With a struggling American economy and a rising Asian economy, it is becoming more and more common to see young American professionals starting their careers in the Far East. For many Americans, they are discovering in Asia opportunities they would not have stateside. I personally just returned from a year as an English Teaching Fellow in Taiwan, where I frankly enjoyed a lifestyle that I will likely not enjoy for a long time again stateside. Provided with the country’s median salary for a family of four with minimal expenses, I was able to regularly purchase new clothing and travel throughout the island and to nearby areas, luxuries not available to me as a recent college graduate in America.
Further, if one looks at the biographies of many successful Americans, it is not uncommon to see those with early career experience in Asia. Tom Boasberg, the current superintendent of Denver Public Schools, proudly boasts of teaching English to junior high school students in Hong Kong and having served as the Chief of Staff to Lee-Chu Ming, the chairman of Hong Kong’s largest political party. Ultimately, the reward for this diligence in Asia was proficiency in Cantonese and Mandarin in addition to a career with Level 3 Communications before moving to the education sector.
Additional success stories include members of the White House Fellows class of 2010 to 2011. Both Harley Feldbaum and Jeffrey Prescott were Henry Luce Scholars in Thailand and China respectively before later winning the prestigious White House Fellowships.
So the questions remain then, why start in Asia and how? Let’s first look at the why question. A young professional can acquire experience, learn a foreign language and live a lifestyle in Asia that typically would not be afforded to them in America until later in life. Additionally, provided with a relatively lucrative salary compared to the living expense of the area, they are able to travel to other locations throughout Asia and still return to America with a nice little nest egg.
Now, in terms of the how, there are many ways to work in Asia. First, there are the scholarship programs. Both the Fulbright Fellowship and Henry Luce Scholarship offer opportunities for recent college graduates to live and work in Asia for a year. If these are not your cup of tea, there is always the option to teach. Programs like the Japanese Exchange Teacher (JET), Princeton in Asia and international schools provide individuals with the chance to teach for a couple of years overseas before returning stateside. However you decide to do it, I am confident you will find that working in Asia might be a great way to jump start your career as a young professional.
References:
“2010 to 2011 Class of White House Fellows.” The White House: President Barack Obama. http://www.whitehouse.gov/about/fellows/2010-2011
“Biography: Tom Boasberg.” Denver Public Schools: Communications Office. http://communications.dpsk12.org/newsroom/353/224/.
Fulbright Scholar Program. http://www.cies.org/.
Luce Scholars. http://www.hluce.org/lsnews.aspx.
Princeton in Asia. http://piaweb.princeton.edu/.