From Teaching To Marketing, Casting Your Lot in China

The most common way Americans make a living in China, not surprisingly, is by teaching English to the Chinese or to American children in an international school.

In the latter situation, work conditions and pay are above average, plus you might meet parents who could get you another job if you tire of teaching.

In "Living Abroad in China," Stuart and Barbara Strother recommend trying to land an international school job through a Council of International Schools job fair. Candidates need a public-school teaching certificate.

To find such a job via the Internet, try TIE Online. Or use Appalachians Abroad (based at Marshall University), which matches teachers with Chinese schools and provides pre-departure training for $1,350 for fall placement and $1,050 for spring placement.

Outside of teaching, the Strothers estimate that 40 percent of the jobs in China for Americans are in sales and marketing; 20 percent in engineering; 10 percent in management, including accounting and finance; and 5 percent in information technology. For such jobs in China, U.S. companies advertise heavily on Monster.com, while Chinese companies tend to use Zhaopin.com.

You can find both teaching and non-teaching job listings at ChinaJob.com.

Josh Wood, who runs ExpatExchange.com, an online community for U.S. expatriates, warns, "We've had people on our site talk about job openings that do not nearly resemble what they were promised. Are these the result of poor communication or misleading tactics? It's often hard to tell. So doing your homework is critical."

For example, before accepting a job, talk with Americans who work at the organization.