I did live in China (20 years), and as a salaried journalist for about 15 of them — a long run that is much harder to aim for if someone is starting out today.
Sadly, I have noticed a lot of people with the ‘China bug’ finding it hard to build their career outside China if they’ve spent too much time in-country. That’s because altho employers might say they want China knowledge what they really want is some other skill, plus China knowledge on top of it. Also, US-based employers reward US-based networking far more than they admit.
If you are just starting out and really want to encounter China, an English teaching position can’t be beat. Almost everything else (formal language study programs, first tour in an embassy, entry-level fellowships, degree-oriented academic research etc) leaves you primarily interacting with fellow foreigners, or a certain class of globally-oriented young Chinese.
Then I would suggest getting that degree or starting work in the U.S. — climb a little, then come back to China with credentials and connections under your belt. You’ll be seeing the country differently — interacting with higher level professionals, problem-solving where the stakes are higher. You’ll also have a clearer view of how your China passion fits into a career path.
Go live and study in China. It's cheap, fun, and will give you an education you can't get in the States, and I don't care how well known some academic Sinologist (that you hope to study under) is at some unnamed university. All the folks thinking they can do it from inside the US will put you firmly in the middle of an extremely large pack of folks with no particular insights to offer.
I really appreciate you highlighting the importance of language learning for the next generation of policy leaders, we need more of these positive messages.
I actually wrote a post on this recently on LinkedIn, that went completely viral (for my standards, hahaha) and just reposted it on my Substack.
A fantastic post which resonated deeply with me as someone who has just got their first full-time role as a China policy analyst in Beijing. It feels reassuring to see a lot of the hard truths raised here for everyone's awareness. The supply of talent far exceeds the demand for it at the moment. Pleasing to see the UK government recently announce plans to open a China Fast Stream
“There seem to be maybe only thirty analysts outside of government who work in think tanks and research firms so for as hot a topic as it is, it’s still a very niche field.” - This is also my impression and it always surprises me.
This is a fantastic read. As someone who spent too long producing China programs at think thanks trying to pivot to policy advisory, this is such a great call out:"See if you can pair your interest in China with another skillset (data science, energy policy, climate science, tech policy, transportation policy….) to set you apart from the crowd. Even if you don’t end up getting a job that lines up 1:1 with your interest, having developed a specialization will signal to potential employers your ability to bone up on topics that aren’t just ‘China.'
I would add - expertise, especially if done with good online thinking, is marketable in general, so find an area that you are most passionate about and make that your thing!
My holy grail Chinese language flashcard app is Hack Chinese. Like Anki, but better: https://www.hackchinese.com/
I did live in China (20 years), and as a salaried journalist for about 15 of them — a long run that is much harder to aim for if someone is starting out today.
Sadly, I have noticed a lot of people with the ‘China bug’ finding it hard to build their career outside China if they’ve spent too much time in-country. That’s because altho employers might say they want China knowledge what they really want is some other skill, plus China knowledge on top of it. Also, US-based employers reward US-based networking far more than they admit.
If you are just starting out and really want to encounter China, an English teaching position can’t be beat. Almost everything else (formal language study programs, first tour in an embassy, entry-level fellowships, degree-oriented academic research etc) leaves you primarily interacting with fellow foreigners, or a certain class of globally-oriented young Chinese.
Then I would suggest getting that degree or starting work in the U.S. — climb a little, then come back to China with credentials and connections under your belt. You’ll be seeing the country differently — interacting with higher level professionals, problem-solving where the stakes are higher. You’ll also have a clearer view of how your China passion fits into a career path.
Go live and study in China. It's cheap, fun, and will give you an education you can't get in the States, and I don't care how well known some academic Sinologist (that you hope to study under) is at some unnamed university. All the folks thinking they can do it from inside the US will put you firmly in the middle of an extremely large pack of folks with no particular insights to offer.
I really appreciate you highlighting the importance of language learning for the next generation of policy leaders, we need more of these positive messages.
I actually wrote a post on this recently on LinkedIn, that went completely viral (for my standards, hahaha) and just reposted it on my Substack.
https://substack.com/@thechinamarketplaybook/note/p-169749255
A fantastic post which resonated deeply with me as someone who has just got their first full-time role as a China policy analyst in Beijing. It feels reassuring to see a lot of the hard truths raised here for everyone's awareness. The supply of talent far exceeds the demand for it at the moment. Pleasing to see the UK government recently announce plans to open a China Fast Stream
This is excellent, and I’m a Substack user for almost 5 years…
“There seem to be maybe only thirty analysts outside of government who work in think tanks and research firms so for as hot a topic as it is, it’s still a very niche field.” - This is also my impression and it always surprises me.
This is a fantastic read. As someone who spent too long producing China programs at think thanks trying to pivot to policy advisory, this is such a great call out:"See if you can pair your interest in China with another skillset (data science, energy policy, climate science, tech policy, transportation policy….) to set you apart from the crowd. Even if you don’t end up getting a job that lines up 1:1 with your interest, having developed a specialization will signal to potential employers your ability to bone up on topics that aren’t just ‘China.'
I would add - expertise, especially if done with good online thinking, is marketable in general, so find an area that you are most passionate about and make that your thing!