click here for Book Review: With Guides as Legacy, Coach Takes Her Leave by David Maguire, Shanghai Daily

click here for Book review: Work in Shanghai! / Live in Shanghai! by Claire Slipper, Urbanatomy website

Book Review: With Guides as Legacy, Coach Takes Her Leave (Shanghai Daily)

by David Maguire

21 June 2009

FRENCH-BORN career coach Audrey Merlevede leaves Shanghai today with her family for a new life in Vietnam where her husband has been transferred in his work with an international sporting equipment company.
Such is the lot of foreigners whose destiny is guided to a large extent by the global organizations employing them.
The Merlevedes have lived in Shanghai for seven and a half years, a posting abnormally long for the company but time enough to put down roots, expand a family and begin to think it is more than temporary.
The transfer's timing comes hot on the heels of a gearing up of Audrey's professional pursuits in the city in the form of the recent publication of a two-volume set of guide books designed to help foreigners live and work in Shanghai.
Ironically, similarly themed books would be handy now to help the Merlevedes settle into their new life in Ho Chi Minh City. In collaboration with another Shanghai expatriate, Australian writer Mel Broe, Audrey compiled and recently published "Work in Shanghai" and "Live in Shanghai," a pigeon pair which the French woman is now viewing as her legacy to the city.
"Work in Shanghai" is a 130-page guide for international job seekers who arrive with no connections and no idea how to start getting a job.
It includes anecdotes and tips on work skills in demand, companies recruiting foreigners and best job search strategies.
"Live in Shanghai" is a 160-page guide to making the living easier in this pulsing metropolis of 20 million people.
It includes school and study options, cultural mores and history, visa and medical options.
"The idea for 'Work in Shanghai' came when I couldn't take more clients and couldn't handle more people face to face or in workshops. I thought a book would reach out further," Audrey said this week.
"I have put everything into it I learned about the Shanghai job market, like the best leads, what works and what doesn't, because a job search in Shanghai isn't the same as in other markets. Two things that work great in Shanghai are a network and direct contact with employers," she said.
"Everything in China is about networking and the community spirit among expats really helps. People are more willing to help each other than they would in their home country and, believe me, people need to be helped."
She regrets that more people don't actually use the direct contact approach with prospective employers.
"When they can't find the right connections through their networking they sometimes just give up but although going direct takes courage, it is actually something that works great in Shanghai," she said.
The mother-of-three's training has been in business schools then working in marketing for international brands such as L'Oreal before getting qualifications from the International Coaching Academy.
"There are two parts to the coaching role. On one side, I help people define what the best career is for them and on the other I help them in the process to find a job," she said.
She has developed sharp insights into the local job market along the way. "People arrive thinking they can do better than the Chinese but don't know the Chinese are very competitive, they are at home, they know how things work and have a lot of qualities.
"And they are amazingly very hard working. In fact they are world champions. I've worked in many European countries and I've never seen this before. Maybe that's how the country has moved forward so fast."
As well as helping foreigners find work, she has assisted expatriates to change jobs. "A lot of people whose posting is finished don't want to return home because Shanghai is such a fascinating city so they try to switch companies," she said.
"The executive search firms in Shanghai are very competitive -- there's more than 2,000 of them -- and they don't always suit people.
"Even the big ones say that only a maximum of 5 percent of their jobs are for foreigners and are high-profile positions."
As she packs the bags and takes her leave, having massaged hundreds of foreigners' job seeking needs, Audrey reflects realistically on her experience of living in China. "I've worked in many countries which share a European culture so there's a great culture shock in China because of the totally different values," she said.
"What's great about living in China is that it takes you out of your 'other world' bubble and you start to see things from a totally different view," she said. "When you have been in China, you don't see the world like before any more."
Audrey has already started revising the books for the next edition but is handing over management of the publications to Mel Broe to maintain continuity.
The books are now available in hardcopy and digital versions for US$22 at Community Center of Shanghai outlets or can be ordered online (www.workinshanghai.net) and there are pricing options.

Book review: Work in Shanghai! / Live in Shanghai!

(from the Urbanatomy website)

by Clare Slipper
Tuesday, 24 March 2009 14:10

We’re always dubious of books with screaming exclamation marks in their title, but Audrey Merlevede and Mel Broe’s twin set, Work in Shanghai! and Live in Shanghai!, is so infectiously enthusiastic about both pursuits that we’re prepared to forgive them. (We also think any book that’s upbeat about working in Shanghai at a time of mass layoffs, pay cuts and redundancies deserves an encouragement prize.)
Split into two parts, Work in Shanghai! and Live in Shanghai! are in interactive e-book format, providing links to helpful websites and allowing easy navigation around the books themselves.
Work in Shanghai! is teeming with statistics, personal anecdotes and motivational quotes from career coaches, etiquette experts, and philosophers (even Einstein gets a plug) which encourage what the authors call the ‘right mindset.’ OK, sometimes the you-can-do-it psychobabble is a bit much, but there’s so much practical stuff here (targeting the right company, networking, interview techniques, head hunters, contract negotiation, etc.), and it’s so comprehensive that you just can’t fault it.
Live in Shanghai! is no less thorough in what it sets out to do. Issues that a Shanghai newcomer may be unsure about – dining etiquette, what to wear to work, how to deal with the issue of ‘face,’ etc. – are explained in simple, no fuss style. The book also covers everyday practicalities such as visas, schools, tax, and relocation agents, as well as leisure activities like massages (the reputable variety), and all without going into too much guide-booky detail.
Between them, Merlevede and Broe have produced two really useful guidebooks that will make life easier for Shanghai newbies (and even those of us who’ve lived here forever).