Daughters dilemma

No, you're right, the job centre don't really deal with well paid professional jobs in the main.
There are a lot of websites "job boards" and also specialised recruitment agencies (depending on what he consults in). It is difficult applying for jobs when you are not on site. Maybe if he tried to get a job with a Chinese or international company that was involved in developing Chinese tourism in the UK it would be a stepping stone? So look for a job advertised in Bejing with the place of work being the UK?

Jess is right about specialist agencies and job boards. Mr P uses a lot of engineers ones. Let's have a quick google!

www.chess-partnership.com/our_services.php

www.portfoliointl.com/hospitality_consultancy.aspx

Here's a couple to start with!

Your local Jobcentre would be the last place for a professional high-flyer .... he needs to contact executive head-hunters in The City.

From what I've read, over the past few years the UK has missed out on attracting much tourism from China due to visa restrictions - apparently France and Germany, etc have many more high-spending Chinese tourists. There are moves afoot for these restrictions to be relaxed in order to attract this huge market.

Recently I was in Harrods wine department buying a specialist bottle of whisky for my son to give as a gift - chatting away to the chap who was serving me I asked who were the big spenders these days - seems the Chinese are way ahead, even of the Russians!

As your SiL is already in the hotel business I assume he'll make use of his contacts in that field.

Have they checked the cost of private education here? About 30.000 a year with activities and add-ons (uniform, sports equipment, etc). If they are used to private, they may not be so happy thrown into large classes, etc- as they will also be limited as to where they can afford property or rents too.

It's not £30,000 at ages 5 & 6 though.

Thank you all - I knew you would start putting things into perspective. This has all come rather quickly and I think they feel as if they are between a rock and a hard place.

Phoenix - many thanks, I shall have a look and pass it on. Where do you start looking for these sites?

Granjura - they would not be thinking of private education here. The cost in Beijing has gone up out of all proportion recently and the alternative to an International school does not bear thinking about. The Chinese system is such that if a child falls behind the rest of the class it is up to the child and his parents to catch up - that is ok up to a point. What it usually means is that very young children have very little time to play and have tutors to help them keep up. The thread here about homework for 5yr olds says it all but the work would not be as easy in Beijing. Seeing young children going and returning from school looking worn out with a glazed expression on their faces is not something DD wants for her boys.

tiggy I started by putting a couple of sort of key phrases into google, for example "management jobs in hotels" and then "consultancy jobs in hotels"

If you keep playing around with various words or sentences you should get results. It is also a good indication that an agency or other organisation has spent sufficient time on their website as good SEO (search engine optimisation) should mean that they come up pretty high on Google listings.

There is also a website called The Caterer, might be worth having a look there.

Forgot to say, it is also worth contacting good chains "on spec" but rather than just sending an email to [email protected] sort of thing, access a publication called the HR Managers Yearbook. You can then use it to find specific names and contact details for the right people.

I'm no expert in this field, but do feel free to PM me if you think I might be able to help.

Tiggypiro given the stories I have heard about the undue pressure in Chinese education actually stressing kids out and that various people have suggested that this intensive cramming tends to lead to a lack of genuine creativity in workers, I am not at at all surprised they want to move.

Add to that the appalling pollution in Beijing and it all sounds quite unpleasant. I have no idea about jobs though.

I have to say that the pressure is put on the children in Beijing by the parents and not the education system. My DS is actually a teacher in Beijing and the parents actually try and pay him to make sure their children pass the exam. At a very young age they are encouraged to study hard and I have to say I think this is what they are used to. The kids are not stressed out by this form of education, this is their way of life and culture.
I do agree pollution levels can be really bad and that isn't good for anyone.
I agree a lot of kids have private tutors as well, my DS also does this ,but, I also have to say this is all done in a very friendly way and he is treated like a family member and they try and feed him all the time. I have seen pictures of his students and I must admit, I have never seen any of his students either in class or at private lessons, looking worn out. Although possibly there could be some schools where this may happen as Beijing is a very large city.

What about approaching a group such as Accor or similar, who operate here and in the far east? Not sure what he does or much about them but he could look into it.

I've just been in a Sofitel. All managers and personnel were foreigners . Two English staff. As others have said an international chain and find head hunters who specialise in hotel chains.

Some of the biggest recruitment agencies have offices all over the world including China
Might be a good place to start e.g.
www.michaelpage.com.cn/contact-us.html