Find Work in Beijing: The Employment Handbook

So you're in Beijing, or you're moving to Beijing, but an unanswered question for you remains: where and how do you find work in Beijing?

I've tackled this article more as a "how to" for foreign and expatriate workers - I'm sort of assuming here that you're not local (however, if you are, just ignore the parts on visas and other government requirements). For the purposes of this piece, then, we're assuming that things are a little more complicated for you than simply needing to find a job - there are work permit restrictions and other regulations to worry about, too.

Finding a job in Beijing is a little different from finding work in the Western world in the sense that, many times, companies function more organically and less mechanically - whereas a Western company may decide it needs a specific role, and then begins looking for people to fill that role, a company in China may not have specific roles it's looking to fill - but if people from that company meet you, and like you, and think you'd be a good fit for the business, you may just be extended an offer.

Rules and Regulations

Before you take on gainful employment in China, you want to make sure you know the lay of the land, legally speaking.

Every country has its own rules and regulations to follow in order to get the necessary clearances to work. These are required before a foreigner can reside permanently and work legally. Commonly, such laws are viewed as a safeguard for the local population who might otherwise face hardship in the employment sense were the government to completely open the doors of the job market to too many foreign workers.

Certain rules and guidelines have been put in place to ensure compliance when employed in Beijing, and both the employer and individual are subject to the conditions laid down in law. Failure to work within the rules can have potentially devastating consequences, and could even lead to arrest, imprisonment and possible deportation! Once you have a black mark against your name, future travel into China could prove more difficult.

Therefore, despite what some unscrupulous employers may tell you, it's very important to make sure you're following the letter of the law, assuming you want to avoid having any problems with the law.

That said, it isn’t quite “mission impossible” to obtain the necessary permits to work so long as you dot your "i"s and cross your "t"s. Going through due process does mean that you get to enter the country knowing that you are safe from harassment and free to do your thing.

Legally Working in China: 10 Rules to Know

Rules are made to be broken; we have all heard this said more than once, but when it comes to the rules governing work in Beijing, the strongest advice I can give is that you ignore them at your peril.

It's common for employers at many small businesses and even schools to skip the work visa process; companies in China are limited based on their size and the kind of business license they have as to how many expatriate employees they can employ. It's not uncommon to find expatriates with only tourist visas (which do NOT allow the visa holder to legally work in China) working as English teachers or in various other odd jobs for Chinese firms (multinational firms will make sure you're properly legal'ed up because they don't want to skimp on following the rules and create headaches for themselves in a large and rapidly-growing market that many of them are fighting to get into right now).

However, this is not advised... while a Chinese company usually won't get more than a slap on the wrist for having you on the books without the proper visa, YOU may well end up on the next airplane out of the country if caught working illegally.

So, even before we look at finding work itself, let’s take a brief look at what you need to know and understand, with each of the following pulled from the Beijing Municipal Bureau's guide on "Working in Beijing."

Employers wishing to secure the services of a foreign person for work purposes - and foreign individuals wanting to work in Beijing - must do so in terms of specific rules and guidelines applying to:

1. Laws and regulations (employer's responsibility): Understanding the principles pertaining to labor laws and employment issues and processes.

2. Obtaining an employment license (employer's responsibility): Arranging the license and then abiding by the conditions stipulated. This is how a company becomes legally allowed by the Chinese government to hire employees.
   

3. Applying for the necessary employment visa to obtain entry to and work in Beijing (your responsibility): Obtaining an employment visa as required by the foreign individual. While your company will provide you with the company details you need to get your work visa, it is your responsibility to use those permit details to apply for and secure that visa. If you are in Beijing on a tourist visa and are hired to a Beijing-based company while inside the country, you will normally need to leave China to apply for your work (Z) visa at a consulate outside the country (Hong Kong is usually recommended for this).
   

4. Securing an employment permit which allows the foreign person to work (your responsibility): Once your work permit is issued, you still need to pick it up from the consulate!

5. Applying for a residency certificate (your responsibility): This is not required to work in China, however can afford you more flexibility to move about and work where preferred should you get it. Temporary or permanent residency is open to spouses and family members of Chinese citizens, as well as to those who have invested $500,000+ in China over a period of three or more straight years, and to high-level employees in certain organizations (factories, universities, businesses doing work for the state) that have lived in China for three or more years.
   

6. Arranging the annual inspection of the employment permit check (employer's responsibility): A routine administrative function.

7. Changing employment permit conditions if necessary (employer's responsibility): Any changes in the workplace conditions need to be relayed by your employer to the authorities.

8. Requesting an extension of employment term (employer's responsibility): Another regulatory check point, to ensure that everything remains above board and legal.

9. Renewing of employment permit before it expires (your responsibility): If you want to keep being able to work in China, you've of course got to renew your work permit before it expires! It's normally recommended you allow 2 weeks prior to your permit's expiration date.
   

10. Closing the employment permit upon completion of the term (employer's responsibility): When you're all done working for a given company, it's that company's responsibility to let the Beijing government know you are no longer an employee there.

Job Seeking in the City

Now that you know what you need to work in Beijing within the bounds of the law, let’s look at actually finding the job.

A good start will of course be a well-prepared résumé (or CV - curriculum vitae - the more common term in China), but the question you’ll no doubt be asking is what is different about the Beijing job market? The main difference is the one mentioned at the start of this article: that hiring in China, while sometimes done to fill given roles, often follows a rule of "find a position for people you like."

Turning the situation around, try asking yourself why a Beijing-based employer would want to hire you in the first place. Perhaps it is down to a unique set of skills that you have to offer, or you’re a qualified English language teacher keen to impart your knowledge to Chinese students - for teaching English in China, at all but the best schools, either a TEFL / TESOL certificate or a 4-year college degree is sufficient.

For works of other kinds, however, you'll need experience and credentials - same as anywhere else.

Being able to communicate effectively in Mandarin (as in a good understanding of the spoken and written word) is a big helper in getting hired, particularly for lower and mid-level corporate positions; the higher up the corporate ladder you climb, however, the less necessary language abilities become. Mandarin originates from Beijing and is the dialect used most widely right around China. Cantonese is also in general use but is quite different to Mandarin, so don’t assume people will follow automatically - kind of like having a good understanding of English and trying to decipher French!

How to Find Work in Beijing

Relationships - or guangxi in Chinese - are something you will hear again and again that you must have and develop to have a successful career in China. And while relationships and networking are a key to finding work in any country, in China they are especially so.

Because there are so many Chinese in China - and so many in Beijing, with the metropolitan area home to north of 20 million people - trying to find work online for an average Chinese is extremely competitive... on some of the Chinese-language job search sites, for instance, a normal job post will receive close to 1,000 CVs.

That's a lot of applicants for a hiring manager to sort through.

Fortunately, the expatriate and English-speaking community in town is smaller and more intimate, and there exist a variety of avenues for finding work. However, guangxi remains crucial.

Securing the right to work in Beijing is no walk in the park as we have just discussed, so good connections are important. The old adage that says it’s not what you know but rather who, is still relevant in job seeking. Get known to relevant groups of expat networks, it makes good sense. Do some upfront research, because you don’t want to join up with a special interest group that has no bearing on the direction you plan to follow.

A friend came to Beijing in 2008 with no connections and a spotty employment background as a Boston ambulance driver and public school teacher and a construction worker in Antarctica during the summer months. A shy person by default, he pushed himself to frequent Chamber of Commerce meetings in Beijing by the various chambers in town, including:

• The American Chamber of Commerce, Beijing
• The Canadian Chamber of Commerce, Beijing
• The British Chamber of Commerce, Beijing
• The Australian Chamber of Commerce, Beijing
• The Swiss Chamber of Commerce, Beijing
• The German Chamber of Commerce, Beijing

He'd force himself to go around and meet the people in attendance, focusing on older individuals present (since he assumed they'd be the ones higher up in their companies and more likely to be in a position to be hiring or know someone who was).

With every new contact, he would follow up via email, and try to provide useful information or conversation based on what he knew about the person.

In the process of meeting new people at the Chamber meetings, he met a number of politicians and CEOs from top companies in the Fortune 500.

After some months of this, he was offered a job by one of his new contacts doing drafting for an architectural firm, and from there he quickly made his way to the Director of Marketing and Director of Business Development positions there... much to my surprise, given his previous work history.

There is opportunity here, if you know how to look... and if you aren't afraid of a little networking, and a little guangxi.

More Ways to Find Work

It’s easier to find work once you're already inside China than when you're outside of it - however, the only way you get offered the juiciest expatriate packages are when you're outside of China and they want to bring you in. Expatriate packages typically come with higher pay (closer to what you'd be paid in your home country than what you'd be paid in China), transportation and housing allowances, and even corporate housing, so you don't need to bother to find an apartment here.

You'll get a lot fewer of these bonuses getting hired when already within the country... however, it's a lot easier to find work in Beijing when you're already in Beijing.

So balance your search based on what's more important to you: getting hired ASAP (in which case, move to Beijing first), or getting hired for the job with the highest pay and greatest perks (in which case, search from abroad first).

The Classifieds

Here are some useful websites to help you get a feel for what’s out there by way of work in Beijing:

• The Beijinger – Register and set up an account so that you can be advised by email when something appropriate to your experience comes through.

• Craigslist: Beijing – Once you logon to this useful portal, look for the “Jobs” button and follow up the categories that interest you.

• China Job.Com – Some of these websites are really serious about helping you find work; successfully placing foreigners is how they make their money. Keep a watch for Job Fair for Foreigners on this portal too.

• Job China – Yet another useful source of information for job seekers!

You can find both short-term and long-term employment on these sites, depending on what you're looking for. Give them a shot and see what you can find.

Teaching Posts

Finding a teaching position is one of the easiest ways of securing work in Beijing for many people, and English teachers are in demand, if not paid as highly as in, say, South Korea (salaries typically range from ¥7,000 per month at the low end to ¥16,000 per month at the high end, although you can sometimes earn ¥20,000+ per month teaching at a university with enough experience and solid credentials).

Chinese students are driven to learn English - in fact, English is a mandatory part of Chinese education - and there are many openings for qualified teachers. Parents are keen to get their kids going in the language from an early age, so you’ll see a lot of advertisements for pre-school and nursery levels age groups.

If you want to teach English in Beijing, it's best to have secured your position for the fall semester between April and June (and you can sometimes start looking as early as February); by July, most of the next year's positions are snapped up. That said, if you're in Beijing and a native English speaker, you can usually find somewhere to teach whatever time of the year it is - there are always schools that have openings when a teacher has suddenly left in the middle of the year for whatever reason (or they never found a proper instructor) and they now need to hire someone else.

Some schools have programs and lesson plans for you, but some will throw you in off the deep end even if it's your first time teaching - a good TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) course before you start teaching and good use of online lesson plans are your friends.

Internships

If as a foreigner you hold the relevant (equivalent) qualifications, working as an intern could be an option to work in Beijing. However, rewards are small and the costs of living in this bustling city are very high. This means you probably will need to subsidize your monthly take home pay somehow.

Working in Beijing

I hope this article has given you a few ideas to spur on your hunt for work in the Beijing job market. Securing a position can be something of an undertaking and requires determination, commitment, and most of all action. If you're willing to put some effort into it though - and aren't afraid of introducing yourself at networking events and getting to know the right people - I'm confident you'll have no trouble working in our fast-moving and dynamic city.

And of course, once you're ready to travel, I can be of further service when it comes to the matter of finding and securing accommodation to suit your budget - just let me know when you're reading to start looking for an apartment in Beijing and what area you're looking for, your budget, and anything else you think is relevant - you can send me a note via the “Contact page” form.

I’m Cerise Bai, Owner & Realtor, and I hope you’ll drop by again soon to explore my articles on Beijing. Best of luck with your work search, and may you find an incredible job!

Yours,
Cerise