Process | Mysite

Dear Contributor,

Thank you very much for providing value to our audience!

We want to inspire people (with your story) and give practical advice or even calls to action (your advice). Don’t hesitate to uncover brutal truths and negative things. Try to paint the real picture without a filter.

This requires a lot of hard work in advance to structure your thoughts. If you can roughly prepare your answers would be great, so your interview is smoother. It is important not to sound scripted.

This process below might sound a bit tough, but it is essential to keep our process consistent. We use a set of standard questions. You are free to choose the ones that are more suitable for your story or revise them.

Speak clearly and slowly, don`t waste time on generic topics, show how your story is unique and what you would like to share in this episode. Please plan around 90 seconds per answer, with one or two exceptions. Time is important, as we want to hand over into the advice or how-to part.

1) All about you - (8 min)

Start your episode with a self-intro (personal background, education, why China).
Which profession are you introducing today, and why did you choose this job?
How did you get your first job in China?
What were the working conditions like? (Salary, leadership style, stress) Good things/bad things.

2a) Advice - (10 min)

How does the job market in your field look like for flexpats? How can flexpats differentiate?
What skills should flexpats have in order to qualify for this job, and how can one find the best opportunities? (University degree? Language? Network?)
If you could start over...what would you do differently today when planning a life or career in China (In detail)?
You are in China X years, will you stay longer? What do you think is the right time period for a stay in China? Only some 1-2 years as a try or long-term like you?
Why bother? Why come to China after 2020? (Show some critical points and end with a positive conclusion if possible.)

This part is really crucial to our audience. Be very precise, not generic. Also, show some bad examples if you like, share your own experiences.

2b) Optional - "HowTo make it in China" - (10 min)

If (only if) you prefer to share some individual advice to our audience (which they really love!), please consider changing 2a to 2b. Design your own HowTo Questions.

Choose 2-5 questions.

How to find a job in China?
How to differentiate from Chinese?
How to start a company and get the paperwork done?
How to get a visa in China if you just graduated from university?
How to train Chinese teams to work internationally?
How to find a job as an expat wife?
How to get promoted in China without causing trouble with the Chinese team?
How work for a Chinese boss?
How to travel in China efficiently?
How to learn Chinese in one year?
How to work in China without Chinese?
How to build great leaders?
How to plan your return back home?
Etc.

Please feel free to design your own HowTo and explain to us why it is relevant to flexpats.

3) Closing: Last bit of advice for flexpats? - (90 sec)

Use this to summarize your advice. How you can help, or which book you can recommend? Is it essential to speak Mandarin Chinese? Or instead leadership, culture integration training? Be brief.

Wow.

You read this far and would still like to record an episode?

Our personal advice is: Think about it for a few days. Copy all these questions above to a text document and structure your own episode, including a few bullet points or the full answers. Then send it to us to get some feedback.

Who fails to plan plans to fail. Good preparation is essential for a good episode.

Technical issues:

The meeting will be arranged on Zoom, Teams, or Skype, planned by us.

Please make sure you block 45 minutes. Make sure to:

have a good WiFi
remove any background noise (notifications, phone calls, TV, etc.)
use a good microphone and headphones (iPhone headset is good enough)

Please relax: Everything will be fine. One hour of preparation is more than enough to create a clear structure.