What can you bring to the table?

When talking about working in China, it is usually described as an exiting thing to do. The sheer drive of the economic development, the culture, but of course sometimes the frustrations when things don't go as smooth as they would in the West which spice things up and add to the excitement.
I wonder if this approach is still appropriate. To me it sounds like being in China is perceived as some kind of big adventure and combined with the life standard of most expats, it may even feel more like a luxury cruise.
How do think Pakistani immigrants feel in the US? Indian people in the UK, or Turkish ethnics in Germany?
I guess they would describe their stay abroad significantly different and in fact probably more down to earth: They have decided to move abroad for they feel it offers them better opportunities in some kind of way. That they should have in common with expats opting for a China stay.
In contrast to expats immigrants to other countries do however usually plan to stay for good, but a key difference is also that society expects a lot more from them than Chinese society expects from expats: integration, cultural adaption, language studies and so on.
In my opinion, China will at one point follow the West and ask its overseas workers to make more efforts and to integrate into society as well, rather than just fuel the economic growth. So have you ever asked yourself what it is that you can bring to the table?

Mckinsey, BCG, Bain and co

When I was at business school, many of my fellow students were interested in pursuing a career with one of the big generalist brands. I was one of them and I attended several recruitment events at which McKinsey, Bain and co visited our campus.
The first thing I realised was that the people working for these firms are not the 'Masters of Universe' their websites want to make us believe! At one event, for instance a range of consultancies had sent people to give recruitment speeches. We were all looking forward to hearing what they had to say and were particularly exited in anticipation of the McKinsey presentation.
The McKinsey guy however gave a mediocre presentation at best. Things he said about the McKinsey career path ran contrary to his own career path he had described before and overall he was not such a great presenter. We all felt that a legend had fallen.
Regardless of that I am convinced that the people at McKinsey are excellent at what they do and that McKinsey is one of the best consultancies in the world. However, they are also just human beings.
Finally I would like to give some advice when applying to these big names in consulting:
Take a good look at your CV, in my experience what they care about most are top grades at all stages of your education, including high school. If your performance was not outstanding at every institution you visited, or you have studied at an ivy league type of university, don't bother applying. Second thing they look for is work experience. I you haven't completed an internship with a big consultancy (assuming you are applying for an entrance level/analyst position) things might be very difficult as well.
All the other stuff they mention at their websites, diversity, languages, studies abroad. Good if you got that covered, but in my experience not as important as the other aspects.

Thoughts on the Chinese Language

I believe that Chinese language skills are fundamental to people interested in a career in China. By this I don't mean being able to get around, but speaking the language on a level similar to ones native language. This requirement is very different from the skills required from the first generation of expats - senior managers who moved to China in the 80s and 90s in order to lead the local operations of multinationals in China.
At that time skilled labour was scarce in China and foreigners with sufficient management expertise were sent abroad. This has totally changed with ten thousands of Chinese students swarming out every year to study at prestigious international universities.
It is thus standard to conduct at least one interview in Chinese when applying for entry/mid level consulting jobs in China. It is my perception that even managers high up the ranks will soon be required to meet this criterion. The reason therefore is simple: an expat who is unable to communicate is not only more expensive (as interpreters are required), but potentially also less effective, as it more difficult to connect with clients and co-workers, as well as to bridge the cultural gap.

Movin On

This is my first post and it is in fact also the first time I am blogging. I have been a reader of the GeekMBA360 blog until it most recently became inactive.

That blog fascinated me, because it was initially targeted at topics such as business and IT and then shifted to business and China. As I believe this is an interesting topic and one I can contribute to, I have set up this blog.
But let's start at the beginning: I lived in the Greater China area for around two years, before getting back to Europe in order to pursue postgraduate studies. Approaching graduation I had to take a decision that is probably going to render my entire career: Where to work?
On the one hand I was tempted to return to my home country, to reconnect with friends and family, as well as to earn a decent salary, but on the other hand I also really wanted to get back to China.
In my eyes China stands for progress, challenges and opportunities and I have thus decided on moving there in order to pursue my career in strategy consulting.