Hi,

I have the plan to move to China, preferrably to Shanghai, in 1,5
years from now. I live in Amsterdam, I am 28 years old, work as a
consultant/project manager for a highly regarded consulting firm
and I would like advise on how I can best approach this mission. How
can I prepare myself best to get in contact with firms for a suitable
position? 

-what is the chance of just contacting HR departments of international companies?
-are there agencies that could be of help?
-what sites should I monitor?
-what are the chances of starting my own business? Which intelligence
sources should I monitor?
-how important is it to learn chinese?

Any advise would be great! Thanks, Debra.

Hi Debra,

I'm working for ten years in Shanghai now as both a journalist and new
media consultant. Looking at the labor market today in Shanghai I
would say: stay in Amsterdam. The numbers of qualified Chinese coming
back to China and especially Shanghai has made the labor market very
competitive and unless you really are rather familiar with China or
have highly specialized skills to bring in, the first few years could
be rather difficult.
But then, the market is changing very fast and looking ahead for
almost two years is rather impossible in this dynamic market. When you
can already secure a position with your current employer before coming
to Shanghai, that would be the most ideal option.
HR-departments are swamped with resume's and unless you excell in a
certain area, they will basically ignore you.

You might get an idea about the labor market by looking at this HR-newsletter:
http://www.cbiz.cn/column/hewitt.asp

One of the problems at this stage is that - unless you want to become
an English teacher - you mostly have to find employment with
foreign-invested companies. Chinese companies seldom hire foreigners
and most certainly do not pay the kind of salary you would expect.
Hope this helps,

Fons

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Request for Answer Clarification by debraurich-ga on 28 Jun 2004 12:00 PDT

Thanks for your answer. But; despite the fact that you discourage me
to go to China, I am determined to go and wondered if you could give
me advise on how and where I should start looking for a job. Is there
a list or a chamber of commerce with al international companies in
Shanghai?

Thanks!

---

Clarification of Answer by fons-ga on 28 Jun 2004 18:25 PDT

Persistence is something you really need when you are coming here, Debra,

Below I will list the larger organizations of foreign companies in
Shanghai, the American, British, Australian and the German chambers of
commerce. Do not expect too many contact details of companies: they
mostly do not list them to avoid being swamped with resumes, offers by
real estate agents and other services.
Since nine out of ten of the Fortune 500 companies are here anyway,
you might as well check each of their corporate website and search for
their China-address.
Next best thing to do is take a month to come to Shanghai, get five
hundred business cards printed and visit the many meetings that are
being organized here in the city. The Chambers mostly announce
meetings that are often open for members and non-members (although the
non-members need to pay more money - do take enough cash with you).

Good luck,

Fons

http://www.amcham-shanghai.org/
http://www.china.ahk.de/
http://www.britaininchina.com/
a full list is here: http://www.china.ahk.de/chamber/links.htm

http://www.cityweekend.com.cn/entertainment/shanghai/community
http://www.fccsh.org/calendar/calendar.asp
http://www.thatsmagazines.com/directory/index.asp?location=sh&item=hotevents

I'm a high-school student studying in Tianjin, but Shanghai.
Most agencies only have websites in Chinese. So maybe you can't read
them and get useful infomation you want.
Intelligence...well, I think you'd better read some blogs written by
Americans in China. A wesite recommended:
http://www.livinginchina.com/ .
You could learn some Chinese customs you've never known and how to
communicate with people in China, which is the most important thing in
the country.
It's not very important to learn Chinese, which is too defficult for
everyone whose  native language is English, but it's quite better if
you could understand what the characters mean, even just a few.
Wow, you could also come to my English weblog:
http://www.ChinaTunes.net/. I just started it yesterday. :)
Best Wishes.