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How to get a job without a recruiter.

 
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haleynicole14



Joined: 20 Feb 2012
Posts: 178
Location: US

PostPosted: Wed Feb 06, 2013 8:45 pm    Post subject: How to get a job without a recruiter. Reply with quote

I have seen lots of times that the best way to arrange for a job in China is to contact the school directly. But I am not sure how to do that. Where is the best place to find a list of schools to start contacting? Does a person just do a google search and start contacting schools through email? There are a lot of job listings websites that I've found but it's hard to tell the sketchy ones from the decent ones.

I've taught in China before with the help of a recruiter and am in the US now. I was trying to arrange something starting this spring but have ended up postponing it until this fall so that I can not make a decision in a hurry. I know that employers in China can vary greatly.

One more question: When I arrived in China last time, we attended a few-day-long orientation with someone from the state education office that picked us up from the airport, showed us around the city, and arranged for school employees to meet us at our hotel and take us to our school. Is this a standard thing for all teachers (something that the state education office requires), or something that my recruiter probably set up? The girl who led our orientation was a contact that we could get in touch with if things weren't going well with our school.

These all feel like silly newbie questions to ask, but any information would be helpful. Thanks. Smile
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Non Sequitur



Joined: 23 May 2010
Posts: 4724
Location: China

PostPosted: Wed Feb 06, 2013 9:17 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Your timing is good as the fall semester (Sept) hiring season will start in a month or so and run til the end of June pretty much.
Serious teachers.com has a search facility and after identifying your preferred city have a look there.
A bit early for most advertisers though.
Another direct approach strategy is go to the Wikipedia page of your preferred city eg Guangzhou.
On the left sidebar you should find 'Education'.
The results are not links so you will have to Google the unis and colleges that come up.
Once you have a webpage look for International or Foreign Experts or similar.
Then write a short friendly email with scanned copies of your docs. Include an active lifestyle pic in addition to your passport page.
I did talk to a provincial government group hiring guy at the Beijing job fair one year.
He mentioned looking after FTs and glad to learn that that was a good experience for you.
All the unis I've worked for pick you up from the airport and get you to your accom.
Best
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lemak



Joined: 19 Nov 2011
Posts: 368

PostPosted: Thu Feb 07, 2013 5:34 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

In Korea a great way to avoid recruiters was to just join the expat group page on facebook of the city you wanted to teach in. Then ask if anyone knew of positions. There were almost always responses. Alas not so practical in China. Most larger cities here do however how their shanghailist, wuxilife, beijinger type discussion forum sites which as long as you have an idea where you want to be - you can join and ask around....people will know about job vacancies for sure.
There are (unsubstantiated although completely realistic) theories that many university FAOs make a kickback from a recruiter when they use them, so in some cases even though you contact the school directly they still may prefer to hire through a recruiter.
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NoBillyNO



Joined: 11 Jun 2012
Posts: 1762

PostPosted: Thu Feb 07, 2013 9:04 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Quote:
I have seen lots of times that the best way to arrange for a job in China is to contact the school directly.


Except for those schools that exclusively use recruiters and there are some sweet jobs out there in recruiters hands.

I would use a drop call drop..... go to the place where you want the job, then ask them who does the hiring, drop a cv and then call.

When I was in the states I would often ask Who signs the checks to locate the most important person in the hiring process but in this Check-less utopia that will be met with blank stares.
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haleynicole14



Joined: 20 Feb 2012
Posts: 178
Location: US

PostPosted: Fri Feb 08, 2013 9:09 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thanks so much, all of these posts are very helpful!

NoBillyNO wrote:
Except for those schools that exclusively use recruiters and there are some sweet jobs out there in recruiters hands.


Is it a fairly common practice for recruiters to charge, or can you find good, trustworthy services that are free for the job seeker?

I paid a recruiter last time to help arrange things, and now know that probably wasn't the best choice. I did get a good job at a school I liked though.
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AEON2007



Joined: 07 Jul 2007
Posts: 21

PostPosted: Sat Feb 09, 2013 4:40 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

If you have 2 years teaching experience and a degree from an English speaking company, pm me, I could hook you up with my very professional school, they'll give you all the support you need - it's a big, well established school. I like teaching with them but the hours seem long sometimes... Anyway, they pay 16000 plus plenty of bonuses!
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