“I have a feeling that you’d be good at taking notes”
“We liked you, even though you are a blonde”
I’ve been looking for a new job the last few months, both hurriedly and not at all. In July, I quit my position as a full-stack developer to take a few months off. It wasn’t that there was a huge life-changing moment that pushed me towards the decision. Like before, I just felt that I was no longer getting what I wanted from my position. And because this is China, and there must be something in the water that leads people to spontaneous crazy decisions, I just… quit.
And it’s been incredibly. It’s been freeing to just.. be in Shanghai, to spend time in coffeeshops, bike through the city midday, go on random trips in the middle of the week. It feels liberating to set my own schedule, take long lunches, and sleep in until 8:30am.
But it’s also been nerve-wrecking, because Shanghai doesn’t rest, and though I haven’t been actively trying to find a new position, in China there is no concept of waiting. I’ve told companies that I’m taking a few months off, and their HR still asks me to come in ‘tomorrow’ (and also lies about the location of their office to pretend that it’s more central, which is utterly ridiculous, because as soon as I find a map, I will see right through them). I’ve pursued a few freelancing positions, and had clients request to meet every day (there is really no reason, I’m sure we’re all adults who can communicate via email). I’ve spent two weeks in Chengdu mentoring at a tech bootcamp (actually, that’s been pretty great. No complaints, except for my stomach).
When I have done interviews, it has been infuriating thorugh
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