Job Search in China

Before I tell you about Shaanxi, I should share some of the valuable insight I gained through the China job-finding experience. I can already tell you that working here is not for those easily put off by linguistic and cultural challenges. It's also not a place for Americans who want to bring home lots of money. But if you want to learn a language, find your way in another culture, and travel to a mysterious far-off land, China is a great place to do it.

First of all, if you're looking for a job that doesn't involve teaching English, good luck. Without years of experience in another field, you're just one in 1.3 billion, and probably not even good at speaking or writing Chinese. In Shaanxi we met a man from India who worked as a cook in a Chinese restaurant, but unless you want to earn 400RMB (about US$50) per month as an illegal immigrant making dumplings all day, that's probably not the job for you. Teaching English also might not be your ideal job, but if you're a native speaker it can be your ticket in...actually, your tickets in and out, a worker's visa, a place to live, and a 3000-7000RMB ($375-900) monthly salary for most jobs, which is alot of money here. Sites abound for finding such gigs, you just need to know what to look for, which I'll try to lay out below.

I'll be more specific in my goals in working and living here, so you'll know whether we're on the same page. I graduated from college with a double major in Computer Science and French, and managed to fit in three years of Chinese classes, too. The Chinese wasn't necessary for finding an English teaching job, but if one of your main goals is learning the language, you'll have more chances to practice if you can hold your own in a basic conversation before getting here. So, after working as a defense contractor doing computer programming for some time after graduation, I decided to bail — I wanted something more interesting, something along the lines of teaching children rather than helping Bush's military. I wanted to come back with a fresh perspective on the world, a new language, and experience in a new line of work.

If you have similar ambitions for working in China, the first thing you'll want is a job where you can interact with Chinese people, have time to study on your own, and support yourself. One of the first thing to look for in an English teaching job is how many hours you'll be working per week. This should include classes, office hours, preparation for class, and any other time you are expected to be available for work. There are stories all over the internet about foreign teachers being duped into sweatshop teaching jobs, but if you are careful there's really no way it can happen. You must demand a contract that sets out the number of hours you will work per week, and if more work is "expected" after you arrive, go to the police. As a native English speaker, you are a hot commodity in English-crazed China, and if you end up in a job that can't keep a contract, there's nothing keeping you from leaving.

Once you've found a school with a reasonable contract, start to read more about it. Search for its name online and see if any employees have talked about it. Visit the Chinese website if you can, and see if it looks "professional". How about their English website? If they've been open long enough, and have loyal foreign employees, of course they should have a professional-sounding site. Looking back, I can see that our school was not the best choice in this regard. Start the search early so your options are open. The school year starts in September, and schools that have their stuff together will have found teachers by the beginning of Summer.

Where in China you choose to work is another important factor. In North and Southwest China, people speak varieties of Mandarin as their everyday language, and though the local dialect will probably be beyond your grasp for quite awhile even if you know some Mandarin, it should be easier than in other places where the dialects are much more distant from the official language. My problem with Northern China is really the dust, which I didn't understand to be such a problem until I came here. Being from Boston, winter weather doesn't seem to be much of a problem for me here in Shaanxi (which counts as the North). A more important factor for me was the size of the city, because as I suspected there are almost no other foreigners here, which makes it easier to meet locals. I know people who have gone to big cities like Shanghai and lived the "expat" life for a few months, mostly hanging out with other foreigners and going to bars every day, but that wasn't for me. So far, it seems to have paid off, and I'm more than happy with my choice to come here. I'll be back to tell you more about my experiences and show you what it's really like here. Here's a picture of some 肉夹馍 I had for lunch to whet your appetite.