Lately I have been contacted by many Expatriate job seekers who are looking for an opportunity to work in China. Many of them asked what I recommend them to do, and here are things that I usually write them:
1. Prepare yourself mentally. Seeking for a job in China is not an easy task, but it is definitely achievable within 1-3 months. Be patient and have perseverance.
2. Know why you are coming to China and focus on what you would like to achieve by it – you should mange expectations and be prepared for a salary transition. For example, the Israeli market is based on a average annual wage of around 30 thousand dollars. The Chinese market, however, is based on much lower salaries- an average of 3500 USD (13,650 NIS) per year. If your purpose is to earn more than home, or save money, the immediate answer would be “go look for it somewhere else.” If the purpose of your transition is to gain experience in the most promising economies in the world, by learning mandarin and working in a multinational environment, then that is a much better approach. It is important to mention that this advice is relevant to expatriates who decided to come to China on their own and were not relocated.
3. Don’t come to China for a short period of time- I recommend to come for a minimum time of 2 years. This will give you a very good understanding of the Chinese market, economy, language, culture and etc. it will also help you gain a much more meaningful job experience. Otherwise, it will be just a waste of valuable time and resources.
4. Compromise on your salary- the job market is extremely competitive and most people earn a standard Chinese salary. For example, an Israeli IT developer who earns 5,000 USD per month will find it really hard to compete against a Chinese Developer who has 10 years of experience that earns only 3000 USD per month. The majority of IT developers in China earn less than 1,000 USD per month!
5. Learn Chinese – it is hard for an expatriate employee, without any background in Chinese, to be fully integrated into a Chinese company. The cultural environment is completely different and could make it harder to fit in. Learning Chinese definitely helps, but it will not overcome the cultural barriers. Many good friends of mine, who were the only foreigners in the Chinese companies they worked for, found it extremely difficult to really make a difference and have a strong contribution both in policy making and decision making, and eventually found it very frustrating.
6. Try to find a job in a foreign company. A global company would be even better. Foreign companies look for people who share the same cultural and linguistic background, and therefore it would be easier to fit in those companies. Although they are less in amount, make an effort to approach them. For a sole foreign employee in a Chinese company it would be very hard to fit in especially in the first couple of years. Therefore, take into consideration that by joining a foreign company, your ability to contribute and effect in non-homogeneous teams would be higher.
7. Try to find a job directly from your home country. You will increase the chances of earning more than you would earn if you would just focus on finding a job in China.
8. Use Meijob.com’s network distributions service to approach foreign companies who are on Meijob’s database. Their CV’s would be distributed to companies who are registered and are willing to receive them and give opportunities to those who are qualified. The service is not yet live, and will probably be launched in the 1st quarter of 2009.
9. Use Meijob’s Head Hunter Express to Chinese and Foreign executive search companies- this is a paid base service that costs 188 RMB – around 94 INS.
10. Use Meijob’s “Promote your profile” service that enables you to highlight your profile, job experience and job preferences among thousands employers that regularily use our “search for an employee” platform. This service enables you to stand out of the crowd and will ease employers in their attempt to contact you among thousands of qualified candidates by any relevant category. This service only costs 14 NIS per month.
11. Use social Networks (Linkedin, Facebook) to build your profile online. Use personal connections to find jobs. You need as many connections as possible. Getting into companies through connections is by far easier that through HR departments. Meijob have a group dedicated for job seekers in China. The name of the group in Linkedin is Meijob – Jobs in China. We also have another group in Facebook. I recommend to join both.
12 Make sure your profile on meijob.com is complete and attractive. make sure the picture is professional and not a picture from the beach or when you drink beer with your friends.
13 Edit your CV with Meijob RPO professional consultants. This will help you attract much more attention with local and foreign recruiters. The cost is 388 RMB (194 NIS) and it is probably the best investment you would do. Just imagine what happens if you find a job that will pay you 1,000 USD more per month just because your CV looked more impressive after you paid only 57$.
14 I also recommend to read this streanghs finder book - it will help you focus on what you do best and guide you in your career
Good luck, Barak
