How can I find work in China? Any ideas?

jono_19
 November 16, 2008, 08:58 PM posted in General Discussion

Hi, I want to work in China in a few years. My wife is Chinese, currently living here in the UK. How easy is it to get work out there, she says I could teach English as a foreign language...is it as simple as that because I am not sure!

Thanks

Jono

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billglover
 November 16, 2008, 10:19 PM

Jono,

I am in a similar position, well as far as the Chinese wife and living in the UK goes.

Whilst my wife regularly flies back and forth to China for work we have agreed that we are going to spend the next 3-5 years here in the UK before considering packing up and moving to China.

Despite that understanding, we are both keeping our eyes and ears open for opportunities over in China, just in case things fall through here. I would like to transfer within my current organisation just so that I can hit the ground running when we get over there.

With the recent round of redundancies where I am, we've discussed the option of moving over early and asking for a transfer instead of a lay-off should it be my name that is next out of the hat.

Sorry I'm unable to offer any concrete advice, but my approach is to keep my ear to the ground and build up a network of people who would support an internal transfer.

Let me know how you get on.

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pretzellogic
 December 15, 2008, 03:57 AM

I definitely am going for the internal transfer.  It turns out that one thing that might be an option is to have a job in the UK with which you can telecommute.  I did that with my job based in New England, but managed to move with my wife to central China for  a year.  The advantage was that I ended up having a American job (and salary) and living in China.  The disadvantage was that I had to agree to work at a time that matches eastern US hours in China for a year: 7pm -3am.  You get used to it, but there are plenty of challenges associated with that.  One challenge was the visa. and it turned out that because I got a business visa, I had to leave China every 30 days. It also turned out that with the business visa, I had to spend less than 183 days in China, or my american salary would be taxed in China at 45%. Hope that helps.

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netrambler
 March 14, 2009, 02:37 AM

I came to China on a tourist visa and tried to find work as an English teacher.  It is easy to find work as an English teacher as long as you look foreign, but it isn't easy to change the visa to a work visa.

When I tried to get a visa to come to China I asked the Chinese consulate about a work visa and they told me I needed documentation from a company in China to get the work visa.  So I came on a tourist visa hoping to get the proper documents, then change it.

There are agencies that normally hire the teachers and handle the visa paperwork.  I think that is your best bet.

Not sure how to find the agency, though.