Foreigners flock to China for job opportunities (2)

Williams used to work as a bank manger in Newcastle, England, but he wanted to do something more exciting and came to Shanghai in January 2009 looking for a job in design and media.

"The projects and opportunities that I can work on here are great, and I've learned that developing countries will turn to China, not the US or UK, for inspiration when looking for the best practices in design, branding and architecture," he said.

"I think a foreigner can either come to teach English, or come as a highly educated and experienced expat with a good offer for a position and salary in hand. Those who don't belong to these two categories may have to fight for a job, because the requirements for foreign workers are quite high in the city," said Williams, who considers himself lucky.

But not every young foreigner in Shanghai is so lucky.

"I graduated last year without any work experience, and I had studied in Shanghai and Beijing over the past two years," said Piero Marzullo, a 23-year-old Italian who has been looking for a job in the city for more than two months.

Marzullo, who majored in Chinese at an Italian university, came to China in September hoping to find work as an interpreter. Although she has spent about five hours a day sending out resumes to employers, she has had no success yet.

"I've sent thousands of job applications to companies in Shanghai, and I just got about 20 interviews in return, which makes me doubt that speaking fluent Chinese is enough to get a job in China," she said.

Marzullo has noticed that most of the positions for foreigners in Shanghai are related to business management, marketing and finance. She is proficient in none of these.

"Hopefully, I can find a job that matches my education background as soon as possible, with a basic monthly salary of about 7,000 yuan ($1,100)," she said.

A number of headhunters and human resources consultancies have opened special sections to help foreigners find jobs.

"We've noticed that there are fresh graduates having problems finding jobs in China, for they lack work experience, which is essential if a foreigner wants to work in the country. We've suggested they go back to their home countries and return when they have at least two years' experience," said Tan Qian, an account manager in charge of foreigner recruitment at FESCO Adecco, one of the leading HR services companies in China.

As a HR services company, FESCO Adecco has long-term agreement with the government of South Korea to hold two job fairs annually in Beijing and Shanghai to help South Koreans find jobs in China.