Job Discussion Forums

[ChineseDwarf]

I decided I want to work at a university and was wondering what the best way to do it is. A lot of people say agents and recruiters are evil and to never use them, but I noticed on a lot of Chinese university websites there is no jobs page, or English page. Should I just e-mail them my passport, resume, CV etc etc or should I try a recruiter? ( Yes, I know not to go on a tourist visa, and to read the contracts carefully and ask questions.)

Any tips on how to land a university job for a first timer? Also should I do a TESOL online course such as iTTT (I know it is no CELTA) or could I find a job just as easy without one? I do have a degree already.

[Non Sequitur]

I voted 'connection' who was someone on Dave's and who lived (home country) nearby.
If you're looking at Feb 2014 start or earlier, then there won't be as many ads. If you are happy to wait until Sept next year then you will pick up on the normal recruitment cycle starting April/May.
Select a few cities that sound promising. 2nd tier provincial burgs are best for newbies IMO.
Go to the wikipedia page and you'll see on a sidebar 'Education' or similar.
This will bring up a list of the tertiaries in the city.
These aren't links mostly so you'll have to google to get a live website.
I'd ignore those that have no English version and on the remaining look for an 'Employment' or 'Foreign Expert' tab.
A polite email does the rest, together with a scan of passport with number covered over.
It's a numbers game so just keep right on a'truckin' until you hit paydirt.
Best
NS
PS I cold called in person to get my 2nd job, which was 500 metres from the first.
ns

[vikeologist]

What do you mean by 'applying in person'?

Turning up at a Uni to hand in your CV would probably be unsuccessful unless you knew who to ask for. Obviously it would work better at a language school, which are smaller, though obviously I'm pleased it worked out for NS.

[A593186]

One, universities rarely advertise for recruiting foreigners. Second, you shouldn't be coming to China as a first-timer as you say. China requires two years of teaching experience.

[doogsville]

I got my job through someone I worked with who's wife works here and who had worked here part time himself.

I would suggest looking at some of the expat websites in cities you are interested in working in. Try this one for instance. http://www.deltabridges.com also http://jobs.echinacities.com/

I think a lot of universities will recruit through word of mouth too, so it might be worth posting on some of the expat sites to let people know you're looking for a job.

[choudoufu]

how to contact universities? google/bing the university website.

if you have a favorite city or cities, google maps can be your friend.
i think it's the "search nearby" feature.....look for universities, colleges,
and schools. everything pops up, conveniently showing you whether a
particular school is an hour's bus ride away from the town center.

if they don't have an english version, then locate their contact info.
look for their email at the bottom of the main page.

if that fails, go to the command bar in your browser, click edit, then "find."
in the little search box, cut & paste 联系我们 to get
the link to their contact page.

no guarantee that'll get you to the FAO, but there's a chance (if your
subject line is clear) that someone will pass it along to the right office.


*****for both of my uni jobs, i visited in person after email contact.

[ChineseDwarf]

Well the most voted is recruiter/agent, but all of you seem to think I should e-mail the schools? I really want to start Feb 2014 or earlier so I don't want to wait till next year. Is there a specific month when I should send out my e-mails or should I just begin now?

I am sure I don't need 2 years of experience...I studied in Tianjin for half a year and met a ton of teachers who just graduated, kind of like the situation I am in now. Maybe in BJ, SH, and GZ they need 2 years. Otherwise they would never have enough teachers in China.

The cities I am interested in are Chengdu, Chongqing, Dalian, Qingdao, Tianjin, Ningbo, Changsha, Wuhan, Wuxi, Xi'an, and Nanning. I am open to most cities in China that are not extremely rural but not as big as BJ/SH. I would also prefer Putonghua speaking and as little mosquitoes as possible. I always had to kill 2-3 a night before I went to sleep in Tianjin

Thanks for the replies so far guys!

[Non Sequitur]

[china505]

I sent an email, they replied with an application and asked for a cv. Did all that, got hired.

[Non Sequitur]

[teenoso]

Here is one place where unis seem to advertise :

http://www.eslteachersboard.com/cgi-bin/China/index.pl

I used angelinas esl cafe to get my job this time . Maybe they are a semi-official recruiter.

[mw182006]

Found an area I was interested in, posted on an expat forum, and got in touch with someone who was trying to fill their spot as they were headed home. Voted for connection option.