The Process So Far

After Natalie called me to tell me that her contact in Shanghai had picked me up, I started a long process of creating additional application materials to send overseas. Natalie gave me some tips to redesign my resume, as well as some coaching in writing my first real cover letter.

After they were submitted, I had to create a introduction video to outline my experiences, my strengths, and my goals for interning abroad. What seemed like three easy questions took turned into a pretty interesting conversation. I could talk about my experiences easily. Pointing out my own strengths was simple enough. The hard part was detailing what I wanted to get out of it…giving the answer “I just want to travel” didn’t really seem appropriate.

The more I thought about it, I realized a “travel-centeric” answer was part of it, but it wasn’t the whole answer. Yes, I had signed up with Globalinks because I needed credit for my degree and I wanted to travel more, but there was a motive behind the traveling. I wanted to see more of the world, specifically, something that I hadn’t already seen. Thinking like a business student—and a business student whose already seen the effects of cultural differences—I knew that witnessing work place environments within a different culture would make me a better businessman.

So the goal I outlined in my video was “I want to witness management techniques in a different culture in order to understand how leadership plays out in a different part of the world.”

That hard part after that was shooting the video. The two minutes of footage I needed took over 55 takes to capture. (At some point, I'll edit together a blooper reel... the funny moments alone could take up two or three posts.)

Once the video was submitted, job offers started coming! The first one was to be an event coordinator for a dessert catering company. Many of the events they worked were government dinners so it provided the opportunity to literally network with some of the world’s most powerful people. The next was the be a sales rep for a caviar company. This would include catering and attending various events to try and sell the idea of caviar to different clients (apparently it is a food that has not been particularly popular with the Chinese.) The next offer was to be a management assistant in a textile factory. I figured if you have to work in a manufacturing job, experiencing life as a manufacturer in China could be a life altering experience. Another offer came to work in supply chain management for a coffee company. Supply chain was not one of my stronger academic pursuits, but the coffee industry is so incredibly global, it could be an amazing perspective change.

While each company enthusiastically told me they liked my cover letter and video, they all asked the same question: “If we like you, can you stay?” While it was a flattering position to be put in, my answer was consistently, “I have to go home at the end of the summer to finish my degree. After that, I’d be happy to talk more, but in the short term, I need to be in US through at least May 2015.”

That answer got me rejected from all four companies.

Within a week or so, more offers came. One was for a field agent for a government agency. They were looking for an American to write reviews on tourist attractions in Shanghai. The next was for a marketing intern at a consulting firm. They had a variety of projects to promote their company to Americans that had been relocated to China. The final one was for a lab assistant testing new technologies and software. I moved forward with all three, making it clear that I could only commit to the original six weeks I signed on for. At that point, one of the companies emailed me for a Skype interview.

The company was the consulting firm. More specifically, they are a language and culture consulting firm that primarily emphasizes learning the Chinese language along with cultural customs, in order to more successfully conduct business in China. They have developed a number of their own software and resource tools to learn Mandarin Chinese. Currently, they are the second search result on Google for “Chinese Grammar.”

I exchanged emails with the firm’s owner. We arranged a Skype Interview for March 31^st. After figuring out how to do the time zone conversion from Shanghai to home, I reserved a study room at the library for our online meeting. Dressed in a suit and tie—and in the middle of the night—I logged in for the interview.

The internet connection was terrible. At times, I could only understand about every fifth word the owner said, and the connection totally timed out every 10 minutes.

“There is so much traffic on the internet here,” he explained. “Occasionally the government has to shut down your connection.”

We went through the basic interview topics of strengths, goals, skills, etc. He explained to me a bit more about what his company did and a few projects he had for an intern. He himself was an American, who had studied linguistics. He'd lived in Japan and now in China, where he employed and entire Mandarin speaking staff.

“We’ve never had an English speaking intern before,” he told me. “I can actually evaluate my staff on how well they can teach you Chinese. You can give us feedback on some of our tools. And, if you’re any good at writing, we can have you work on our blog for people who are new to China.”

I sent him the link to both my Europe blog and this one. He read through them, but as he did, the call dropped for a third time. We gave up and switched to typing.

“Anyway, I think that's good for now‏,” he typed. “I think you're a good fit‏. Could you confirm the dates of the internship again?”

I did.

“OK, I see‏. I'll get back in touch with the organization then‏. Feel free to email me any questions,” he said.

We exchanged contact details and a few questions. The connection was still spotty so we decided to call it a night.

Three days later, I heard from Natalie. I was formally offered the position of Marketing Intern with the firm.