What’s Your Worth?

The value of working in an emerging market

Many recent graduates arrive in China with a sense of entitlement. I know I did.

This feeling is bolstered by the wage you can earn teaching English (“I’m worth xx,xxx RMB a month!”), and the sense of celebrity foreigners still cultivate outside of China’s major cities.

However, as soon as you start working in China, you’ll find out very quickly how much employers value you.

The answer in many cases: very little.

You’ll get offers so low that you’ll scoff, but it’s important to ask why such an offer was made in the first place.

The likely answer: simple supply and demand.

There are people with the same skillset you have who are willing to work for the same salary you just refused.

Most managers and company owners have at least a good understanding of the value they are getting from you.

They think, “I pay this employee a salary of x, and I get an output for my business or business unit of y.”

Demonstrate to an employer the ways in which you will increase productivity and you will have A LOT more leverage in demanding a higher salary. Simple.

Increasing productivity doesn’t just mean working hard. It means working smart and ensuring that your manager can see a clear return on their investment in you.

Identify what in your job you can do to increase revenue (sales and marketing) or improve margins (operations) and you will be able to command a higher salary.

Eat the Red Pill

In China, there is no corporate lullaby to fall asleep to.

You’ll have to trade the inoffensive but soul-smashing sax solo of the 9–5 for the sound of constant and unrelenting hustle.

Constant and unrelenting hustle is the the sound of the jackhammer jerking you awake at 8AM on a Saturday because why stop for progress?

It’s the sound of bamboo scaffolding scraping against the walls of a skyscraper.

It’s the sound of buildings built at 3 A.M.

China is the engine of the global economy, and here, your tongue will taste the exhaust.

Your eyes will see where the global supply chain begins and ends.

You’ll see where our products are birthed and discarded, shipped back to China or Bangladesh or Pakistan to be picked apart and recycled and resold.

You’ll see the entrepreneurs and business builders who sit on a part of the supply chain where they can make a living off of market inefficiencies.

And you’ll soon realize an important truth:

Sell something for more money than it takes to build or acquire and you have a business.

It’s simple. It’s usually not easy. But everyday you’ll be reminded that it’s very, very possible.

Your chair still won’t be ergonomic though…

Before departing for an emerging market, ask yourself: is security or rapid personal growth more important to you?

If you value security, stay home.

You won’t find many employer-matched 401K plans here.

Your chair won’t be “erg”.

You might even need to dip in to your limited salary to pay for health insurance out of pocket.

Why make these sacrifices?

One reason: Perspective.

You will gain a perspective on the world and on your career that is priceless.

You will learn A LOT about yourself.

With any luck, your ego will be shattered like a piece of dropped porcelain.

(Don’t worry, this is a good thing.)

The sooner you lose your ego the sooner you can focus on creating tangible value for the world.

You will learn that most of the world doesn’t have it as good as you do back home.

That while your peers sit entitled and bored in chairs built to the latest ergonomic standards, the developing world is writhing and hustling and working day and night to improve their standard of living.

You will see just how flat the world really is, and where your unique competitive advantage lies.

You will learn how to capitalize on this advantage, or you won’t, and you’ll return home.

If you want to learn quickly, go to China.

Or India. Or Vietnam.

The developing world is a great laboratory in which you can find out how resilient, persistent, and resourceful you really are.

It might take you many years before you see a significant financial return on this investment, but you eventually will.

And even if you never do, at least you’ll know what you are made of.

Go on. Try it.

I dare you.