Finding a job in China can be as easy as posting a resume on Monster.com or cruising the job boards on expat Web site eChinaCities.com.
A quick search on either reveals lots of available positions for Western workers, ranging from electrical engineers to supply chain managers to sales executives. The auto industry is recruiting all levels of engineers and designers. The telecom sector needs sales reps. Tech companies need software developers. Big job growth, too, is expected to come from all things Internet related, which is relatively untapped given China’s 1.3 billion population. Revenues generated from the Internet sector, even when excluding e-commerce, are expected to swell 44 percent this year to $9.3 billion, according to Going Global.
One group in growing demand: experienced managers. Although Chinese industry has ramped up programs for educating engineers, scientists, and all sorts of specialists, managers with enough experience for senior posts are hard to come by, says Mary Anne Thompson, founder and president of Going Global.
To hunt for such opportunities, Thompson recommends you follow a similar course you would if you were hunting in the States. Seek out international headhunters, zero in on some companies of interest, and set up informational interviews. To do it right, take an exploratory trip.
Expats in China can live really well. According to the 2009 Expat Explorer Survey, commissioned by HSBC Bank International, China ranks No. 11 overall for expats in terms of salary, but it was among the cheapest overall for housing.
But be careful. Talk to enough people about their experiences, and you’ll hear horror stories that should serve as a warning to do a lot of homework before uprooting.
Take Mike Raby, a Detroit-based auto design engineer with 36 years in the business. He says he posted his resume on Monster.com about a year ago and within hours was fielding calls from Chinese companies and their recruiters.
Raby says it took just a week for him to sign a $140,000 contract for an 18-month stint with SAIC Motor Corp. Given the mess the U.S. auto industry was in, he was excited. It was, he says, “a new start.”
However, Raby says problems arose just two months into the job. The language barriers proved hugely problematic, and he had disagreements over aspects of his duties in his contract. The company fired him. “The way they conducted business after I arrived in Shanghai was very unprofessional,” he says. (BNET’s request for an interview with SAIC was not answered.)
How much of Raby’s problems could have been avoided is hard to tell. He insists he was the victim of a recruiter who was paid for each placement he made, not by how well each person worked out.
The lesson, though, is to get references for everyone you’re dealing with. In particular, ask to speak with current expats working at the firm and, if possible, former employees.
Raby says he hasn’t soured on China as his promised land; the opportunities are too plentiful. In fact, he’s now talking to more recruiters for companies in China.
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