Everyday I commute to work on the subway and I have to transfer from Line 13 to Line 2. Normally a transfer is an unpleasant part of the subway, exasperating but not too horrific. However, Xizhimen station is not a normal transfer station, and its ease of transfer is clearly on the ‘horrific’ side of things. It’s pretty bad. Every time I go through the station I want to pull my hair out and maim the management behind the station. You see the reason the station drives me crazy so much is not really because the transfer is bad, its because it could be so much better with minimal work. The infrastructure is there, so why have there not been any changes?
Let me explain through a series of photos (these will have to wait until I get home) how you are supposed to transfer from Line 13 to Line 2. Line 13 is an elevated line, and Line 2 is underground. When I first came to Beijing they were changing parts of Xizhimen station to improve the transfer and to add another line to the station, Line 4 (which I don’t use very often). While they were building a corridor to transfer from Line 2 to Line 13 (and presumably vise-versa), they built a ‘temporary’ way to transfer. Temporary is in quotations because they still use this transfer route! The temporary route takes one outside of the raised portion of the station, down a sidewalk and into underground section. The sidewalk area has been fenced off so people from the street can’t sneak on. It is very slow and, and they have inexplicably built what I like to call a ‘cattle corall’ for everyone to walk through to make it even slower.
Before the indoor corridor was completed, passengers transferring in both directions (13 to 2, 2 to 13) had to use this outdoor abomination, and it was very slow going indeed. Presumably, with the completion of the corridor, the outdoor transfer would be abandoned. It has not been! Half of the corridor is used for Line 2 to Line 13 passengers, while the other half is not even used! It sits empty. Line 13 to Line 2 passengers must still use the nightmarish outdoor transfer. Why, why, why? I would love to have a good talking to with the sadistic managers of the station to hear why perfectly good infrastructure sits unused while passengers are subject to daily torment.
I have however found a way to prevent myself from being subjected to such daily pain. I now jump over a barrier in the raised part of the station to go use the corridor to transfer from Line 13 to Line 2. No one seems to care that I do this, and it makes my day so much better!
Tuesday 15 December 2009
Friday 11 December 2009
Finding an Internship in China
When I graduated from university I had a vague idea of what I wanted to do: go to China (specifically Beijing), study for a bit and then find a job. I had no idea how actually go about finding the job, but felt that with my qualifications (a history degree) that I would be better-off finding something in China rather than Canada. I’m not picky, and all that I wanted was a job in business. After I started working I could decided whether I liked it or wanted to find something else.
According to recent media reports, many recent graduates have been departing the west to search for opportunity in China. A New York Times article (http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/11/business/economy/11expats.html) describes this phenomenon indicating that China is a ‘land of opportunity’. Opportunities may abound, but how does one find them, especially without connections? This was the problem that I was confronted with after completing my Chinese studies in Beijing in January. I didn’t want to study anymore because I felt I needed to get going with my life. I wanted to be self-sufficient.
I met a couple of people who were studying in my program who were also looking for internships. These two girls were looking for internships in PR. Now, I didn’t really know what PR actually was (something to do with the media?) but I decided to look in the same field after doing some research. The work seemed well-suited to me, as it involved a lot of writing and critical thinking, both things that I could do.
I went back home to Canada in February to get a new visa and researched companies while there. I sent some emails directly to companies and was delighted have arranged an interview for the day after I got back. The day of my interview I was very tired, but I thought it went quite well. I was only interviewed by the lady in HR and given an exam. She assured me that someone would get back to me. The following week, I got a call from another HR manager about doing an interview. Since I had been rejected from the first place, this was a welcome development. I did an interview with the HR manager and then another interview with a senior person in the company. Finally I had an interview with three Chinese people, which did not go well. A week later I was turned down. However, the failed interview was a valuable experience for me. I learned that the way to be successful in interviews is to tell the interviewee what they want to hear. I did not follow this, and said some things which, in hindsight, someone hiring would not want to hear.
At this point, I had no more leads and was in a difficult position. I had already emailed most of the PR companies in Beijing. I decided I would have to more aggressive. However, I had not yet contacted Chinese companies, just multinationals. Instead of emailing into a black hole, I decided to go directly to a company’s office. I chose one company quite randomly based on its location.
I was extremely nervous, but persisted, and visited the company’s office. I had some difficulty communicating with the receptionist about what I wanted (I didn’t know the word for internship), but I managed to get a meeting with the HR manager. She was very nice and she told me she would arrange an interview for me. A few days later, I had an interview with a foreigner who worked at the company. He was very young, but was nice and seemed very professional. His interview went well, and then I had a second inverview a week later with another person, a guy from Hong Kong. This interview also went well, and I was hired as an intern with a small salary.
The whole process took two months, but it does show that even if you have no connections in a city you don’t know, it is still possible to find an internship, or (hopefully) a job.
According to recent media reports, many recent graduates have been departing the west to search for opportunity in China. A New York Times article (http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/11/business/economy/11expats.html) describes this phenomenon indicating that China is a ‘land of opportunity’. Opportunities may abound, but how does one find them, especially without connections? This was the problem that I was confronted with after completing my Chinese studies in Beijing in January. I didn’t want to study anymore because I felt I needed to get going with my life. I wanted to be self-sufficient.
I met a couple of people who were studying in my program who were also looking for internships. These two girls were looking for internships in PR. Now, I didn’t really know what PR actually was (something to do with the media?) but I decided to look in the same field after doing some research. The work seemed well-suited to me, as it involved a lot of writing and critical thinking, both things that I could do.
I went back home to Canada in February to get a new visa and researched companies while there. I sent some emails directly to companies and was delighted have arranged an interview for the day after I got back. The day of my interview I was very tired, but I thought it went quite well. I was only interviewed by the lady in HR and given an exam. She assured me that someone would get back to me. The following week, I got a call from another HR manager about doing an interview. Since I had been rejected from the first place, this was a welcome development. I did an interview with the HR manager and then another interview with a senior person in the company. Finally I had an interview with three Chinese people, which did not go well. A week later I was turned down. However, the failed interview was a valuable experience for me. I learned that the way to be successful in interviews is to tell the interviewee what they want to hear. I did not follow this, and said some things which, in hindsight, someone hiring would not want to hear.
At this point, I had no more leads and was in a difficult position. I had already emailed most of the PR companies in Beijing. I decided I would have to more aggressive. However, I had not yet contacted Chinese companies, just multinationals. Instead of emailing into a black hole, I decided to go directly to a company’s office. I chose one company quite randomly based on its location.
I was extremely nervous, but persisted, and visited the company’s office. I had some difficulty communicating with the receptionist about what I wanted (I didn’t know the word for internship), but I managed to get a meeting with the HR manager. She was very nice and she told me she would arrange an interview for me. A few days later, I had an interview with a foreigner who worked at the company. He was very young, but was nice and seemed very professional. His interview went well, and then I had a second inverview a week later with another person, a guy from Hong Kong. This interview also went well, and I was hired as an intern with a small salary.
The whole process took two months, but it does show that even if you have no connections in a city you don’t know, it is still possible to find an internship, or (hopefully) a job.
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