Job Discussion Forums

mking55 · Joined: 07 Mar 2012 Posts: 2

I've come across something I consider bizarre but since this is China maybe it's just business (if you can call it that) as usual.

I am currently working at a college here. I love it but I want to upgrade my students. My plan was to start looking early for a new job and hopefully finding an organized school that has a plan and knows what they need in September.

It seems I've run across many job listings (through agencies) that when I write them they tell me that the school won't be looking at resumes and hiring until April or May.

My question is, why post a position in March if you're not hiring in March? It makes no sense to me, and I find it annoying as it's wasting my time. I'll be happy to apply when there is a real job (if I'm still interested) but why they would want people to apply 2 months before they'll look at the resume is beyond me.

Have any others run across this before? Am I imagining things? I know it's China and many things puzzle me, but this one has moved up the charts from puzzling to annoying. Am I missing something?

Anyone who has tried to find a position for a 2nd year feel free to share your experiences. Should I just be waiting for a while. Is no one organized? I'm only interested in University or a decent college and I can be patient, but I'd like to think there are schools out there who want a plan in place well in advance of the start date. But that's the fool I am.

Thanks.

LanGuTou · Joined: 23 Mar 2009 Posts: 621 Location: Shandong

Without wanting to sound racist in this comment, the one thing that is common to almost every Chinese person that I have come across is a chronic lack of ability to plan ahead and organize.

Usually, Chinese people have trouble planning for things hours or a day or so in advance. Planning things months in advance would be a mind blowing achievement.

Also, many Chinese companies (not just educational establishments but right across the spectrum) often advertise continually even when they are not specifically recruiting. When I have asked Chinese business people why they do this, the answer is always that they wish to maintain a pool of potential candidates in case a vacancy arises. Or maybe the truth is they are just too apathetic to withdraw advertisements when they become outdated or positions are filled.

danasoverseasemail · Joined: 08 Jan 2012 Posts: 86

MOD EDIT

It's takes little logic to understand timing of hiring at university level, let alone other levels.

They don't know what their needs are in March for September. Existing employees may or may not return and those decisions are made at the end of the contract term. Schools may have budget or other allowance changes for foreign staffing, etc. It's cheaper to keep existing employees than get new hires from overseas, etc.

MOD EDIT

macroidtoe · Joined: 27 Jul 2010 Posts: 128

The first school I worked at couldn't even tell me when my classes ended until two weeks prior to the supposed end date. Once I finally got an answer, I checked and double-checked almost every day... but nevertheless, when that day came, we were suddenly all told that they wanted us to stay another month. Two out of the four of us had already purchased plane tickets to elsewhere and cleaned out our apartments. Wheeeee.

After experiences like the above and numerous instances of watching people step or pull out into traffic without looking or having any apparent understanding of cause and effect, I asked someone if Mandarin lacks a future tense... perhaps a strong version of the Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis was at play? But my theory turned out to be a dud.

TexasHighway · Joined: 03 Dec 2005 Posts: 779

mking55 wrote:

mking55 · Joined: 07 Mar 2012 Posts: 2

Non Sequitur · Joined: 23 May 2010 Posts: 4724 Location: China

Invitations to birthday parties - last minute.
'Planned' outing (Women's Day) which must have had venue booked for months - FTs asked - last minute.
True story:
Teaching an adult evening class at a language school just around the corner from my regular school.
Students working well on an exercise.
Phone call to one of my young lady students.
Her to me 'Got to go'
Me to her 'Why?'
Her to me 'I've been invited to a birthday party?'
Me to her 'If you've been invited this late, why bother?'
Her to me 'But she's my best friend!'
Plan ahead?

TexasHighway · Joined: 03 Dec 2005 Posts: 779

mking55 wrote:

Zero · Joined: 08 Sep 2004 Posts: 1402

Miles Smiles · Joined: 07 Jun 2010 Posts: 1294 Location: Heebee Jeebee

I think what may be at play may be the "Girls Get Prettier at Closing Time " syndrome. The schools may be telling the recruiters to gather data and then it's sent on to the schools, but the schools have a very specific idea of what the ideal candidate should be, so they wait until the perfect candidate comes along to accept someone.

The problem is that nobody is perfect.

If one applies in early-to-mid-March when the ads come out, and he gets an immediate offer, he should beware, especially if his credentials aren't that great, and no data on the school is available. A teacher at that school may have given notice quite early, and the school is anxious to be able to fill the position ASAP because the school itself may have problems.

Those who rely upon meat market recruiters will probably agree that the best time to begin sending out applications with serious intent for employment in the fall is April through May (or as late as June). If the candidate is not in China, the school won't even send out the letters of invitation until that window of ninety days before classes begin anyway, largely because they don't want the applicant to secure a visa that will expire before he even arrives.

If an applicant has been applying for months and months to all sorts of schools but hasn't gotten so much as a nibble, he might want to ask several recruiters what's wrong with his CV. Perhaps one in ten recruiters will tell the applicant the problem (no experience, no or inappropriate education, or wrong age, wrong shaped eyes, etc.).