Careers leading to Asia?

Question

Greetings to all,

Advice & opinions needed:

I am very much interested in finding a career which will allow me to live and work in East/Southeast Asia full-time, year-round (FYI I'm a white American of non-Asian decent). The trouble is, I am unsure what career's will, "get me there."

What current careers, or what careers out on the horizon, will lead to living/working in East/Southeast Asia? Do specialized MBA programs exist which have a direct focus on Asia?

I'm open to any & all suggestions, no matter how far out, with my one caveat being that I have zero interest working within the world of finance (not that I don't have the same fantasy as you, dear reader, of becoming the next  Gordon Gekko , but, well...I loath finance and working for banks in general).

Also note: I'm interested in East & Southeast Asia only.

lifeisshort · Answer

No one? Really? Come on...someone must at least have an opinion?

Over the next 50 years, the US is projected to have slow, low, or no growth....while essentially all of Asia is expected to grow consistently, year after year, for the next 40 years and beyond... It seems logical then, to want to be where the growth and opportunity exist, and that's in Asia, not the West.

The  West  is moving  East . That's the trend. I certainly see it and I wan't a career that's relevant in our times...

dabots · Answer

https://www.businessweek.com/magazine/co ... 653619.htm there are definitely opportunities out there. i am going to asia after mba as well.

lifeisshort · Answer

Thank you for your reply and that's an excellent article (thanks for posting). Glad to know someone else  sees what I see , I no longer feel alone in my quest.

So, do you have a job lined up? Getting offers? What kind of work are you looking to get into?
Are you aiming for a certain country (China, S. Korea, Vietnam, Japan, etc.)?

dabots · Answer

I've accepted an offer from a Korean company to work in their internal strategy group.

lifeisshort · Answer

Excellent. South Korea is my first choice. If I could wave a magic wand, that's where I'd go! Most South Koreans speak English (especially the youth), so logistically that's friendly, and Hangul is fairly simple to learn (reading/writing). Korea fascinates me because there's a tremendous amount of brain power in that country. The Korean government has intelligently, carefully positioned themselves for growth and I foresee South Korea becoming the "tip of the spear" in terms of tech innovation in Asia, surging past rivals Japan and China.

Congratulations to you! How did you decide? Did you visit South Korea to explore jobs/interviews or were you recruited directly off campus? What was your job before MBA?

Congratulations to you! How did you decide? Did you visit South Korea to explore jobs/interviews or were you recruited directly off campus? What was your job before MBA?

anu1979 · Answer

Thought you might be interested in this  article on MBAs fleeing to Asia .

I've thought about it myself but my parents and siblings are very settled in the United States and we changed our citizenships a long time ago, so it doesn't seem to be worth it.

brie · Answer

South Korea is definitely a fun place to be. Few places better embody the 24/7 lifestyle. I lived there for a couple of years and had a blast.

However, I don't think South Korea is likely to be the "tip of the spear", at least not in the next 10-20 years. Despite South Korea's relative success in the market, its R&D is still considerably behind Japan. South Korea is trying to move from being a top-notch manufacturer to being a center for innovation, but honestly it's still not there.

Also, please consider that South Koreans work longer hours than any other country in the OECD. The best-educated Koreans generally prefer to stay overseas because working conditions are better elsewhere. A friend of mine did recruiting for one of the Korean chaebols in the United States. Across the board, the Korean graduate students were all saying that they'd only go to the company if they had no other option. This is not a good situation when the best-educated elements of your populace don't want to come home.

Honestly, South Korea is in a tough spot, being sandwiched in between Japan and China. It's fortunate that it has a strong democracy (I'd stay stronger than Japan because they've been able to move between parties ...) and a business-friendly environment. However, it's still a small country with no natural resources.

I would love to be completely wrong about South Korea. I would love it if South Korea succeeded beyond my wildest imagination. However, I think it unlikely.

More likely, South Korea will shift from being a satellite economy of the United States to being a satellite economy of China.

For all the talk of the shift to Asia, venture capital, research and development, etc are still disproportionately in the United States and Europe. You're right when you say that the growth is in Asia. This doesn't mean that only Asian firms can succeed. Rather, it is quite likely that U.S. firms will sell to Asia.

I agree that the shift will happen at some point, but with regards to education, you're better off getting educated in the U.S., learning an Asian language in the meanwhile and making contacts at your school, and then trying to move into Asia. Your U.S. MBA (assuming it's from a good school) will demand a considerable amount of respect overseas.

If you do want to go to Asia, definitely go to a school that has a large international population, particularly from Asia. Get to know these people. They are the elites in their countries. Also, learn an Asian language (Chinese, Korean, Japanese). If you don't speak the language, you'll always be an outsider to some degree. Korean companies in particular tend to be xenophobic. Look at the executive ranks of Korean companies. Everyone is Korean or a Korean-American who is bilingual.

Fields that are well-known in Business School (consulting, finance, accounting) are still needed in Asian countries. A lot of schools have recruiters from overseas come. Again though, if you want to work in those countries, you need to know the language. If you're consulting with a Korean company, you need to be able to work with the locals. (McKinsey, Boston, etc. have offices in Korea). Same with finance and accounting. Honestly, the one area where your language skills can be mediocre and you can get by is probably the technical areas (science, engineering) if you can stomach it.

Here's wishing you the best.

DrSatisfaction · Answer

i'm going to asia as well. but then again, i'm of chinese decent and have a good command of the language...plus have family friends in china that can help me get jobs...so all of that combined = a high likelihood of being able to land a good job out there post-mba.

for others, i suggest 1st learning the languages. figure out which country you want to be in and start learning the language right away. learn the cultural differences too. you cannot imagine how impressed asians are with westerners that have taken the effort to learn our culture and language.

2nd, i'd look into asian mba programs. CEIBS is great in shanghai. Tsinghua's IMBA is great in beijing. they also have an exchange with MIT as well and an EMBA program with INSEAD i believe. Seoul university is really strong in korea. HKUST is great for HK. Nanyang for singapore. obviously INSEAD's singapore campus is a great launching pad for any asian career as well.

finally, try to do an internship in asia. that'll help you build a network, get some exposure to the culture and language, gain useful experience in your particular field of work as it is done in asia, etc.

hope that helps!

gottabwise · Answer

I think some good programs have been pinpointed. I would also suggest that you look at schools that do a lot of Asia-focused research and that have established academic partnerships. For instance, Purdue looks at the hospitality industry. I would also suggest looking at industries that affect the built environment. While real estate is numbers driven, there are also aspects such as design and project management. I attended a conference for the Intl Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions and there was strong Asian representation. Disposal income lends to leisure and hence opportunities for amusement. Supposedly Asian amusement park growth is explosive. I'll have to get more info on the growth but family entertainment centers and other forms of entertainment are
more prevalent.
Lastly, I sugguest that you maximize your strengths, hone weaknesses and find relevant opportunities. People most often succeed in what they enjoy doing irrespective of locality.

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Careers leading to Asia?

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