The place to ask China-related questions!
Beijing Shanghai Guangzhou Shenzhen Chengdu Xi'an Hangzhou Qingdao Dalian Suzhou Nanjing More Cities>>

Categories

Close
Welcome to eChinacities Answers! Please or register if you wish to join conversations or ask questions relating to life in China. For help, click here.
X

Verify email

Your verification code has been sent to:

Didn`t receive your code? Resend code

By continuing you agree to eChinacities's Privacy Policy .

Sign up with Google Sign up with Facebook
Sign up with Email Already have an account? .
Posts: 136

Governor

0
0
You must be a registered user to vote!
You must be a registered user to vote!
0

Q: At which point in your career would you leave China?

Do you think there is ever a point in your career during which you should go work at home, if you ever intend to?

 

I don't know if that makes sense, but basically if you work in China for 10+ years and then want to go back to work at home, will there be a problem? Or 20+ years? Or 30+ years? 

 

I just get a lot of criticism from relatives at home that I shouldn't stay out here for too long, and that I should come home to build my career. Now I know that of course this depends on the career track you want and the job you have, but if you are working in your chosen field, surely there is no problem working in China for a while? I'm going on three years now, and the relatives keep getting pushier...

9 years 24 weeks ago in  Business & Jobs - China

 
Highest Voted
Posts: 164

Governor

1
1
You must be a registered user to vote!
You must be a registered user to vote!
0

I can relate.  Have been here 3+ years.  And have been quite fortunate with good jobs and connections.  Life is pretty easy.  However, I believe at this point it would be wise to return home soon.  Don't want to get too used to this easy lifestyle. Feeling ambition being drained away.

ironman510:

Where are you from? Could you easily get a job in your home country without arrogantly saying: No problem of course I can? I'm an IT but been a teacher for 13 years in Asia. If I returned to the U.S there would be lines of people going for the same job that I would  apply for, I know I tried last year for fun, just to test the market back home. Too many job seekers and not enough jobs in the U.S. I'll be staying & saving here, (wisely.)

9 years 24 weeks ago
Report Abuse

tbh66:

Sorry for you, 13 years!  IT has changed so much.  In this amount of time I am Lao ban!

9 years 24 weeks ago
Report Abuse

tbh66:

More like tinman

9 years 24 weeks ago
Report Abuse
Report Abuse
9 years 24 weeks ago
 
Answers (11)
Comments (9)
Posts: 164

Governor

1
1
You must be a registered user to vote!
You must be a registered user to vote!
0

I can relate.  Have been here 3+ years.  And have been quite fortunate with good jobs and connections.  Life is pretty easy.  However, I believe at this point it would be wise to return home soon.  Don't want to get too used to this easy lifestyle. Feeling ambition being drained away.

ironman510:

Where are you from? Could you easily get a job in your home country without arrogantly saying: No problem of course I can? I'm an IT but been a teacher for 13 years in Asia. If I returned to the U.S there would be lines of people going for the same job that I would  apply for, I know I tried last year for fun, just to test the market back home. Too many job seekers and not enough jobs in the U.S. I'll be staying & saving here, (wisely.)

9 years 24 weeks ago
Report Abuse

tbh66:

Sorry for you, 13 years!  IT has changed so much.  In this amount of time I am Lao ban!

9 years 24 weeks ago
Report Abuse

tbh66:

More like tinman

9 years 24 weeks ago
Report Abuse
Report Abuse
9 years 24 weeks ago
 
Posts: 2878

Shifu

0
0
You must be a registered user to vote!
You must be a registered user to vote!
0

Just depends what you are doing. I think a good rule of thumb is to honestly ask yourself if your job only exists because you live in China, or whether you can get ahead doing the same thing back home. 

 

if you're motivated you can make OK money in education here, but if you're not a qualified teacher in the west it doesn't matter if you're making 60-70K a year doing it here, you move back home and you're working at starbucks.

 

The reason a smart, ambitious person is in a developing country is because they had an opportunity to break into a field they want to be in...either for more money or to get themselves on the ladder.

dongbeiren:

Expat, I think you make a lot of good points all around. As for the education industry from my observations and limited experience it is POSSIBLE although an uphill climb to turn that into something solid (though not necessarily transferrable to back home and still not a "career" in the traditional sense). While the ceiling in the education industry is not that high (your figures sound about right) a person could save quite a bit of money in China earning that much. If that money is invested prudently, a person could set up a solid future. Now, most people in the education field here earn significantly less than that and even those at the top often lack real pensions and health benefits. The older people I've seen who can make a go of it 1) have tremendous financial discipline by saving a large percent of  income and therefore foregoing a lot of luxuries 2)  plan to retire in a developing country or live very simply back home and 3) don't get seriously sick. Now even with all of the above a person faces the risk of burning out and wanting a normal life after teaching for 10 years and as you say, their options will be severely restricted. To be honest, I think a lot of people who end up teaching in China really don't think of it as a  career but more of a lifestyle and a way to escape from regular life back home. I've noticed a lot of short sighted or live for the moment attitudes and a general antipathy towards the 9-5 lifestyle either because people couldn't hack it back home or really don't dig that lifestyle. 

9 years 24 weeks ago
Report Abuse

pbrown22:

Very good analysis there.  If you want to work in education here you should strongly consider to get certified back in your home country to teach a subject.  That way you can earn more money here and it may be more likely to get a job back home if you need to return. 

 

Just teaching English here is not transferrable to much of anything back home.  Don't need to feel bad though as if you can save well over a number of years and invest it its still possible to do better financially than most folks back home  With that maybe you can find some business opportunity. 

9 years 24 weeks ago
Report Abuse
Report Abuse
9 years 24 weeks ago
 
Posts: 7715

Emperor

0
0
You must be a registered user to vote!
You must be a registered user to vote!
0

I suspect where most of the problem comes from is that most of our friends and relatives only view this as some sort of an adventure, and a 'career' is something you have back home. A career is something stable, where you build your home, have your family and care, etc..

 

So, anything you do here isn't really a 'career'.

 

What you decide your career is, and where you should be building it, is up to you!

9 years 24 weeks ago
Report Abuse
Report Abuse
9 years 24 weeks ago
 
Posts: 162

Governor

2
0
You must be a registered user to vote!
You must be a registered user to vote!
2

Now. 

 

 

ilcornalito:

I'm trying really hard to get out of here, been looking for a job outside for about 1 year now and it's not an easy matter mostly because of my predominant experience in the Chinese market. I'm afraid staying here longer will make things even more difficult for me, personally I don't want to be stuck in China forever. 

9 years 24 weeks ago
Report Abuse

expatlife26:

What line of work are you in?

 

As long as you're doing something that is done by respectable people in the west you should be OK, and it's just a matter of gaining enough experience to be competitive for a mid-level position based on your exp here.

 

If you're stuck in something dead end you should definitely be making an exit plan because you're right. Somebody that comes fresh from college at 22, does nothing but teach ESL for 8 years is now 30 with no real experience.

9 years 24 weeks ago
Report Abuse

ilcornalito:

Oh, it's not a dead end for my career here, in fact I can develop it further than anywhere else. My choice is not about my career but my life, in my time in China I still have no real friends as back home and I haven't had any girlfriend. I find the cultural differences are too huge to make a long term life here and even though I'm 34 years old with an executive position in an American company I don't see anything else except work, beers and prostitutes happening for me here. Which is ok for a while but after sometime I wish I could get more out of life than that. Maybe I just miss my parents, brother and friends at home. 

 

 

9 years 24 weeks ago
Report Abuse
Report Abuse
9 years 24 weeks ago
 
Posts: 4421

Emperor

0
0
You must be a registered user to vote!
You must be a registered user to vote!
0

I would leave if my career was hinting or shifting towards becoming and unwilling a P.O.W.

Report Abuse
9 years 24 weeks ago
 
Posts: 1420

Shifu

0
0
You must be a registered user to vote!
You must be a registered user to vote!
0

For me, it was when I decided to move on with my life. China was fine, but I was in a holding pattern. I wanted a place that I could not only lay down roots and start a family but also where I could become part of a community and allow my career to grow. I have that now, and I didn't have to give up teaching ESL. I'm glad I spent the time that I did in China, but I knew when it was time to move on and I'm glad I did.

Report Abuse
9 years 24 weeks ago
 
Posts: 205

Governor

0
0
You must be a registered user to vote!
You must be a registered user to vote!
0

For me, I will just test the waters and see if there is something worthwhile to go back to.  If not, I will keep improving myself through education, work experience and added skills until there is.  I don't want to go back and use up my savings sitting at home waiting for that career back home to come to me.  I also don't want to take a low skill minimum wage type job to just prevent that from happening.  Remember, your last job is usually your greatest leverage when looking for a new one.

Report Abuse
9 years 24 weeks ago
 
0
0
You must be a registered user to vote!
You must be a registered user to vote!
0

I am going to start an accounting and management degree online. I studied English literature, history and philosophy. It isn't much use for working although I had plenty of work experience in machinery and construction.

 

I have a nice Chinese girlfriend, but her life is programmed by her relatives who have no idea about money, except that you need to worship it and kiss the arses of those who have it. If I could take her out, I'd do it in a nano-second.

 

I wouldn't necessarily go home, I'd just go somewhere else. Maybe Singapore or Hong Kong.

Report Abuse
9 years 24 weeks ago
 
Posts: 3256

Emperor

0
0
You must be a registered user to vote!
You must be a registered user to vote!
0

At the point that I can transfer my job to back home (or any place that my wife and I wish to settle down to), with an income allowing us to live decently. There's no point leaving China if it's to impose hardship to my wife Smile I'm about to relocate, last details to be fixed soon. If I could not transfer my job, then I would look for one in my destination of choice. That can work only if the years spent in China are recognized experience. Teaching in universities, working in companies, etc.

Report Abuse
9 years 24 weeks ago
 
Posts: 6

Governor

0
0
You must be a registered user to vote!
You must be a registered user to vote!
0

once your curiosity is satisfied OR you don't leave at all - set up a business, have a passive income, have great savings, have a great life - staying, going, never going to China at all - no matter what - save half your earnings, so when it comes to the winter of your life you can enjoy it with ease

Report Abuse
8 years 10 weeks ago
 
Posts: 6

Governor

0
0
You must be a registered user to vote!
You must be a registered user to vote!
0

once your curiosity is satisfied OR you don't leave at all - set up a business, have a passive income, have great savings, have a great life - staying, going, never going to China at all - no matter what - save half your earnings, so when it comes to the winter of your life you can enjoy it with ease

Report Abuse
8 years 10 weeks ago
 
Know the answer ?
Please or register to post answer.

Report Abuse

Security Code: * Enter the text diplayed in the box below
Image CAPTCHA
Enter the characters shown in the image.
  • Allowed HTML tags: <a> <em> <strong> <cite> <code> <ul> <ol> <li> <dl> <dt> <dd> <img> <br> <p> <u>
  • Web page addresses and e-mail addresses turn into links automatically.
  • Lines and paragraphs break automatically.
  • Textual smileys will be replaced with graphical ones.

More information about formatting options

Forward Question

Answer of the DayMORE >>
A:  "... through ..."?  Only "through" comes to mind is "S
A: "... through ..."?  Only "through" comes to mind is "Shenzhen agent can connect you with an employer, who's authorized to hire waigouren ... and can sponsor Z visa." It's not like every 10th person you meet in Shenzhen's hood can sponsor work visa ...  The only way to change from student to labourer visa is just a regular way by: 1. Finding an employer, who'll apply for an Invitation letter; 2. Exit China and apply for Z visa in your home country's Chinese embassy; 3. Enter China in 30-days after Z visa was stamped into your travelling instrument ...As I am aware, you won't be able to switch to Working permit by remaining in China....,so make ready for a return to your home .... -- icnif77