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Considering an Internship in China? You need to get the best of your investment. Aside from the technical experiences, you can use a China internship as a window to securing a permanent job in China. As a budding professional with career aspirations, you should have a Linkedin page regardless of your location. After all, your Linkedin profile can be your first impression on social media and can link you to Linkedin’s 277 million members in over 200 countries and territories. China alone has over five million members and even its own Simplified Chinese platform. Even if Chinese companies do not all have official pages on Linkedin, many younger generation employees are members and thus available for connecting and networking.
While some might claim that China works differently, and argue for the difference in networking style (have you heard of guanxi?) Here’s why we believe your Linkedin profile is perfect for your China job search
A Face to a Name
In a previous post, we mentioned how Chinese employers are accustomed to seeing a photograph of the applicant attached to the CV, which we do not recommend you to actually do unless specifically requested by the company. If you have a Linkedin profile, your professional photo is already displayed on your page, and if you manage to post a few other photos in your newsfeed, or photos from previous company functions, then they can be assured that the person in the photo is you.
Credibility Abroad
Why would potential employers need to be assured of the authenticity of your photo? Well, not only are photo manipulation tools, such as Photoshop, widely used in China to enhance one’s facial and body features, but China struggles with authenticity in general, as you may have noticed from all the news about fake goods, foods, and frauds.
How can a Chinese company know that the university internship or work experience you’ve posted is true? It’s difficult enough to verify degree and work experience within your home country, but imagine crossing borders, dealing with time differences, and language barriers? I know back in the US, our company outsourced employment verification, just like we outsourced credit verification and the criminal background check. Not all companies can afford such services in China, so a Linkedin profile with experiences linked to previous company pages, a network of colleagues, a couple of recommendations, and an alumni network will assure Chinese hiring managers that you are who you say you are, you’ve studied what you said you did, and you’ve worked where you said you’ve worked. Not bad for a foreign hire.
Further Reach
When you rely on your immediate network (the people you know face-to-face), you might be limited to a certain geographical location. When you’re applying abroad, it’s difficult to rely on such a network since it’s unlikely that you’ll know many professionals in your target country or region; hence why you should rely on agencies and highly-rated job search sites for assistance in finding an internship or employment opportunities abroad.
What we sometimes forget is that once you’re in a country as big as China, you might not want to limit yourself to a specific city or province, and prefer exploring your options. Unless you know exactly where you’d like to relocate to, it can be very time-consuming to surf job sites for your industry-related job openings on a number of different job sites—a chore Linkedin has simplified for its members.
Not only is the job search platform easy to use with your Linkedin profile, but the site is filled with talent agencies, headhunters, and other HR staff. If your Linkedin profile is written well enough and meets all their requirements, the right job could come to you!
Preparation for the Future with China Internship Experience
Updating your Linkedin profile as you gain experience, writing and sharing articles, and building your personal brand should all be reasons why you maintain your Linkedin profile while in China. Not only will this benefit your China career, but it will also help you transition back home or another country if and when you’re ready to move on. It’s easier (and more interesting) to update your Linkedin profile than your resume, and it’s also an apt tool for keeping in touch with old classmates, co-workers, and mentors.
We hope that we’ve convinced you to create your Linkedin profile either before you come to China, or while you’re studying or working in China! Many university students have created their Linkedin profiles prior to graduation (or even getting an internship) in order to get a head-start on finding their next employer. You can also find your next internship or full-time position just by utilizing Linkedin in China! Its becoming very lucrative to work in China as Salary levels keep skyrocketing
