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Q: Are fluent Chinese speakers in demand in Western companies abroad?
I'm curious as to whether expats who've lived in China and mastered the written and spoken language (and accumulated a few years work experience in the non-teaching sector) find it easy to get jobs at companies back in their home countries. Is there a demand for non-Chinese staff who have lived in China and understand the language and culture?
10 years 32 weeks ago in Business & Jobs - China
Yep, as example Prada or LV shops at any EU metropolis ... 
Yeah a lot of airline companies and importing companies love having bi lingers as it make work a he'll of a lot easier
Even I get asked to teach Chinese students because I can get the message across that much quicker in the class room
Rin:
Agree with Airlines. My friend from Panama works for Cathay, he can speak Chinese and Cantonese, he works mainly with Asian customers and has chance of a promotion to HK in the near future :)
Not really... native Chinese speakers all fill this gap in my state.
No. You need to be a native Chinese speaker and be Asian to get hired
I heard in richmond canada will be demand soon in mc donalds
otherwise not really
Back in the day, Japanese was the language of choice for the international business man. within maybe 15-30 years it could be Portugese when Brazil become the economy of choice.
Hulk:
Actually, you're spot on, so here's a dumpling. People should definitely learn Portuguese now. The demand will only increase for business men and women.
GuilinRaf:
Heck, even Spanish speakers are being "drafted" to speak to Brazilians.
Mind you, the language, while similar, is not easily understandable by both parties, at least not without practice (though the written part is easier to understand than the spoken).
Just take a look around in your home country at the number of Chinese folks running around. Now... Assume that at least 75% of them speak the language of your home country & Mandarin or Cantonese.
Realize the fact that most of them will work for less than your willing to.
Then you will get a very clear picture that learning Mandarin or Cantonese is a pretty worthless skill to have if you plan on using it for career advancement.
expatlife26:
I would tend to agree. The best strategy for a young career-minded westerner in china who cannot find a good job in their homeland is to take a job here doing something that is also done at companies in the west, at whatever wage you can. It'll be the skills you learn on the job here that will get you the career back home, not the fact you did it in China. That being said you may need a functional level of chinese to GET that job here in the first place.
It really depends on your personal circumstances. The language skills alone will not be much of an advantage because there are so many native or near native speakers already in the west. However, in conjunction with other skills, it can be a pretty strong add on advantage to the CV. For example, if you hold some kind of technical qualification and you have managed to attain acceptable language and cultural skills along the way, it will open doors that previously wouldn't exist especially in multinational companies.
actually it would open more doors if you work in china for a western company, because they often seek for a professional with the ability to speak mandarin
Not Now but wait 10 more years or give it 10 more years for it to really take off. Right now they are introducing chinese classes as a foreign language because they know so many people from China will immigrate to America. Don't care much about the other countries just that one. 
sure, there are companies that are owned by china through out the world who'll need people to translate but it better if you can work for western companies here in china, demand is high here rather than your country.. good luck
