Getting a job with a Western company
A lot of people all over Asia are very interested in getting a good job at a Western company. There is a lot of competition to get good jobs at these companies. Unfortunately for many people, they have no idea what is important in getting these kinds of jobs. I live in Shanghai and hear people talking about this all the time. They are so worried about their educational credits like passing CET or other well-known English tests. They are concerned that the university they went to isn’t good enough. Education and tests might be important for many of these jobs, especially if you are just sending in a resume. However, there are many other things that may be even more important that are often overlooked. For example, when a westerner chooses a suitable person for a job, they are looking for someone they can trust, who they can communicate with without major problems, a person they believe is capable of learning new things, and a person who is capable of dealing with things and thinking about things in a Western way. When they interview or talk to a person, they are already judging what kind of person they are, how good their English level is, and if they think you can understand their way of thinking. For example, when I talk to someone, I will automatically evaluate their English level and communication skill. I really don’t care what tests you have or haven’t passed. I know what your English level is from talking to you. It doesn’t matter what tests you say you have. I also will evaluate how capable I think you would be working in a western environment based on our conversation, not based on which university you went to or anything else.
Building trust is a hugely important thing, especially when dealing with different cultures. The boss needs to trust his or her employees. There are so many differences in Western and Eastern cultures. In Western culture, it’s extremely important to admit your mistakes. It’s normal to make some mistakes when you are working. The boss wants to see that you will learn from the mistake and won’t make it again in the future. If you don’t admit the mistake, or make excuses, the boss will see you as a liar, or a person who doesn’t understand why it was a mistake. They will be afraid you will hide other things or make the same mistake in the future. You must apologize for your mistakes and work on correcting them. Making a mistake is not a big deal. On the other hand, hiding a mistake is a huge deal.
I come across this all time in my daily life in China. Yesterday I went to buy a DVD. I called the store first to see if they had the DVD and they said they did. Then when I got there they didn’t have it. The woman in the store wasn’t the person I spoke with on the phone so she didn’t really know what happened. I told her my story about calling for the DVD and how the person said they had it. She told me “impossible”. She said that maybe I didn’t speak clearly on the phone. Or maybe I didn’t say the name of the movie clearly. This is interesting because of course she doesn’t know the truth. She wasn’t on the phone with me. She was only guessing. I am 100% sure that I said the name of the movie clearly. I think that the person on the phone didn’t really check to see if they had it and just thought they did. Basically this woman tried to make me feel that it was my mistake and not the mistake of the store. In western culture, this woman should have apologized to me on behalf of the store. She should have said something like, “Oh, I’m so sorry you had to come all the way down here for this. Please give me your phone number and I’ll call you as soon as the movie comes in. I’ll make sure this won’t happen again. Again, I’m really sorry about this.” Instead, the woman tried to make me feel it was my fault. This made me even angrier than them not having the movie. I would have been ok with an apology. Instead I decided I would never go to that store again. This is the way of thinking of Western culture in this situation.
I’ll try to think of some more examples and situations for how Westerners think and would handle a situation. The better you are at understanding this, the more job opportunities you will have.
Please share your comments.
Andrew
July 2nd, 2007 at 10:05 am
Andrew,if I was in your shoes,I won’t care whose fault it was.Maybe the person you spoke with on the phone didn’t catch the name of that DVD.Maybe that person didn’t know what you are talking about in English at all,therefore she pretended to know what she did’t know!So the only word comes out of her mind was “YES”! It’s more about a person’s abilities of dealing with different people!and for that lady,she turns out to be that type of people who always balme others!This is not merely a matter of East-West cultural differences,it is also a matter of an individual self-cultivation!BTW,I’m a shanghainese!^-^
July 3rd, 2007 at 6:40 am
Dear Andrew,
Thank you for that in depth presentation of Western attitude towards lies, truth, mistakes and relationships. The post is awesome. Please keep on with your explanations of Western culture as it seems to be of a great interest to eastern people, which I am in part as I’m from Russia. In addition, I admit that I also would like to join one of western companies operating in Russia and it’s a great aid for me personally.
Thanks for your effort and time.
Regards,
Dmitry.
July 5th, 2007 at 1:33 am
Andrew,if I were you, I would never go to that store again too. But it isn’t the matter of differences between western and eastern culture, I am a chinese, and I would have the same feeling as you in that situation. I would like to agree with the first replyer, it is a matter of an individual self-cultivation, you know, and it is also a fair of how to do business successfully. That store, wouldn’t be successful if it continues treating buyers like that.
By the way, what do you think of pirate DVD? In china, it is very easy to buy a pirate DVD, then it only takes a few money that you can enjoy the newest film. Do you think it is convenient for people?
July 19th, 2007 at 2:22 am
hi Andrew,
you are an amazing writer i think
I have never been treated with a good service here.
for the developed contries, if they want to success they have a long ahead plan with the service first.
if I were you, I wouldn’t go to the shop in the future.
August 2nd, 2007 at 8:47 am
Though I work at American Company, most of my colleagues are Chinese as it is in China. What I am trying to say is that is a fact that Chinese people do hide their mistake or put-off the mistake to others. It always occurs in my company.
September 27th, 2007 at 3:25 am
In Australia while most stores would apologize for that behavior we have quite a few that wouldn’t too. No one has a monopoly on bad service but you make a good point in general.
September 2nd, 2009 at 4:55 pm
I think your case with dvd could happen in Russia. Not always but very often people tend to lie here.
I had a similar case few years ago. I wanted to buy a roller skates of a particular brand. I called to the sport shop and asked if they had my size. I got the positive answer and went for it. When I hit the spot I found nothing. I tried to find a pearson I was talking to by the phone. But it seemed to me that the stuff in this shop was covering each other back really well and found out nothing.
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February 6th, 2010 at 3:31 pm
After returning to Eastern Europe from Japan, my impressions about service were quite similar to yours in China.
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