Reverse Outsourcing Myself
Last Friday, I had my first interview. A friend works for a large, Chinese software company located in the Beijing version of the Silicon Valley (the buildings nearby are all very new and futuristic). She suggested I talk with their HR.
I arrive with plenty of time, although the taxi driver has to stop and ask about eight people where to go, after I had already called the office and asked them to give him directions. In the building lobby, I try to write down my selling points to get in the i-mood. “Excellent written English.” “Has a foggy idea what finite automata are.” “Plays well with others.” “Uses deodorant and bathes regularly.” Yeah, I ran out quick.
So, assuming that per Chinese time I ought to be ten minutes early, I go up to the company’s floor. And lo and behold I went in the wrong end of the building. That is probably what the security guard tried to tell me when I asked him if I was in the right place. They don’t have a public entrance on that side, but I come across about five employees who let me in and then go about paging my interviewer. The offices could be mistaken for any big cubicle farm in the U.S. All the computers are up-to-date with flat screens.
My interviewer finds the lost, lost waiguoren and introduces me to the HR director of her division. And the fun begins. My interviewer is actually dressed more casually than I’ve ever seen at a big company. She wears what appears to be some rock group T-shirt.
The HR director understands English, but ends up giving questions through my interviewer. So I get an opportunity to see how much comprehension I’ve developed in the past eight weeks. Surprisingly, I understand a fair amount, though in pieces.
I’m interviewing for two possible positions. One is teaching English, but turns out to be only a few hours a week. After giving a Woody Allen style rambling reply to the open question “so tell us about you,” we spend ten minutes discussing my Visa situation. They think I need to go back to the U.S. to change my status, I think I just need to go to Hong Kong.
“Really,” I tell them, “my long term goal is a technical writer position.” If I was to teach English part-time I would study Mandarin more intensively. The HR director leaves, and then a technical director comes that has a tester position to fill. It’s another case of listening to the interviewer and director Mando-chitchat in between questions. “We like to hire foreigners.” After describing my work experience, using my simplified resume, they are prepared to talk turkey. “What’s your salary demands?”
I sit there stupidly for a little too long. “Uhhh…I’m trying to think in RMB…I think in dollars. I have heard a range of 10,000 to 30,000 RMB/month.” After a little more back and forth, I tell them I wouldn’t do the tester position for less than 16000 RMB (or $2000 U.S.). They are able to offer half of this. I probably explain my logic too openly, but I tell them I’m not willing to work for less per hour than I would teaching English.
I finally tell them I could negotiate more with a technical writer position, as it would be more inline with my career goals. She asks for the copies of my resume, and we cancel the second interview I would have had with the Testing Director. And today, this afternoon I hear back from a Vice President of the company that they might have such a position, but that they have to contact their American client company first after hearing my salary demands. “You want a Senior-level salary.” So we shall see whether I have a second interview with a different division of the company.
It’s somewhat difficult to adjust to the different pay scales here, but how I look at it is in terms of PPP (purchasing power parity). Their salary for tester would provide a very decent living here, as the costs of many items are a third to a fourth of what they are in the U.S. And services like housekeeping are even cheaper. But since I have some loans, etc. back in the U.S. that I must pay U.S. prices for, I would need more than what is comfortable for someone native born.
Part of my debate is whether to move to a cheaper, out-of-the-way city, for low pay/low work at a university, or to stay in Beijing (or go to Shanghai or Taiwan). The drawbacks to going to the out-of-the-way places are that you might become a bit of a sideshow, since in some places there are only a handful of foreigners (and even here in Beijing, you are still somewhat a sideshow). Also, it’s harder to find things to do on a Saturday night, and there’s less variety of people, restaurants, and English books to find. I also don’t want to have to learn another dialect right now when I barely understand the Beijing dialect. The advantages are a more tranquil environment, better weather and maybe air that’s marginally breathable.
I arrive with plenty of time, although the taxi driver has to stop and ask about eight people where to go, after I had already called the office and asked them to give him directions. In the building lobby, I try to write down my selling points to get in the i-mood. “Excellent written English.” “Has a foggy idea what finite automata are.” “Plays well with others.” “Uses deodorant and bathes regularly.” Yeah, I ran out quick.
So, assuming that per Chinese time I ought to be ten minutes early, I go up to the company’s floor. And lo and behold I went in the wrong end of the building. That is probably what the security guard tried to tell me when I asked him if I was in the right place. They don’t have a public entrance on that side, but I come across about five employees who let me in and then go about paging my interviewer. The offices could be mistaken for any big cubicle farm in the U.S. All the computers are up-to-date with flat screens.
My interviewer finds the lost, lost waiguoren and introduces me to the HR director of her division. And the fun begins. My interviewer is actually dressed more casually than I’ve ever seen at a big company. She wears what appears to be some rock group T-shirt.
The HR director understands English, but ends up giving questions through my interviewer. So I get an opportunity to see how much comprehension I’ve developed in the past eight weeks. Surprisingly, I understand a fair amount, though in pieces.
I’m interviewing for two possible positions. One is teaching English, but turns out to be only a few hours a week. After giving a Woody Allen style rambling reply to the open question “so tell us about you,” we spend ten minutes discussing my Visa situation. They think I need to go back to the U.S. to change my status, I think I just need to go to Hong Kong.
“Really,” I tell them, “my long term goal is a technical writer position.” If I was to teach English part-time I would study Mandarin more intensively. The HR director leaves, and then a technical director comes that has a tester position to fill. It’s another case of listening to the interviewer and director Mando-chitchat in between questions. “We like to hire foreigners.” After describing my work experience, using my simplified resume, they are prepared to talk turkey. “What’s your salary demands?”
I sit there stupidly for a little too long. “Uhhh…I’m trying to think in RMB…I think in dollars. I have heard a range of 10,000 to 30,000 RMB/month.” After a little more back and forth, I tell them I wouldn’t do the tester position for less than 16000 RMB (or $2000 U.S.). They are able to offer half of this. I probably explain my logic too openly, but I tell them I’m not willing to work for less per hour than I would teaching English.
I finally tell them I could negotiate more with a technical writer position, as it would be more inline with my career goals. She asks for the copies of my resume, and we cancel the second interview I would have had with the Testing Director. And today, this afternoon I hear back from a Vice President of the company that they might have such a position, but that they have to contact their American client company first after hearing my salary demands. “You want a Senior-level salary.” So we shall see whether I have a second interview with a different division of the company.
It’s somewhat difficult to adjust to the different pay scales here, but how I look at it is in terms of PPP (purchasing power parity). Their salary for tester would provide a very decent living here, as the costs of many items are a third to a fourth of what they are in the U.S. And services like housekeeping are even cheaper. But since I have some loans, etc. back in the U.S. that I must pay U.S. prices for, I would need more than what is comfortable for someone native born.
Part of my debate is whether to move to a cheaper, out-of-the-way city, for low pay/low work at a university, or to stay in Beijing (or go to Shanghai or Taiwan). The drawbacks to going to the out-of-the-way places are that you might become a bit of a sideshow, since in some places there are only a handful of foreigners (and even here in Beijing, you are still somewhat a sideshow). Also, it’s harder to find things to do on a Saturday night, and there’s less variety of people, restaurants, and English books to find. I also don’t want to have to learn another dialect right now when I barely understand the Beijing dialect. The advantages are a more tranquil environment, better weather and maybe air that’s marginally breathable.
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4:59 AM
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