Taiwanese working in Shanghai Q&A: almost not living

January 2, 2022 is the day when I came to Shanghai for three years officially.

Many people were very curious about why I chose to come to Shanghai in the first place, and why I continued to stay in Shanghai. They asked me a lot at that time, about just looking for a job and why I worked here.

I have also listed some, I want to share with you, there are 10 questions in total.

1. An opportunity to leave Taiwan and choose Shanghai?

There are three points, just "have a chance", "while young", "not tired of home".

The opportunity came from the fact that when I was in Taiwan, I happened to be a freelancer at the time, so I was free to choose which direction I wanted to take in the future. Time to agree.

All right! I relied on this stupidity to come to Shanghai.

The second is to take advantage of my youth. I was 31 years old when I came to Shanghai. I think 31 years old may be a bit old for girls.

But I think that my career is a very long-term one. I thought at the time that I would come when I had some physical strength. Otherwise, if I had another three or five years, I would have no motivation, energy, and physical strength.

The third one was not tired at home. I didn’t have a boyfriend at that time, and my parents were quite healthy back then, so I came to Shanghai.

2. How did you find a job in Shanghai?

When I first came, I worked with my friend, but after three months, he had some changes in his job, so I decided not to stay with him.

So I started looking for a job in Shanghai by myself. When I first came to Shanghai, I didn’t know anyone, and I didn’t have any resources or connections.

But I am usually a person who likes drinking coffee and eating cakes. Once I met a person in a coffee shop, and that person helped me introduce some people. Using this fate, I was lucky to find my first meal in Shanghai. Work.

I really think I'm lucky.

I think that even if you happen to be in Shanghai, although you don’t know anyone, you can take the initiative to step out and go out to the world to take a look, and maybe you will have some new opportunities and new encounters.

3. Why don't you go back to Taiwan?

My friend who just came to Shanghai to work, I chose to separate from him after three months. Many people later asked me why I didn't choose to go back to Taiwan in the first place.

At that time, I thought, since I have come to Shanghai, why don't I challenge myself, give myself a challenge, let myself try to see if I can survive here.

I think if I had gone back to Taiwan at that time, I might have lost confidence in myself completely.

Because I went back after only three months in Shanghai, I felt ashamed to go back, as if I didn’t work hard, and then I went back.

I had the belief that I was going to survive here, and it turned out that I found a new job and survived! Now find a second job too.

I don't have to have high requirements for the critical point of survival. I find a job where I can live in peace and have a normal and stable income. I am very happy!

4. Is it difficult to find your ideal job?

It all depends on your own state of mind and your expectations.

Regardless of whether I am looking for a job in Taiwan or Shanghai, I must have my own expectations for vacancies.

But after you actually go in, there may be a gap with expectations, but this is what you have to adjust.

If you feel that, for a week and a month after you enter, everything you do is not in line with the original job description, then what kind of mentality you should use to reconcile it depends on what your purpose of looking for this job is.

My first job was to survive, but my second job was more clear about what I wanted to get from this job.

Even if I am facing many difficulties or some challenges now, I will always think about returning to my original aspiration and whether there is a match. If there is a match, I am willing to accept some challenges and pressures on me.

No matter where you are looking for a job, you will definitely encounter those who are with you and expect to have a gap, so it depends on how to adjust.

5. Is there a gap between the work and expectations?

When I first came to Shanghai to find my first job, it was really very difficult. I started to use many recruitment apps and submitted my resume, but there was no result.

Later, I found my first job with the help of a friend, and the second job was relatively smooth, because I have accumulated nearly two years of work experience in Shanghai, so I can write my resume very well.

I think the workplace culture in the Mainland and Taiwan has requirements for work ability. My experience in Taiwan is that there is more integration ability, and you have to touch everything.

However, the requirement for work in Shanghai is that a certain ability is particularly professional. For example, when I write copywriting now, I need to be more professional. Even if I am not necessarily good at writing now, it is now my food tool. Of course, I also want to expand. my other abilities.

6. What is the difference between working in Taiwan? Adapt or integrate?

I think everyone pays attention to efficiency when working in Shanghai. The teamwork ability is very high, very fast, and results-oriented.

I used to do a lot of B2B projects in Taiwan, and the execution period is usually very long, but here I have more contact with toC consumers, so the execution steps and speed must be fast so that I can keep up with the pace.

I think the biggest adaptation is still in myself. The copywriting work, many Internet terms, and some of the thinking behind it are still different.

Sensitive to words now, thinking about what the previous and current thoughts of each word would be.

For integration, you must adapt to the workplace culture in different workplace environments here in order to cooperate with the team members. Please let go of the mentality that you feel particularly proud in your heart.

7. What is the easiest way for Taiwanese to find jobs?

Assuming you really, just don't have any experience. There is no ups and downs like me. The best way is to send jobs in Shanghai through Taiwanese companies.

You can come to Shanghai or Jiangsu and Zhejiang first, the weather is more comfortable and the food culture is relatively close.

For example, when I think about the cold winter in Beijing, I think I can't stand it, so I give up this year. I just go to Beijing because of the weather.

If you are a student, you can see if there is an opportunity for school exchange, and adapt to it for half a year or a year. Then you feel that the environment or development is what you like, you can continue to consider it and stay and develop.

I have also seen a lot of people who have studied and worked here all the way. This is also a pretty good method.

8. How to find your own irreplaceability

I personally think that you must first become a professional in a field.

Professionally, when you become an irreplaceable existence, you can become a scarce talent. This is an old saying in the workplace.

Taiwan may be very popular for π-shaped talents, with many tentacles, but in Shanghai, you have to make yourself a T-shaped talent first. If you specialize in a certain major, it will be easier to find a job.

When your T is very stable, you can develop other lines, and it will be better to let yourself gradually develop like an octopus.

9. After working in Shanghai for almost 3 years, what abilities do you inspire?

I have a lot of ability to inspire myself, but the most important thing is that I have become more courageous, and I have tried many things that I dare not do in Taiwan.

Maybe because I'm free and have a mentality of starting from scratch, I feel like I can try anything.

If someone says I should do something, I will think about three things: Should I do it? Do I want to do it? Will I regret doing it?

Even when I asked these three questions, I didn't say I was 100% sure, I wasn't very sure, but if it added up to 60%, I would do it.

I think, all come here without any worries, why do you have to restrain yourself so much?

If you can inspire more of your potential, I think it is very good, you can meet a new self. Like me starting to learn improvisation in 2021, it is also a manifestation of breaking through myself.

So the most important thing to be stimulated is to become more brave, and to be more willing to express.

10. What do you want to tell the Taiwanese who want to come to Shanghai to work hard?

To be honest...

Let go of all your stereotypes and go for it.

Only when you actually experience and feel it will you have your own opinion. Don’t be afraid of what will happen because of what many others have said to you, or what the media has said.

Those are what other people tell you, why do you believe those things? Instead of believing, it is better to experience them yourself

Only by actually experiencing it will you have your own views and insights.

When I first came, there were a lot of things that broke my established impression, and then I suddenly felt a little ashamed why I had those thoughts before.

Rather than being afraid, you might as well experience it for the best.

The above is the sharing of why I came to Shanghai to work. I initially held the belief that I wanted to survive here. Now that I have survived, my next goal is to live a better life.