No more than six handshakes
Saturday, 3 Jun 2006 | Work in Asia
When I first started considering moving to Asia, my mom suggested I try to get in touch with some people living in Asia or people that had gone through a similar move in order to see what their experiences had been. I actually did, briefly, but only after I had made the decision to move there. However, I couldn’t keep those conversations interesting for the other parties involved at that time - I guess because my plans were too vague and I didn’t really know what to ask those people anyway.
Over the last couple of months, I’ve been getting and staying in touch with a few people who are in Asia or Bangkok specifically, or people that frequently visit Bangkok. I’ve gotten in touch with these people by chance, via this or their weblog or through expat forums like thaivisa.com. Some are just in passing, discussing a photo on their photoblog and then the odd exchange of comments here and there. With others, the exchange has been slightly more involved. There has even been someone who has sort of done the same thing I’m planning to do, a dutchie as a matter of fact! There is the occasional useful tip, mostly these are conversations of the chit chat and anecdotal kind. Most are also positive about my plan, which is ofcourse always nice to hear.
I have also exchanged ‘keep-alive’ messages with people I met in Bangkok on my previous trip. I’ll try to stay in touch with these people this way, so they won’t have forgotten me when I make my way back to Bangkok 10 months after having met them last.
Less so is the case for Hong Kong, but only because I know less people in Hong Kong and have not yet started researching jobs in Hong Kong other than the odd one I find in the jobs section of a magazine I subscribe to. I did receive a message from a lady I spoke to at the Dutch consulat in Hong Kong suggesting that the job market there was getting back on it’s feet and she expected I should be able to find something, which was very unexpected and really nice of her to do!
Although all these messages are not terribly useful for any other reason than to stay in touch, I like exchanging them. It puts me in the ‘Asia mindset’ and as those close to me know - there is nothing I enjoy more at the moment than to talk about Asia. And because I’ve got some people I’ve been in touch with all that time, I will have some people to meet for coffee once I get settled in Bangkok. Never a bad thing, I think.
Professional contacts
Most of the emails I’ve exchanged are just personal messages. But there are also people that I discuss possible future employment with. I’ve decided to not actively hunt for a job from over here, as I’ve heard and experienced myself that companies seem reluctant to even talk to you. Or respond to letters, for that matter. Mostly, it’s a mutual getting to know eachother and agreeing we’ll talk more once I get settled in Asia.
What I’ve also found is that a lot of people have business contacts in Asia. I plan to ask for referrals to these contacts in a few months from now, not right away. Talking to them now would perhaps make for a serious opportunity, but which I then would not be able to follow up on due to my obligations here. I think better results will come from being able to act upon opportunities. And I think those contacts will appreciate it more as well, as I won’t be wasting their time.
The best feelings are left by chance encounters. From sources you least expect it, you are suddenly presented a connection, contact or even possible employment lead. Or just someone to have that coffee with sometime.