Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Ask Slashdot: Find a Job In China For Non-native Speaker?

Posted by timothy on from the ask-nicely dept.

An anonymous reader writes "My fiancée has recently been accepted into a Chinese university into their Ph.D. program, and I've been looking at jobs in China (specifically the Beijing area) and not having any success. I'm a developer with 8 years of experience (java), mostly on the server side, so I'm not lacking in the general experience, but the problem is I don't speak Mandarin or Cantonese. I am a native English speaker from Canada though. The only jobs I've had any responses from were teaching positions for simple English which isn't exactly my first choice. Has anyone had any experience or success as a programmer finding a job in China, without being able to speak the native language? Any websites I should be focusing on?"

16 of 402 comments (clear)

  1. Construction or landscaping by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

    That's what people who can't speak the language do in the US.

    1. Re:Construction or landscaping by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      That's what people who can't speak the language do in the US.

      Wow. If you are going to be racist, you could at least make it fit the situation. You could have said he could get a job getting things down from the top shelf.

    2. Re:Construction or landscaping by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Hard to claim racism when no race is mentioned in the question or the answer, only language, though I do see where you're coming from. That said, the GP has a point, even if it was not made in the most politically correct manner. The fact is, in any country, if you don't speak the language, you're going to have very limited options. Generally those options are going to consist of jobs that don't require much in the way of communication, as in more manual labor, less office work. This isn't a product of racism, it's a product of "you can't get a job that requires communication if you can't communicate with the people you'll be working with".

  2. Everyone speaks pictograms by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Any websites I should be focusing on?"

    This one.

  3. maybe not developing? by i.r.id10t · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Maybe instead of trying to find a coding job, find a job along the lines of "conversational english for IT type people"...

    Help your fellow coders bring up their communication skills...

    --
    Don't blame me, I voted for Kodos
    1. Re:maybe not developing? by HornWumpus · · Score: 5, Funny

      God no. The last thing we need is a bunch of Chinese sprinkling 'eh' and 'dontchno' into their conversation.

      --
      John McAfee 'It was like that time I hired that Bangkok prostitute; to do my taxes, while I fucked my accountant'
  4. OH my... by imagined.by · · Score: 5, Interesting

    You don't want to go to Beijng. Trust me. I've been there for 3 months until I developed asthma. The air pollution is INCREDIBLY bad, you can't even remotely compare it to the worst cities in the US. That being said, there are a lot of 'western' companies where English is used for every communication. I know, because I worked at three. I strongly suggest that if you go there, look out for those western companies. They pay better and have a much nicer working atmosphere than the local companies. But seriously, If you care about your health at all, or eating manners of your peers, or respect for (animal) life in general, stay in Canada. It's such a wonderful country.

    1. Re:OH my... by busyqth · · Score: 5, Funny

      You don't want to go to Beijng. Trust me ... If you care about ... respect for (animal) life in general, stay in Canada.

      The Chinese have a very deep respect for life and know how to treat every kind of animal appropriately.
      For example, rats are roasted, scorpions are broiled, snails are put in noodles, cats make a good soup, and minnows are best slurped down live with some rice wine.

    2. Re:OH my... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      My Chinese brother-in-law put it this way to me.

      An American man will see an animal he has never seen before and say, "What is that? Can it hurt me?"

      A Chinese man will see an animal he has never seen before and say, "What is that? How should I cook it?"

  5. Takin' our jobs! by InvisibleClergy · · Score: 5, Funny

    This summer -

    Too long have the Chinese taken our good, American jobs. The time has come for Anonymous Coward to go to China...

    AND TAKE.
    THEM.
    BACK.

    (Coming to theaters Summer 2012.)

  6. Teaching = best salary by Murmel84 · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Hey, I spent some time in Nanjing last year trying to find a good job. Because I speak Mandarin fluently, I thought it wouldn't be a problem. I didn't want to teach because I still wanted to improve my Mandarin by speaking with colleagues. But the only jobs that were easy to find as a foreigner (even non native) were the English teaching jobs. And most of them are better paid than IT positions in Chinese companies! That's why Chinese people will assume that as a foreigner, you don't even want some other kind of job. That and the fact that English teaching is a big big industry there and they need every foreigner they can get. I finally only spent the time there improving my Chinese. If I ever wanted to find a job there again my new plan would be to find a multinational corporation to work in and then get myself sent to China to work there. That way, the salary is way better and you can still work in IT. Cheers, Murmel

  7. Are you nuts? by Overzeetop · · Score: 5, Funny

    Screw the programming job, I suggest you hire yourself out as a technical manual writer or proofreader. I don't care how much they pay you, you should consider it a service to your native land.

    --
    Is it just my observation, or are there way too many stupid people in the world?
    1. Re:Are you nuts? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

      I emailed a company in Shenzhen a couple of years ago, asking if I could do an internship as a CS major. They said yes, and when I arrived they had me working on improving their perception in the eyes of Westerners generally. I re-translated technical manuals (Chinglish to English) and re-wrote whole sections of manuals (they were awful) and did some prototype testing. They really wanted me to come back full-time after school, but I got an offer from a US firm that I couldn't refuse.

      I had a great experience, but the company was "different" by Chinese standards. It was a start-up, created by younger (sub-30) engineers who were creating original, high-quality work that they were proud of. They were not owned, in any part, by the Chinese government, which gave them a significant competitive disadvantage within China, but their product was recognized as top-rate outside of China.

      If you can find something like this, you might even offer your services at a discount in the short-term. After getting to know you, these newer companies will see the benefit of having a seasoned outsider. Don't plan on writing much code, though.

  8. I've spent a year traveling and working in china by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    I spent almost a year traveling China and working as a software developer / Business guy. Looking for jobs in china is extremely different in China then it is in the US. Here is the US you can call head hunters or work the job boards... China is all about who you know. I would say that your best bet is to go over with your fiancée and immediately start networking with the professors. Ask them out for dinner (this is normal) and start talking to them about what are come good companies in town. Make sure to pay for dinner and always have a small fun gift for second and third meetups.

    After meeting a couple good business people around town I had almost an endless supply of work where people wanted me to come and do contracting for a couple months. During the day I would code or do project management and then at night I would drink and do dinner with my bosses. (NOTE: Never turn down dinner or drinks with fellow workers or bosses... Socializing is a HUGE part of business over there)

  9. Waste of time. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Just tell your fiancé not to do it. I am telling you this from experience. My wife and I held getting married because she wanted to finish her studies she went through the whole thing till she got the PHD and I followed her around just like you are planning to do which also changed my plans. Education expenses were none since she made a nice income while doing research for the PhD.

    The problem was after she finished. My wife became hormonal and wanted to have kids, and pop up 2. Now all she wants to be is a mom a stay at home mom. And I am not the only one with the same situation. I got about a dozen friends with wifes with expensive education just going to waste because they want to be a house wife.

    Also you do not want to live in Beijing the air quality there is horrible.

  10. Re:Language consultant by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    Culinary Institute of America, the other CIA

    www.ciachef.edu