Life after MBA classes

A bit about Sino-Stee

This is the first blog of many that will elaborate on being a young professional in China. I know there will be many twists and turns to some of the work stories and additional stories about living in general...humourous, negative, depressing, positive, etc. Please enjoy and perhaps enrich yourself with a bit more understanding of the Chinese people, culture, and business ethics.

Life after MBA - Take 1
Last weekend I officially attended the last class of my MBA exchange program at SIMBA, Aslaug left on Tuesday, and I started working (Monday) with Intradin Machinery Co. in the Minhang District of Shanghai.

Just a bit of background on how I found the work placement...
Thanks to one of my fellow Edinburgh classmates and his International Business Negotiation group work, Jens spoke with Ronna (Marketing Director) at Intradin about any opportunities for work placement with the company. After a small conversation, Jens put me in touch with Ronna. The first time I spoke with Ronna I was about to board a plane for Sanya and it was a bit awkward for an informal interview to hear boarding announcements in the background, but I guess when your in China noise isn't an issue since there is always excessive noise. We got through it and Ronna seemed very interested in taking me in as a Marketing Analyst. So really what does that mean, it isn't necessarily an assistant or a researcher, perhaps it is both. I went to Sanya and layed on the beach for 5 days with Aslaug thinking well what should be the next step. Since I needed to do a work placement, would it be more beneficial in China or in UK. Since I arrived in China, the light bulb went off and I continued to say "stay." So maybe I was just waiting for some way to convince me to stay. More thoughts on what the marketing analyst role was all about continued to linger...

Back in Shanghai after 5 consecutive weeks of travel, I had a work placement, but not without some drama...nothing is really "too easy" in China. I started as a marketing analyst on 16 July, but before that I needed to find a place closer to the office.

Next up..finding a place in Shanghai.