Getting Your First Job in Shanghai

One of the big questions I get on a regular basis is, "How do I get a job in Shanghai?" Speaking from experience, if you are a Westerner who does not have a company to send you here, it is not going to be easy, but it is certainly doable. The easiest and fastest way to come to Shanghai is to get a job teaching English, and that is how many expats get their first taste of China (including me!). See our other articles on teaching for more information.

If you want a non-teaching job that pays well by Western standards, you have few choices. All the service, lower to mid management, technical, sales, restaurant and retail work is handled by locals. Most of them earn about RMB 1000-3000 a month. (US$ 125-$375-month) Someone I know who works at the local Starbucks behind the counter makes 9 RMB (just over $1USD) an hour. You do not want to be doing this. First choice is that you really want to come to Shanghai with a job offer from a company. These jobs tend to be in management -- usually senior, in some cases, senior technical, consulting, business development or project managers. For many of these, you must know Mandarin.

Depending on your skill set and background, you may be faced with having to do your own business (under the table) or do some kind of web-based business. This has some possibilities if you are focused, organized, have a little capital, and plug away relentlessly building your business. If you do something in Shanghai, chances are your customers will be other expats and well-to-do Chinese. Most local Chinese would not usually pay the price a foreigner would ask unless it was a very compelling product. Of course with the growth of the middle class, this is changing. If you have a good skill set, especially in management, and speak some Chinese, you would do well to go to a recruiter or web database who deals with foreign placement. Zhaopin.com (http://english.zhaopin.com/) is a good place to start. You can also post your request on some of the online forums here and take advantage of our jobs listing service by clicking the tab above.

Again you can use our job search function by clicking the JOBS tab above.