Opportunities for professional women

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willcasey

Newbie

Joined: Sep 04, 2006
Posts: 1

Status: Offline

Posted: Sep 04, 2006 - 11:50 AM
Post subject: Opportunities for professional women

Hi all,

I have been offered an opportunity to work in Shanghai for 4 years and wanted to know what opportunities there would be for my wife. Is it difficult for women to gain employment - she is degree qualified and her current field is marketing/recruitment. Also are there specific areas where the majority of western expats live?

Any assistance is apprechiated.

CoffeeHawk_0
Board Deity

Joined: July 14, 2005
Posts: 17977

Posted: Sep 04, 2006 - 12:39 PM

Job recruiting/hunting is big in Shanghai, knowing how to read chinese would be a big help. Google 'jobs' in Shanghai and related topics, perhaps you can find one looking for english speakers. Many, many international companies are here, but depending on the job, they may perfer to only pay a local salary, best to start looking while you're still in your home country with firms that do business in both places.

dlaw

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Joined: Aug 31, 2006
Posts: 478
Location: Xu Jia Hui
Status: Offline

Posted: Sep 04, 2006 - 02:19 PM

If your wife can read and speak chinese, the opportunity to get a good job here is very high. Don't worry too much about this first. You might want to start worry if your wife likes the life here. Being a chinese raised elsewhere (not china), I myself also have cultural shock when I first arrived here 9 months ago.

answerer

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Joined: Apr 26, 2006
Posts: 453
Location: Shanghai
Status: Offline

Posted: Sep 05, 2006 - 08:54 PM

Get your company to assist in finding your wife a job as well as a condition of employment. Most multinational companies will offer this glady since a happy spouse is crucial to getting the most performance out of an expensive expat.

There are a large number of headhunter agencies that will be able to help and being female isn't a disadvantage in the job market. However, if she doesn't speak Chinese, the jobs will most likely be limited to Fortune 500 companies.

I do have to comment that a 4yr contract is a big leap to take. Make sure you visit before deciding.