Job Discussion Forums

[Non Sequitur]

[choudoufu]

i wouldn't mention any special scheduling requirements. february
jobs are limited, supply of teachers isn't. teaching 12-16 hours,
you'll have plenty of free time, usually 3 full days off.

as a foreign engrish teacher, you ain't important. your schedule is
the last thing they're gonna worry about. the scheduling man will
arrive at school a day or two before the semester begins, and will
have more important things to worry about than your needs.

the school will have 3000-6000 students to schedule into limited
classrooms. more important teachers (that means all of them but
you) will be asking for xxx day off, xxx afternoon free, assignment
to multi-media rooms, and so on. and it's not computerized. the
scheduling is all done by hand.

those students will be scheduled for around 30 hours of classes per
week, with classes from 8am to 10 pm, monday-saturday. would be
hard to justify rearranging the schedules because you have other
responsibilities. easier just to hire some other dude/dudette with
the required ba and white skin and pulse.

[Non Sequitur]

[Bud Powell]

Ah, seemed like from all the lamentations about the lack of skill of English teachers that it might be quite a quick process, perhaps just consisting of them looking at a photo...

I'm glad that you have it all figured out. Go for it.

[jm21]

So started applying for jobs Saturday...was pretty sick most of the day today.

Holy crap the onslaught of recruiters....

Apparently I've got an interview for a university gig in tianjin...any tips on questions I should be asking would be appreciated.

The following come to mind...
Hours expected to work
Salary
what kind of housing provided and photos
how much reimbursement for air tickets
what kind of vacation time and when, if it is paid.

Someone mentioned trying to ask for a paid summer holiday...is that realistic for a person new to china?

I honestly don't care that much about the money (e.g. whether I get paid $800 or $900). Just want a nice town and as much free time as possible. A decent apartment would be a plus. I expect at least half or more of my income will come from doing stuff over the internet.

[mw182006]

You may want to do a search and check some of the recent posts on Tianjin. If I recall, they have some pretty strict paperwork requirements which does not bode well if you're short on time and/or don't have everything together already.

[FreakingTea]

jm21, before you accept any offers, make sure you talk to current or former foreign teachers at the school so you can learn stuff that the school might not tell you, like quality of apartments, how teachers are treated, what the immediate area is like, etc. Any of these things could make or break your experience. Try to get an idea of the turnover too. If they've got several people who've renewed their contracts a few times, then it's probably a decent place to live and work. If the school doesn't want to give you any teacher contacts, there's probably a reason and you should steer clear. Good luck in your job search!

[Non Sequitur]

I'd couch the question about paid summer holiday in terms of:
'If I re-sign for another semester etc?'
Looking ahead there may be merit in getting your employment aligned with the normal cycle ie Sept-June.

[jm21]

Yeah, there seem to be quite a few complaints about the housing situation in Tianjin on these boards as of a few months ago....I did a search late last night.

[jm21]

One recruiter suggested doing an online TEFL course as it might be hard to get a visa without one. Is that worth doing?

Also, I've been self-employed for about 5-6 years and don't have any employer references, should I be getting some references from clients or something? Written references mean basically nothing here but don't know about in china. I don't think there's anyone who could be contacted via phone as a work reference.

[wonderingjoesmith]

What would you like to know about the job?

[jm21]

So...a teacher cannot travel and a traveler cannot teach? I would never have suspected that. I had always thought that learning, an aspect of traveling, was something that enabled one to teach better. For a teacher is always a pupil first, are they not?

Anyways, I have seen many certified teachers teach and many are not competent, just as many lawyers are not competent. If I have learned anything in my many years of education and professional experience, it's that it's not that freakin' hard. You could train a parrot to be a lawyer given enough patience I'm pretty sure, and surely a monkey could be a better teacher than many I have seen.

Anyways, got my first request from a recruiter to lie at a job interview about my experience. They even offered to edit my resume for me (no wonder they request them in word format sometimes after I sent them a pdf). Took all of two days. I can see that the professional standards are incredibly high.

[BruceLeeWannaBe]

[jm21]

So, had an interview with the University I really wanted to work at due to location....I guess I got the job? That was the strangest interview ever...basically do you have any questions about the contract and then 40 minutes of trying to communicate with a second interviewer who could not speak much English. I don't think they asked me any questions about myself really besides are their terms OK with me.....

5k/month
8000 flight reimbursement
2200 travel
private apartment with two rooms (from what I could gather)
18 periods per week teaching and an English corner
would have to work over the summer
I think they said I had to work other school breaks but it was so unclear it was hard to say

Certainly not a great gig but it is the location I wanted most...will have to see if I can talk to a current teacher to get an idea.

[BlueBlood]