| Thx, Wang Jianshuo! I didn't know that. But I assume your statement reflects the traditional and official differentiation. I doubt that this version still holds true in the present society since top university grads are much more preferred by recruiters than their peers from non-top universities. I can't comment on the thesis that today's university students are different than their predecessors. But I'd like to underscore one point which I believe is a fundamental obstacle when assessing a Chinese graduate from a foreign company's POV. Foreign MNCs complain about a talent gap in China. But usually they can't access the whole labour market for there are skilled people with insufficient English language skills. I know that one large German company attaches huge importance on English skills, and it's quite common for them to hire a candidate mainly because his English skills are superior than those of another applicant who might be stronger in other areas. Imo, this is economical nonsense. To shed a bit more light on my thesis, I'd like to name Yang Yuanqing, Chairman of the Board of the Lenovo Group, as an example. He is without doubt a great businessman in China. But when he began his career, he was an introverted person who barely spoke even one word of English. I think this would have already disqualified him for any job in a foreign MNC, let alone for a job as a manager. But he was a well-educated and knowledgable person, an expert engineer able to foresee upcoming trends. Lenovo recognized his talent and potential, and under the guidance of his mentor and then-chairman Liu Chuanzhi, who even talked Yang out of his plans to leave Lenovo to study in the US, Yang rose to the top of the company and eventually succeeded Liu as chairman. In any foreign company, Yang's career would have been impossible. When watching Lenovo's IR events, you can easily notice that he still is neither fluent in English nor very outgoing and hence does not correspond to a typical Western manager profile. Anyway, I firmly believe there's no doubt that he would also have added value to a foreign company in China. But imagine a job interview (in the 1980s) involving a foreigner who does his part of the interview in English, then the result is quite predictable. Now getting back to the above-mentioned obstacle, the key questions remains: "Should someone like Yang have been or be considered a talent?" |
Current University Students are Different