Cv tailoring

[dazdaz]

What tips would people have for tailoring a CV or resume for the Americans here to the Thai culture.

Thanks

[Dominik]

Simply: DO NOT SEND A CV!

CV's do not work. Reacting to job advertisements in the newspapers and on the internet do not work.

Thai companies will never even reply.

Don't waiste time on that.

Most HR departments dont want another farang in their companies so your CV will go out first... The manager will never even know you applied. Do not forget that most Thais hate working with farang. The cultural difference is enormous. In Bangkok the situation is far better however then in other parts of Thailand because many Thai managers there have been educated overseas or are used to farangs.

So avoid anything that goes trough an HR department.

The only way to find a job in Thailand is contacts. That means talking with the top management. The guy you gonna work for that is. Sell yourself to an expat manager and you are in.

If you play golf you have a major advantage.

Plan to be in Thailand for at least 6 months before you will find a job. If you can not find a telephone number or person to contact, just walk in at these companies. Make sure you are dressed nice. You will almost always get an appointment on the spot if there is an expat manager working there.

Also do not expect the high salaries and benefits that some expats get when they are sent to Thailand by their company.

When you are in Thailand already, and knocking on Thai doors to get a job, they will pay you a bit more then a Thai, but not as much as an expat that is placed here by his head office.

Hope this helps.

[dazdaz]

Thanks for the reply, very useful indeed.

Would you mind elaborating upon the point about "Thais hate working with farang". The cultural difference is enormous.  

I dont follow ... some form of reverse culture shock projected on the Thai's or something?

Should that be another word instead of hate like dislike, not desirable, jealous?

Thanks

[enchanted]

Dazdaz,

I guess what is really meant is that most Thais are not used to working with Farangs. Must understand that Thais are by nature quiet, inward-looking people. They are not as direct and outspoken as most caucasians. Their culture plays a big part too...being obedient and submissive to authority and recognising their place in the organisation. Respecting and listening to those of higher positions/ranks is one of the cultural norms. Historically, Thais have never been colonised or controlled by an European body. This might influence their mindset to have a negative impression of Caucasians trying to compete with them in their jobs. Hence, caucasians style of work may not complement with the Thai office environment.

I may be generalising what I have said above, but this is through observations that I make this point.

Could this be one of the reasons why caucasians are not very welcomed in a Thai working environment?

[Dominik]

Maybe this need some more clarification.

I did not say that Thais hate farang. I said: they "hate" working with farangs.

Maybe the word "hate" came out of my keyboard to fast  ::

"not like" would maybe be better, although that is a bit soft.

The cultural difference is about a hundred times bigger then most people imagine.

The Thai people have a very sophisticated and refined social system. Most farang never get any idea about "kreng jai", "Phradet", "Phrakun", "Bunkhun", "Baramee" and many other concepts that are important for Thais.

The result is that most Thai people feel that farang managers are arrogant, look down on them and are insensitive to their needs.

The other way around: most farang managers do not understand why the Thai people work the way they do, and when they ventilate their frustration about this it makes things worser. (I will avoid to describe the real feeling they get here...)

So both sides get the wrong impression about each other because both sides do not understand the cultural differences.

Then there is also the language difference. Once you go outside BKK this is a real BIG problem. Many Thai people can read and write English, but can not speak it and have difficulties in understanding it. This is caused by the Thai educational system who emphasizes on reading and writing.

On the other hand: almost no farang speaks Thai because most of them are put here by their head office only for 2 or 3 years.

The result is that most of the time the managers and their staff have to communciate by means of a secretary.

She/He of course will use the Thai way and only translate things that are appropriate to say for Thai people. They have to keep "kreng jai" in mind. She/he will not risk to destroy here social circle.

This all adds even more to the frustration on both sides because not even 30% of the message gets trough.

So most Thai people will try to avoid working for a farang manager if they can. For them it adds so many complications to their daily work.

So, when some staff of HR has to sort out the CV's I can guarantee you that she will happely sort out farang CV's to the recycle bin...

For a farang manager who does the effort about really learning about Thai culture, things can be quite different. But that takes many months/years of trying. And yes: instead of only going out with other farangs to a beerbar every night, you better socialise as much as possible with Thai people if you ever really want to learn these things.

Hope this made my point more clear.