Cubicle rules

For Chinese working in foreign companies, one should understand the following rules, which cannot be found in the employee handbook.

1. Salaries are confidential. We usually print on blank paper in the office, but the other day our environmental-friendly HR lady put some used paper in the printer and I happened to be printing ahead of her. Then I turned the pages and noticed something I shouldn’t have seen. It was part of last year’s headcount list, our salaries included. Well, I’m actually very happy to know that. But be careful, sometimes this might be hurtful.

2. Emails are in English. I was interning at a French company before graduation. Once my colleague asked me to translate an email she wrote to the China club, one of the top four clubs in Beijing. But I asked a stupid question: “we are all Chinese, then why bother to write emails in English?” “You know…” Oh I see. If you don’t want to be disdained, use English. It’s a little bit hypocritical, isn’t it?

3. Handwriting is important. You are what you write. I often connect people’s faces with their handwriting and would wonder to myself how such a good-looking person can write so poorly. By the way, I’m no calligraphist. This is merely my personal opinion, no offense.

Finally, just a reminder: No baozi, boiled eggs or garlic in the office. Imagine the fragrance of perfumes mixed with the odors from the foods in a closed room.

Basically, that’s what I’ve learnt in the cubicle.