Job Discussion Forums

[vikeologist]

I'm starting this as a ridiculously open ended fishing expedition, but

How did people find the hunt for Uni jobs starting in the Spring? Are many of you still looking? Why don't you think you've been successful?

How do Universities feel about the number and quality of applications that they get for 'mid-year'?

Don't worry about going off-topic. I'm not sure I even have a specific topic in mind. Just share with the group.

[Non Sequitur]

I'll be interested to see how this develops.
For example what is the ratio of Spring jobs to Fall jobs?
I blithely post advice that Spring is a legit hiring season for public tertiaries, but is it?
I got my first job in Spring (2004) but I was recommended by a friend and wasn't forced to make multiple school contacts.

[johntpartee]

I got my current position in Spring 2012. Had a BUNCH of offers. When renewal time came (Spring 2013) I was looking at other places. Again, a BUNCH of offers.

[Wiganesi]

I'm about to sign a contract for a Spring start. I saw plenty jobs about.

[Bud Powell]

I don't know why anyone would think that the vast majority of openings occur in the fall. All it takes is for one person to sign up in the fall for a one-year university gig, then leave (or be fired) at the end of the fall term. If the university signs only one-year contracts, that position becomes a spring-to-fall opening in perpetuity unless someone signs a one-year contract in the spring , then leaves in the summer and does not return for the fall. I don't think many institutions would not try to fill the spring opening just so that everything would be tidy on the calendar.

If one knows where to look he will find hundreds of openings for the spring term.

[muffintop]

[Non Sequitur]

Aren't the numbers irrelevant?
It's the proportion Spring v Fall that is important.
This is especially so when advising newbs.
They have to be just that much more diligent in Spring.
There is the added factor that FAO staff are less likely to be on deck during Spring Festival, making the getting of responses frustrating.

[Bud Powell]

Every school I've taught for has had an opening for an FT at mid-year EVERY year. It's not that uncommon.

Take a look at ESLJOBS.COM and abroadchina.org and see what's being offered, where, and how many openings there are. Those who think that their chances for employment in a public university (or even a mill or an international school) are tremendously greater in the fall may be disappointed. There's actually less competition in the spring, not because because an FT bugged out early from a bad situation and nobody wants that job, but because some FTs work one-term contracts (yes, that's possible, especially if one is already in-country) and for the aforementioned reason.

Most people apply for jobs that begin in the fall. Therefore, the competition is greater in the fall. An application by a qualified applicant may attract more attention for a spring opening than an application for an opening in the fall. I speak from experience. When I've finished a contract and returned to the U.S., then applied for another position, I've had more responses in the spring than in the fall.

There is the added factor that FAO staff are less likely to be on deck during Spring Festival, making the getting of responses frustrating.

It depends upon how early one applies and is accepted. If he gets his ducks in a row early, it's likely that the applicant will have fewer problems when he arrives. I haven't seen much difference in the number of people in the Foreign Affairs office during the summer and during the spring break.

[Non Sequitur]

[Bud Powell]

Appreciate your points Bud, but isn't there an incentive for public schools to hire in the Fall (Sept)?
The contract is then for 10 months and unless it is as part of a re signing package, they don't pay you for July and August.

Certainly, there's an incentive, but if the FAO wants to keep you, he'll pay you during the summer. That has been my experience. I've had only one FAO who wanted me to bug out and go to a hotel for the summer (at my expense).

Public universities have discretionary funds with which they may use to pay an FT above the going rate (I've seen this happen) and to pay the FTs during the summer. At a couple of universities, the FAO farmed the FTs out for the summer to different schools for the summer, and the schools paid us. That was actually fun. I got to see different schools and different levels of instruction.

I think that it goes without saying that the prospective FT should make sure that he is taken care of during the summer. That should be written into the addendum if it doesn't appear in the contract itself.

[Non Sequitur]

Did you get paid by both the summer school and your regular employer?
My best experience is getting paid by the uni over summer including retaining the apartment and going off by the day or week to a summer job.

[Non Sequitur]

[Bud Powell]

[Non Sequitur]

[fat_chris]