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April 11, 2011

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Jobs for teachers dominate fair

A JOB fair for foreigners attracted more than 1,000 would-be employees over the weekend, but many seemed disappointed with the selection of positions on offer.

More than half of the employers with a stand at the Shanghai fair, an event organized by Chinajob.com, were schools looking for native speaker English teachers.

The fair, now in its seventh year and offering 800 openings, is intended to be a platform for international professionals, especially at areas such as clean energy and biological medicine.

Jared Turner, a job hunter from the United States, said he was disappointed with the event. He graduated with an MBA and came to Shanghai seeking an opening in marketing after turning down two offers in the States.

"Many of the jobs here are teaching jobs," said Turner. "I hope there will be a more diverse range of companies in future."

An official, surnamed Wang, from the Shanghai Overseas Talent Service Center, admitted that educational institutes were the main sector at the fair, and that the match-up between businesses and job seekers was not yet perfect.

"The problem is we do not know where to contact companies in other sectors in need of foreign talents," he added.

But he claimed the situation has improved, with employers in IT, engineering, finance and pharmaceuticals showing an interest.

Another fair may be held later this year, said Wang.

At present, there are about 260,000 foreigners who have been living in the city for more than six months.

An engineer from Australia who came to Shanghai five years ago said job hunting online was more useful, and dismissed the teaching jobs on offer. "Teaching jobs are at the bottom of the market for foreigners, as they have no prospects," he claimed.

However, some schools were themselves unimpressed by the calibre of possible recruits. Sergei Bismillah from Language Key, which is recruiting business English trainers, said good candidates are difficult to find.

Xia Bing, an official from the State Administration of Foreign Experts Affairs, said this year's fair attracted more job applicants and employers than previous events.

Xia attributed this to Shanghai's higher profile after the World Expo last year, pointing out that the International Monetary Fund came from Washington to recruit people to work in the US.

People who missed the fair can go to www.chinajob.com for further information.


 

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