Applying for Work in China

[wenhao888]

I'm completely clueless as to applying for work in China.

Suppose you find a company that you are interested in and that you want to work for in China. You decide to apply for work there. What are the steps to do that?

What if there are no ads for employment?

Do you contact the HR department?

Do you drop off your resume?

What if you know no one inside?

Do you need guanxi to get in?

Any customs / conventions?

What is the dress code for interview?

Any tips?

[shanghaikai]

What if there are no ads for employment?

Might mean they're not looking to hire?

Do you contact the HR department?

Never a bad idea.

Do you drop off your resume?

In person? It wouldn't hurt to send it to their HR department.

What if you know no one inside?

Shouldn't matter, though knowing someone wouldn't hurt.

Do you need guanxi to get in?

Not necessarily, but again, wouldn't hurt.

Any customs / conventions?

Don't do something stupid.

What is the dress code for interview?

As usual, dress professional.

Any tips?

Your question is too vague. Finding employment in China is more similar than it is different to anywhere else in the world. Good luck.

[wenhao888]

I take it Chinese resume is no different than English resume?

Does anyone have their Chinese resume posted online? I'd like to see an example and the sort of words used for the headings and other conventions.

Do you write a Cover Letter in Chinese as well when applying for a job?

Many thanks and warm regards.

[shanghaikai]

It is more or less the same. There are certain things a lot of Chinese put on their resumes that I still can't really figure out why, like their height, weight, picture, gender, current health condition...

I mean, seriously...

If you are applying to Chinese companies, you should probably submit both your resume and cover letter in Chinese.

[Lu]

There's a thread on Chinese CVs somewhere here, you can search for it. Chinese CVs are a bit different from Western ones. I had mine translated/changed into Chinese by a friend. Like Shanghaikai says, Chinese cvs add some things Westerners would find irrelevant.

When I was looking for work here, I usually sent a cover letter in English (with the idea: better a good English letter than a mediocre Chinese one; and also reasoning people are not going to hire me for my Chinese, as there are about 20 million people here who speak it better than me) and a cv in both languages. If you call them first, you can ask them what they prefer. If you write a Chinese cover letter, best have it checked by a Chinese.

[zerolife]

as the above poster said, most hiring manager might accept an resume seen you are a Westerner but if you can, do make CV in both English and Chinese. You probably don't need to include your weight, health conditions etc. but do go into more detail of your past archivements and/or jobs.

Do you need guanxi to get in?

- no but it can help you. I do think that Chinese put more value on references.

Any customs / conventions?

Interview can go more personal, be prepared for that if the interviewer ask about your family etc.

What is the dress code for interview?

- dress professional like you would do in any country