACTIONS. Don't set up a rendezvous with someone "just to chat" - send them an article or PDF that you know they would find interesting, then tell them you're interested in an "informational interview" about their company. They'll understand what you want and will likely agree to set it up.

GOALS OF THIS STAGE

Rapidly and strategically expand professional network
Secure job interviews

5. INTERVIEW PHASE

From all the contacts you've made, you should be able to set up 3-5 interviews MINIMUM. Don't stop until you've achieved that. Update your CV and cover letter with your new internship experience. They probably won't give a shit about the grunt work that you were assigned. The entire purpose of the "independent project" that I spoke about earlier is so that you can engineer a CV that is tailored to the exact work experiences they are looking for in a candidate.

During your interview make sure you know your shit about the company. Backwards and forwards. Tell them how working there will fit into your larger career plans and describe the independent project you did for your previous employer.

It is highly likely that you will need fluency in the local language. However, in my case, I was able to demonstrate to my employers that I had gained work experience that was valuable enough to offset my lack of fluency. This is your goal in your independent internship - to carry out a range of work experiences that prove that your skills will offset any language deficiencies.

Once you get an offer, your company will take care of other shit like work visas and salary.

I've used this method on three different occasions throughout undergrad and right now. I've been able to hack my way through internships and into full time job offers in the US, South Korea, and China with this exact blueprint.

If you're a jobless and disillusioned twenty-something, you should consider this. If you need help with it, don't hesitate to ask me. I take active pleasure in helping people entirely bypass human resources jackasses and find back doors into the jobs of their dreams.

This method has enabled my friends to get into the following postions:

-Project Manager and Head of Business Development at Natural Gas Consultancy, Shanghai

-Head of China Marketing, Well-Known Social Media Company

-Junior Project Manager of Marketing, PepsiCo

-Senior Analyst, Beijing US Chamber of Commerce

-Brand Specialist, Prominent Branding and Advertising Company in Shanghai

All of the people with these positions came to China with nothing to their name and hustled their way to these project manager level positions within 2-3 years. Most people who have these titles in the US are in their mid thirties.

Don't sit around and hope that someone hands you success - you are not entitled to success in life. At the same time, if you've experienced nothing but failure in life up to this point, you are also not entitled to failure in life.

Decision is yours. This is certainly not a riskless move. But pretty much every twenty-something friend I have in China has followed a path like this and have job positions and responsibilities that make thirty-somethings in NYC green with envy.

Post: #2

Can't believe this stupendous and extremely helpful post didn't get any replies. It's great that you're offering a great and viable alternative to young talented, motivated and ambitious men in North America. It's really commendable man. Who else in here is looking at re-inventing themselves and making their dreams come true in Asia?

Post: #3

Thanks VP. I think the reason this did not get replies is because I originally posted this in the thread "Need a Plan" and then reposted it here so that people could read it without having to go through that other thread.

Having said that, yeah, holler at me if you want to have a chat. I've already given free consultations with 6 or 7 dudes from here already. It's a win-win situation because I get to apply my concepts and techniques to a variety of contexts and people.

Post: #4

Me likey!

This model has been implemented in Japan for years....glad to see it spreading to other nations.

Post: #5

D. Goodies,
Are you in Japan or familiar with Japan? Have you tried this in Japan? To be honest, even tough China is the best place in the world in terms of opportunities, I'm much more interested in Japan as a place ever since I was a kid and after visiting Tokyo, I'm totally hooked. Would love to hear your or anyone else's experiences in Japan implementing this career leapfrogging or hearing of career successese in Nihon.

Post: #6

Vacancier -
I'm no longer in Japan, I left the day after the earthquake. but I peeped many ex-pats in Roppongi who had set up shop and were gaming the system! The key is learning the language as YMG said. The main export to Japan in terms of culture is Hip-hop. They go INSANE for all of the shit we over look. I'm talking early 90's dookie chains, LA Raiders, Boyz in the Hood type style with a modern twist. The fashion scene is lightyears ahead of ours. Start learning Japanese asap! Be warned that the scene here has been pimped heavily by Americans, Canadians and Brits. Not surprisingly, Nigerians have learned how to make Japan work to their benefit as well.
Good Luck

Post: #7

Nice lay out, YMG. Any strategies for a business/law professional, 2-5 yrs out of school, who is beyond the internship stage? I've been thinking a lot lately about strategies for building international networks. For example, I am based in Toronto, how would one build a network in Sao Paulo from Toronto? If you have any ideas, let me know, G.

Post: #8

Let me hit you up when I'm less sleep deprived and not frantically de-bed-bugging all my travel stuff.

Start with http://www.internations.org, set up a profile and get engaged in some discussion groups.

Post: #9

Lucky,
For SP, one of the better ways specially from TO would be to start attending events organized by the Brasilian community in town. Get on their pages in Facebook or even better, set up an account on Orkut, get in their groups and attend some of their events. You'd make some good contacts this way. And of course, next time you have some vacation time, go to SP, and take it from there. Check with your school's alumni office to see what kind of relationships they have with schools/companies in Brasil.

D. goodies,
so you were in Tokyo during the earthquake? Scary stuff man. Glad you made it back. I imagine it must have been a pretty intense time. I got lucky too as I left a week prior to the quake while I was extremely tempted to prolong my stay.

Post: #10

I'm going to be featuring articles on my blog/site, launching in June, that has the following content:

1. How to launch a career in (Shanghai/Hanoi/Singapore): Everything a Young Professional Needs to Know

This series will be based on different major cities abroad. This series will be very logistical and a bit less creative. Topics that will be covered include:

-Country GDP and population information
-Economy and industries of interest for a young professional - example, Hong Kong is good for finance
-Country/City specific expat websites
-Country/City specific job hunting websites
-Country/City specific business/company directories, including Chamber of Commerce listings
-Cost of living for a young single professional (1 BR apartment, transportation, food, partying)
-Visa issues for Americans, Canadians, Europeans
-Other useful stuff

First cities to be featured:

-Beijing
-Shanghai
-Hong Kong
-Chengdu
-Chongqing
-Kuala Lumpur
-Seoul
-Jakarta
-Bangkok
-Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City)
-Hanoi
-Singapore


2. Young American Graduates find Career Success Abroad (China Edition, Singapore Edition, Vietnam Edition, etc)

I'm researching sites like NY Times, WSJ, Economist, to get profiles of many different American/European/Western graduates who have left their home countries for international career success. This is not only limited to job seekers, but also young people who became entrepreneurs abroad.

Here is an example of a good article that is representative of the sources I'll be citing, plus pretty representative of the content I'll be producing themselves, with material sources from direct interviews from friends I have.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/11/business/econ...

As you can see, the article profiles several different young expats who have "made it" in China.

Like the "city profile" series of articles, I see this one as being an ongoing series of articles. In this series, different successful young expat professionals and recent grads are featured for different cities. As I mentioned above, there would be a "China edition," a "Singapore edition", a "Thailand edition" and so on.
"Editions" to do:

-China edition
-Hong Kong edition
-Singapore edition
-Korea edition
-Vietnam edition
-Thailand edition
-Indonesia edition
-Philippines edition
-India edition

Post: #11

(05-12-2011 08:00 PM)Vacancier Permanent Wrote:  Lucky,
For SP, one of the better ways specially from TO would be to start attending events organized by the Brasilian community in town. Get on their pages in Facebook or even better, set up an account on Orkut, get in their groups and attend some of their events. You'd make some good contacts this way. And of course, next time you have some vacation time, go to SP, and take it from there. Check with your school's alumni office to see what kind of relationships they have with schools/companies in Brasil.

Good advice, VP. Let me know if you have any other ideas. Of course, knowing brazilian Portuguese would help in building networks. Something I definitely need to work on.

Post: #12

(05-12-2011 07:40 PM)youngmobileglobal Wrote:  Let me hit you up when I'm less sleep deprived and not frantically de-bed-bugging all my travel stuff.

Start with http://www.internations.org, set up a profile and get engaged in some discussion groups.

Np, I'll check out the link you mentioned for now.

Post: #13

A lot of guys have been PMing me about China, especially in the context of getting into import/export there for various items - including luxury goods.

I feel like I've painted the bright side of China but you should absolutely know there are way more horror stories of people being ripped off and completely wiped out there than successful. You have to know you are entering the most cutthroat business environment in the world. Chinese businessmen are notorious for being some of the best in the world. Many of them follow Sun Tzu's "Art of War" as strategies for their business, which tells you a lot about their approach and view of you as a foreigner.

I said this to manilaguy in a PM: there is a reason that Chinese civilization has endured through 5000 years of famine, disease, wars, and invasions - it is because these people are as tough as nails, extremely street smart, and are major hustlers. Look at SE Asia - the entire place is dominated by ethnic Chinese businessmen and politicians whose ancestors came there as foreigners and rapidly rose to the political and business elite.

Having said that, China will soon become the biggest economy in the world and their appetite for all things foreign is only going to increase. If you can endure, be street smart, have partners you can TRUST, and a solid business plan, you can make it. Don't just show up thinking the streets are paved with gold.

I heard a quote that went something like this:

"In America, everything is easy but not everything is possible. In China, nothing is easy but ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE."

That "anything" implies success through unorthodox means - but it can also mean you will get wiped out and your partner will disappear with your cash. If you're gonna do China, you have to be in it for the long run. Go live there for a while before making any long term business decisons, because you will feel like you are married to the country once you become involved with it. If you can't love it for everything it is, you will be unable to thrive there.

I suggested that VP cold call and go work for an existing Euro luxury goods importer so that he can learn the ropes, build the network, and understand the intricacies of living and doing business there. It's better to piggyback someone else's already successful operation for a while before going into business yourself. It'll be like a period of free training for you before you commit cash to your own venture.

Post: #14

Again, you're right on the money YMG about China being a double edge sword kind of place. It can easily be an eldorado as it can be a hell if you're not careful. Btw, I heard and read that quote that you mentioned too not long ago. It summarizes very eloquently what China is all about. As to your suggestion about calling Euro/French luxury importers into China, is a great one and I'll follow through with it as soon as I get into China. China is THE place to be for business opportunities as it'll only get bigger and better. Now, it's just a matter of getting ready for it and making it happen there.

Cheers man.

Post: #15

YMG - you are in HK right! What is your background? Your friends that are doing Project Management do they have PMP?

I am in the process of taking the exam and I am looking to bust out of Canada once I have it.

Post: #16

(05-15-2011 08:30 PM)rudebwoy Wrote:  YMG - you are in HK right! What is your background? Your friends that are doing Project Management do they have PMP?

I am in the process of taking the exam and I am looking to bust out of Canada once I have it.

Hey,

My friends who have propelled outrageously far in their careers are in Shanghai and Beijing, not Hong Kong. Entirely different countries - people should always treat it as such.

In HK it is much harder to advance in a career as fast.

I don't know what PMP is.

Post: #17

(05-15-2011 09:52 PM)youngmobileglobal Wrote:  

(05-15-2011 08:30 PM)rudebwoy Wrote:  YMG - you are in HK right! What is your background? Your friends that are doing Project Management do they have PMP?

I am in the process of taking the exam and I am looking to bust out of Canada once I have it.

Hey,

My friends who have propelled outrageously far in their careers are in Shanghai and Beijing, not Hong Kong. Entirely different countries - people should always treat it as such.

In HK it is much harder to advance in a career as fast.

I don't know what PMP is.

PMP is a certification/designation for Project Managers. It's often asked for in job postings in NA.

Post: #18

Oh. No, I highly doubt any of them have that certification. They were just in the right place at the right time and got promoted to that position in 1-2 years.

The guy I'm consulting who is in Beijing interning for a boutique PR consultancy is being groomed to become the company's digital media strategiest - and he has no background in this field. They're showing him the ropes and teaching him all the tools he needs at the moment. In 2-3 months they are going to make him an account executive and he will be in charge of some pharmaceutical client's account.

Sick.

Post: #19

Bump.

I've consulted people for the niche topic of launching international careers in a range of settings - I've sourced clients from various other forums I peruse, social networks, linkedin, my personal network, and referrals from previous clients.

I've delayed my product launch a bit so that I could get more cashflow from my consultations and more rigorously test my strategies in real time.

Once I stopped offering free consultations via rooshvforum, I suddenly got a surge of requests/PMs asking for advice for a range of situations, demographics, and countries. Go figure.

I'm realizing that the handful of people I've been consulting from rooshvforum tend to have a slightly different background and set of needs than the typical client I've sourced from my personal network or various career/academia-related portals.

I'm considering creating a cheaper product exclusive to Rooshvforum members that is based on a product I've recently finished that is specific to China. The advice and information would be broader and more general, giving the client a more flexible set of tools/modules to work with in his/her own international career launch.

One topic that keeps coming up with Rooshv guys is, in addition to launching a career, how to build social networks on the ground from scratch. That's something I'd include which I don't have in my other product.

I was wondering if people would be interested in something like this. The recent surge in PMs I've been getting would suggest so. I'd probably throw in a half-hour consultation as a bonus.

Post: #20

One more note - I'm keen to make a career hacking product specific to Bangkok. I see a lot of potential for young westerners with bachelors degrees to hack their way into a solid position here. Bangkok is great in a lot of ways because it's easy to stay there while setting yourself up with interviews.

Since the Bangkok product is in development, I am offering free consultations specific to Bangkok.

FYI, the China product is completely done and will be launching fairly soon. I'm just getting the site set up now.

Post: #21

Keep up the work YMG. I would certainly be interested in your take on 'how to build social networks on the ground from scratch'- it seems like you have a ton of experience doing it.

Also, It must feel great knowing that you helped your clients achieve international success.

Post: #22

Thanks Zoom. I would say that although the beginning was tough, it is incredibly rewarding to hear back from previous and current clients of mine and see how they are progressing. When they score little or massive victories and describe their state of mind, it reminds me of previous times when I've had similar victories and it makes me smile.

The exclusive RooshvForum product package I'm considering creating will be a derivative product of my China career hacking product that will give a general framework of strategies that would work in basically any foreign country. It will also have a strong focus on the social networking aspect - a module I am not including in my other products but will create specifically for this community.

I'll add a variety of deals for consultations with that - either skype or email consultations, with a range of prices.

I'm going to throw up a basic wordpress page for this specific product and will have it up here fairly soon.

If there are any other specific issues related to setting up an international life and career that you'd like to see featured in this product, let me know and I'll create it uniquely for members here.

Post: #23

The product/blog/site will be:

www. Young Expat Abroad .com

This site/product will be uniquely focused on people who will soon leave university or are still in the junior stages of their careers (twenties, early thirties) and want to break into an international career.

The methods are highly unorthodox. It's actually quite similar to game in a lot of ways.

Post: #24

edit

Post: #25

Bump.

YMG, how does the story continue?
Great information you have posted here.