How to Land Strange Post-Grad Gigs in China
Have you heard about White Monkey jobs?
The offer
The term ‘White Monkey job’ refers to racially motivated job offers. They usually offer vast sums of money for unusual work. The employment is peculiar because the only requirement is your foreign face. You don’t have to be exclusively Caucasian.
Basically, it’s rent-a-foreigner service.
These jobs range from being a model for Chinese products to showing up at high-end parties. Individual companies will pay you thousands to cut celebration ribbons at construction sites. Some people become influential hand-shakers.
The prospect of the face is ridiculously important in China.
If they can boast about their foreign friends, it will drive value to their stock. If a Chinese company has a foreigner on board, it’s automatically more respected. When foreigners promote and consume Chinese products, it drives the perceived value.
I’ve spent enough time in China and received my fair share of such offers.
I want to point out that I’m not crazy about this kind of work. Most times, I wouldn’t realize it was work until I arrived at the crime scene. I’d come to friendly dinners that would turn out to be corporate events.
