Western Chinese-speakers

[Scoobyqueen]

as title

[Simon_CH]

I can only speak for Switzerland, and yes, if you have a Management or Engineering degree, speak Mandarin and are willing to relocate to China

it's a piece of cake to find a job in China with a Western salary. Problem is that most Swiss aren't willing to relocate,

as their salaries already allow them to have a very decent lifestyle here, despite the differences in purchase power vs. China.

[Brian US]

I guess it depends on what you want to do. My friends have had a hard time getting a work visa due to age, but I'm sure the guanxi of a large western company can get around that. Also, depending on what skills the company needs, so if your non-Chinese language skills aren't needed then why not hire a local (with same experience).

[Yang Rui]

westerners who could speak Chinese would not have any difficulty finding a highly paid job in China

Bit of a generalisation there. It would depend largely on what other skills and work experience you have. The days are gone when a foreigner could get a job simply for being able to speak Chinese.

In my field, which is research and consulting, we actually do need Chinese-speaking Westerners. But the hardest thing is not finding a Westerner who speaks Chinese, but finding a Westerner who has a suitable background and personality for the job AND speaks good enough Chinese to actually be able to use it in a work environment. There are lots of Westerners who speak Chinese, and lots who have the right skills but don't speak Chinese. The problem is finding the combination of the two in the same person. If you're confident that you can present an employer with those two, you are in a good position.

The other skill you would need would be research and networking: research to identify which companies might need someone like you, and then netowrking to get yourself onto their radars.

If you have all of that, you'll walk into a job. But there are a lot of foreigners in China who lack one of those elements and can't find really rewarding work.

[aristotle1990]

I dunno, it still happens sometimes. A friend of a friend got a $70,000 a year shipping job with fantastic perks ($5,000 a month stipend) in China with nothing more than fluent Chinese and a BA in philosophy.

That said, he also spoke fluent Danish, English and another language or two, so don't take this as representative.

[Scoobyqueen]

Thanks for the responses. I should have pointed out that Chinese ability was in addition to the core specialism as also pointed out by other posters. Chinese on its own is not enough. I guess that Danish guy Aristotle refers to was lucky.

But may I add that being able to speak Chinese is a very good talking point at an interview. They want to know how you learnt it, was it difficult, level etc.

[sirenbear]

To be honest I don't think fluency in Chinese is much of an asset for landing a high-paying job in China (as a foreigner). Most of my classmates speak very good Chinese and most of them have had a hard time finding good jobs. The thing is, most educated Chinese people speak decent English, at least enough to use in a working environment, and their writing is usually good, too. They also will work for much less money. There's just too much competition. Of course, fluency in Chinese doesn't hurt. Can get you some translation jobs :rolleyes:

[alleywatson]

hmmmm that's interesting, whilst over there teaching in 2005 I met an American teacher who used to work for Stussy merchandise & clothing as a Rep in Asia mostly (Taiwan based) just cos he could speak flawless Mandarin, I mean flawless, and had previous sales experience in the states, he ended up jacking it in and teaching English for less hours and a bit more money. I came back from Shanghai last week after a holiday and met up with some of the old teachers and they were telling me they still get 150 RMB an hour, more than i get over here, should have stayed, tut !

[xianhua]

The thing is, most educated Chinese people speak decent English, at least enough to use in a working environment, and their writing is usually good, too.

I've met far too many well-educated Chinese people who have a very basic grasp of English, for this to be the case.

[Simon_CH]

I think it's not just your Mandarin skills that will land you good jobs. I come from a country that has a hard time sending managers to China, let alone ones with Mandarin skill or Chinese cultural affinity or knowledge. But generally spoken I can say it isn't very hard to land a very decent job in China with an expat salary if you have some knowledge about China/Chinese and have a management/finance/engineering background. Those people are still very much thought after, as life in China doesn't suit everyone. Most managers return within a year or two, and that would usually be a very bad investment for the company.

[gougou]

I agree with Simon, Chinese skills coupled with the areas he mentions definitely are in high demand (and in low supply...). What companies are looking for are people that know the Western way of doing stuff while being able to communicate that to their Chinese colleagues.

[carlo]

With the recession and all, many European executives believe it very easy for Chinese speakers to find jobs in China. Relatively speaking, it may be true, although they vastly underestimate the number and quality of local job-seekers. I often come across companies that are looking for Chinese-speaking westerners, but it seems a greater proportion of them are offering relatively low salaries (250k RMB/y?) rather than true expat packages. I haven't researched this properly, though.

My experiences are in finance and consulting, and at the risk of making generalisations, I'd say that some Western-educated employees (be it Chinese-speaking westerners or the other way round) tend to be better at independent research work and analytical, critical thinking. This can be useful in certain lines of work. Also, people that are able to translate company culture across boundaries are very hard to find. But yeah, competition is tough.

[timtastic]

I've been trying to find a job as an engineer for several months now in Beijing (well truthfully only a little on the side, more focusing on improving my Mandarin). I'm not really sure how to go about it though. Right now I've just been applying on the Chinese job sites I'm aware of (zhaopin, chinahr, etc) but with no luck, except for one interview where the HR people had somehow thought I was Chinese. Is there a better place to look for jobs than what I have been doing?

[xuefang]

What about if you have a BA in Chinese language? That's what I am planning to do but haven't quite figured out what kind of job I would like to do. Something involved with culture, traveling, language etc. And what kind of MA would be beneficial? I'm not a business person but is there other choices in China?

[ansileran]

@Xuefang

With a BA in a foreign language and no specialization/minor, I think you only find jobs in teaching areas or translation works. Sometimes also in tourism but you'll have to show that you can do more than just speak the language... And you don't get to travel much. That's the way it is in France anyway. If you really want to travel, you'll have to find something to specialize into : journalism, international business, international cooperation... It also depends on how often you want to travel. Teaching your own language is also a good way to find opportunities, though you usually end up being paid on local standards...

[xuefang]

Thanks ansileran. I wrote wrong, traveling should be tourism. I don't wish to travel so much myself but I can arrange trips for others. Journalism would be very interesting for me but only if I can do it without degree in it. I am also not sure do I want to work in China or in Finland. Teaching my own language would be good, but there not so many opportunities to teach Finnish in China.

[ansileran]

@Xuefang

If you like to teach, you can also try to get an English certification... I think there is something like TELF certificate to teach English as a foreign language.

[wushijiao]

@XuefangIf you like to teach, you can also try to get an English certification... I think there is something like TELF certificate to teach English as a foreign language

.

Another thing you could do (especially if you're still in school) is to get accredited as a real teacher in your home country. Then, you can teach in China at a foreign school, IB school...etc. Then, you make decent money (ie. $40-70,000 USD per year). Subjects like math, science, physics are in high demand, but you can also teach other subjects as well.

[xuefang]

Thank you for help. I know I'm not taking the easy road here. I'm currently studying Chinese language and will do a BA in that too. And that will be in China because I don't see my self going back to Finland for study. Maybe for work later. I could teach English for kids but my English is not good enough for more. I think one option is to work in the embassy, but what else. Being a journalist would also work for me if degree in journalism isn't required.

This isn't an easy question to ask, but I want to see if you have interesting ideas.

[Lu]

Journalism would be very interesting for me but only if I can do it without degree in it.

I have the impression that journalism is not that hard to get into. I used to work for an English-language newspaper in Taiwan, where the basic qualifications for a journalist were great written English, good spoken Chinese, and sufficient common sense and insight. No formal training required. Work for such a newspaper, and then take the experience to get a job with a newspaper from your own country (or if you like your job well enough, just stay or work yourself up to an editorial position). As with translation work, I'd say you can just go for it.