It is THE work visa for China, so unless you're going to be a student forever or marry your gf, you will need it at some point.
There are many small steps to securing a Z visa. Collecting your diploma, criminal background check, other supporting documents. Getting them notarized and apostilled (basically a super notarization from your state/province), getting a health exam (often done in China), collecting your visa from the embassy, and more minor steps in between. So yes I would consider it somewhat hard.
I'm in the final steps of the Z visa process rn, so I may consider writing a guide