An example of a sketchy job post

From jkjack:

Job description:
Part time voice recording job, one hour at any time of the day at your convenience. All you have to do is to stay in the car then we will record for only 1 hour. One person can only do the job for one time.
Requirement:
We need native speakers from UK, France, Germany and Spain.
Pay:
120-150/hour
Traffic:
Our client will pick you up in Wu Dao Kou subway station. And after the recording our client will sent you back to Wu Dao Kou.
If you are interested in this job, please send you passport photo and your mobile phone number to the following email address:
Contact:
Email: dincy.ding@foreignhr.com
Tel: 010-65227576

Job posting at Beijing Review

Now that I'm in the States, these no longer concern me:

Seeking Ace Copy Editor:

I.Beijing Review, a weekly English news magazine, needs one full-time English language copy editor.

Job Description and Qualification Applicants must: 1. Be a native English speaker; 2. Have a bachelor’s or master’s degree in journalism or have substantial work experience in journalism at a general news magazine or newspaper; and 3. Be able to work under pressure, have experience working on an international team and have a keen news sense about Chinese affairs.

Responsibilities 1. To write, rewrite, edit and polish articles; 2. To participate in editorial planning and help with cover design and layout; 3. To write or rewrite key articles, headlines and captions; 4. To do interviews as requested; 5. To participate in editorial meetings and other key routine editorial work; and 6. To train Chinese editors and reporters.

Please send your CV with date of birth, nationality, marital status and gender to: Ms Pan Shuangqin International Cooperation Dept., Beijing Review 24 Baiwanzhuang Rd., Beijing 100037, China Or E-mail: bjreviewhr@126.com

II.Beijing Review’s ChinAfrica, a monthly English news magazine, needs two full-time English language copy editors.

Job Description and Qualification Applicants must: 1. Be a native English speaker, also fluent in French (written and oral); 2. Have a bachelor’s or master’s degree in journalism or have substantial work experience in journalism at a general news magazine or newspaper; and 3. Be able to work under pressure, have experience working on an international team and have a keen news sense about Chinese and African affairs.

Responsibilities 1. To write, rewrite, edit and polish articles; 2. To participate in editorial planning and help with cover design and layout; 3. To write or rewrite key articles, headlines and captions; 4. To do interviews as requested; 5. To participate in editorial meetings and other key routine editorial work; and 6. To train Chinese editors and reporters.

Please send your CV with date of birth, nationality, marital status and gender to Ms Pan Shuangqin International Cooperation Dept., Beijing Review 24 Baiwanzhuang Rd., Beijing 100037, China Or E-mail: bjreviewhr@126.com

Website: www.bjreview.com

Searching for work - will you hire me?

That's not actually a desperate plea. I have some options, I believe, though none of them confirmed on any end.

Today I met with one of Zhang Ting's friends (Zhang Ting, you'll remember, is Jiuma's best friend), Cathy, who works as a department head at Aigo, one of the largest electronics companies in China. She seemed to take a liking to me as she showed off Aigo's latest products, including an MP5 player -- you heard that right; it's a device shaped like a PSP that can do live streaming without a monthly fee -- and an audio book thingy majig that utilizes a laser scanner (you aim it at a page in the book and a voice will read that section; there's Chinese and English). Long story short, Cathy happens to know a person who used to head the advertising department of City Weekend, a weekly lifestyle magazine for expats (they also have a blog, which is now on my blogroll), and she worked for five years at China Radio International. We were sitting in the downstairs coffeehouse (Blenz) when she offered to connect me with editors at both places. Emails were exchanged and I went home happy (though after reading this City Weekend story, I'm a) a little angry, and b) slightly perplexed at why Cathy insisted the place would be a perfect fit for me).

INTERLUDE: I was able to meet with Cathy only after Jiuma couldn't deliver a supposed meeting with one of the Olympics Organizing Committee's chairmen. I didn't really expect anything, but she stringed me along for three weeks. Anyway.

I've also emailed an editor at That's Beijing, which runs TBJ (blogroll), and Simon Elegant, Time's Beijing Bureau Chief, who I'll be meeting after the weekend (Lexis-Nexis, you're about to be logged in to). And tomorrow I'll email the Beijing Bureau Chief of NPR's Marketplace and a Sports Illustrated writer who runs the FanNation Beijing Olympics Blog (blogroll, again).

Sorry, this is way too much name-dropping... I'm ashamed of myself.

(Editing video of Fang Fang and Fei Fei... I think you'll like this...)

UPDATE, 12:16 a.m.: I jumped the gun: the video won't upload. Still pictures may have to suffice.