Job Discussion Forums

jammex88 · Joined: 09 Feb 2014 Posts: 43 Location: United States

I wrote and asked about why they had included the F visa for one semester wording in their ad and this is the response I got.

Dear Jim:
Thank you for your question!
The F visa is only for those scholars carrying out academic research and exchange on our campus and it is only for three months. We help get F visas for those who would like to carry out academic exchange and research on our campus. As they are on their visits, they will deliver some academic lectures or co-teach a course or two with Chinese staff to broaden the international visions of both of our staff and students.
Hope my explanation could give you a better understanding!
Best wishes!
GAO Qiang

I think he included that in my initial information then because I am a univ prof in the US currently and we were communicating via my univ email. In fact, he asked me during our 'interview' if I was going on sabbatical next year and was that why I wanted to come to China. So, this seems like a decent answer, but I still am curious to hear what others think of it.

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

That adds to the creds of this school IMHO.
Make it clear that you are looking for paid work for 10m as an English teacher on a Z visa.
Let them bid for you on salary.
With this new info on your quals, I agree a better salary than our normal 5500 is likely.
If they have a strong English dept with English majors I expect they would welcome an intro class (es) on another European language - probably for sophomores.
My sophomore English majors at Dalian Maritime had acess to intro classes in German.
When students who clearly had a handle on English ask me which other European language they should study, I always advised Spanish.

Bud Powell · Joined: 11 Jul 2013 Posts: 1736

"...co-teach a course or two with Chinese staff..."

Whoa. Never heard of that. In universities, FTs and CTs rarely mix. This could be quite step up.

I agree with NS about letting them bid on your salary. Co-teaching will require a LOT more work than if you were the only teacher. You'll have to do a fair amount of research in order to be sure that there are minimal conflicts in your content.

Go for it.

Spyro · Joined: 09 Dec 2011 Posts: 36

I think you are good to go. Very standard contract. Don't really like the writing class bit because usually you are supposed to teach less classes if you have writing. This is because writing classes takes a great deal more work. My co-worker who taught writing was responsible for 12 teaching hours instead of 16 (which is common among most universities).

Nevertheless, as long as they get you a Z-Visa (which should be a deal breaker if not supplied), this is a fine first job in China.

I'd try to get a current/former teacher's contact information if possible. This way you can ask questions about the school that you wouldn't otherwise. I would ask whether the on-campus apartment for teachers has a curfew, if teachers taught one subject/course for the semester or several (several courses would mean a lot more lesson planning/work) and general information about the school (students, atmosphere, etc etc). Normally, I would tell a first-timer in China to not be too picky but since you have a lot of former teaching experience, you have a lot of options. As a result, don't be afraid to dive deeper into the school and shop around.

You can probably find people on Linkedin (you can send messages to strangers, you just need to leave an e-mail since you can't receive replies without a premium account) or ask the FAO for contacts directly.