Job Discussion Forums

[DirtGuy]

DCHun,

What do I think of ZZ? Crowded, polluted, noisy, awful traffic, boring, tons of work, really easy to get out of on a train or by air. The government has already stated they are going to develop 20, 2nd tier, cities and ZZ is on the list. 2nd tier cities are cheaper than a place like BJ yet the pay is similar - that is a good combination and side work is already everywhere in such a place. In small towns, most of the side jobs are teaching brats while in bigger you have far more choices.

Stop stressing so much about your job search. It is still early in the game and schools simply are not desperate, yet. They will be and that is when you will easily get a job.

DirtGuy

[Denim-Maniac]

[sojourner]

DCHun,

Sorry to hear that the Jiaozuo job fell through.


Someone has suggested that you try Dalian.However, in your OP, you mentioned that you have your heart set on Shanghai.But as competition for good jobs in that city might might preclude newbies to the scene, I would suggest that rather than look for jobs in Dalian, etc, you might want to look for positions in parts of Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces that are reasonably accessible to Shanghai.eg, Suzhou, Hangzhou and Nanjing.By high speed train it would only take 1 or 2 hours to get from those places to Shanghai.Thus, on your days off, you would be able to get to Shanghai and make yourself known to people who matter , such as FAOs at unis - thus, improving your chances of getting a job in Shanghai next year.

As someone else has suggested, you should also be willing to teach subjects other than the more usual Oral English.At many unis, FTs are sometimes asked to teach Management and Marketing.More commonly, you'll find many FTs who teach Business English.

Good luck !

[DirtGuy]

This is really strange. I just got contacted by a recruiter for a job in Jiaozuo, Henan, and the city is pretty far out in the sticks. Someplace called "Henan Polytechnic University". Then I saw the OP was looking at a job in that city. Such places are going to have a hard time finding people so this could be a way for a newbie or an older teacher to get into/stay in China. Even if they say "no" at this time, give them a while and their attitude will probably change.

Here is the recruiter's info:
[email protected]

Good luck.

DirtGuy

[hawaiianpunch]

I am in similar situation as DCHun in that I am Chinese-American. After reading everyone's views on the forum, I decided to focus on applying only to universities. So far, I've sent out over a hundred apps in the past week. Four have shown interest.

One school in Jiangxi said, without an interview, that they will send me a contract once I have an authorized health certificate. This school is in the boonies so I imagine not too many applicants.

I just finished up interviews with two others, Zhejiang and Shandong. They both gave me a week to make a decision. In this case, what should I do? Should I accept both offers in case one falls thru the cracks? I do like and prefer one over the other. It doesn't feel right to lead one on. If I do accept both, how far into the process should I be willing to go before rejecting one of the schools?

btw...I had my heart set on a specific school in Guangdong. The last I heard from them was on Monday. The fao said that they would forward my cv to the English dept and notify me of any vacancies. The problem is that I have to give my decision on offers by next wednesday. I am going to send a followup email to the Guangdong school tomorrow. Should I mention that their school is my first choice, but I have to make a decision on accepting another offer? Too pushy?

[DirtGuy]

hpunch,

My .02 is to just get your foot in the door and then move around later. The opportunities in this country, if you are willing to hustle a bit, fall out of the sky. My first year is wrapping up and I'm in a bit of shock as to how fast it has gone by and the doors that have now opened for me. Your experience will probably be similar so don't stress too much about getting the perfect job. Besides, NOTHING is perfect in this country and much (most?) of what you see/hear is less than it appears.

DirtGuy

[amisexy]

Is it common to be offered a position without interview like hawaiianpunch?
To me it seems very suspicious, but who knows?


Does anyone have opinions of universities far from the city centre? I've been offered a job, but it's far from the city in between a residential and industrial area. According to Google maps it's a 45 drive, never mind using public transport. Is this OK, or will it be too far from the centre to have fun?


Also, I want to ask my potential FAO a few questions.
I have:
Can I see photos of the accommodation?
How easy is it to get from the city centre to the university?
Can you put me in contact with a few foreign teachers at your university?
What resources do you have for foreign teachers?
What's the teacher turnover rate like?

Are these questions ok?

[DirtGuy]

Suggest you don't get too hung up on being close to the city center. I think it is more important that you have everything you need close by and save visits to the center for special occasions. Are there real supermarkets close by? What about a wet market for veggies? How far away is the train station, especially the station for the D and G trains? Any decent shopping malls in the area? These can be anywhere and not just in the city center. Any stores/restaurants open really late? I'm probably missing a few.

Your questions sound like ones that you absolutely must ask.

DirtGuy

[hawaiianpunch]

I was wary of the offer at first, but I obtained the contact info from the school's website so I think its legit. I think the school relaxes their teacher requirements due to its isolated location. They just emailed me again to see if I had completed my physical exam. I'm keeping them as a backup school for now.

[DCHun]

Sojourner: Thanks for the tips, another poster gave me similar advice as well. I've applied to some schools in Jiangsu and now I'm just waiting to hear back from them. I'm definitely open to teaching business courses because that's more in line with my background.

Dirtguy: I wasn't really that interested in working in Jiaozuo, but like you said they seemed pretty desperate to find someone.
When you say that "opportunities fall out of the sky" if you hustle, do you mean teaching or non-teaching related opportunities? Eventually, I want to move on to a job outside of teaching. I was wondering if you came across anything like that. [/i]

[Non Sequitur]

[lemak]

[Non Sequitur]

For those still looking for gigs I think the schools have just hit that "last minute panic" point. They've just realized there's only something like 20 working days left before summer vacation and have to get all kinds of paperwork done before then in order to get a new teacher.


Note this from lemak.
In my exp the FAO will be on deck for the first part of the student holiday time, but if you have a lot of applications out there with no responses a followup email wouldn't hurt.

[mw182006]

I saw lemak say that and was hoping someone else would chime in and say there's still plenty of time. I guess I should prepare for some slim pickings from here on. I was hoping for Korea this fall but that aint happening.

lemak, if you feel like sharing any of those leads (and if they're ok for a newb), please pm me

[DirtGuy]

Keep looking. Contact recruiters as well as contacting the schools directly. Take what is decent but perhaps not your ideal job and move the next year. I got my job in August of last year through a recruiter and everything worked out fine.

DirtGuy