Job Discussion Forums

asiannationmc · Joined: 13 Aug 2014 Posts: 1342

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2015-07/23/content_21384900.htm

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

WOW!
Teaching about Easter!

bograt · Joined: 12 Nov 2014 Posts: 331

asiannationmc · Joined: 13 Aug 2014 Posts: 1342

bograt · Joined: 12 Nov 2014 Posts: 331

OhBudPowellWhereArtThou · Joined: 02 Jun 2015 Posts: 1168 Location: Since 2003

Wow. We have an advocate.

Or maybe someone got a bright idea for a way to increase newspaper circulation.

talentedcrayon · Joined: 19 Mar 2013 Posts: 91

This was a really good article. Everything he talks about is what I complained about after my school wouldn't negotiate a higher salary in my second year.

My university had a salary of 7400 for 20 hours. For my second year I asked for:

- a raise to 8400
- a reduction in my hours to 16/week
- paid summer vacation

I was expecting the school to negotiate with me. But, my walk away point was pretty close to what I had offered them.

Instead, my boss told me that the university president rejected everything I asked for. He was upset because last year they had a teacher who worked for 5000. He had stayed with the university for 4 years on that salary. So, according to him, I was already overpaid. My boss tried to convince me that I was being unreasonable.

thunder_god · Joined: 22 Jul 2015 Posts: 65

talentedcrayon · Joined: 19 Mar 2013 Posts: 91

jimpellow · Joined: 12 Oct 2007 Posts: 913

"I interviewed the next one but I felt he had some kind of bizarre ulterior motive for working in China (based on his answers to my questions I believe alcohol or sex)..."

Bizarre? I think you should have recommended him for his refreshing honesty.

talentedcrayon · Joined: 19 Mar 2013 Posts: 91

He wasn't being honest was the issue. I could tell.

I edited out the word "bizarre" because in truth, I don't know if his ulterior motive was bizarre or not. I suspected it was, and my first guess was alcohol because that was a major issue amongst uni teachers in my city...but I can't prove that was his case. All I could tell is that he had no desire to actually teach at our school. He just wanted someone to sponsor a visa and provide him with an apartment.

Additionally, his last school was not renewing him and his explanation for that was suspect as well. My boss should have called them to verify. But, she didn't for some reason.

edit: I probably shouldn't have gone into such detail about my thought process for not recommending either of them. My main point is that at 7400, you only get a few resumes in a 3 month period. Of those resumes many are not worth considering. That's my experience. I can't imagine what kind of applicants a school gets at 5000.

thunder_god · Joined: 22 Jul 2015 Posts: 65

jimpellow · Joined: 12 Oct 2007 Posts: 913

"edit: I probably shouldn't have gone into such detail about my thought process for not recommending either of them. My main point is that at 7400, you only get a few resumes in a 3 month period. Of those resumes many are not worth considering. That's my experience. I can't imagine what kind of applicants a school gets at 5000."

All in good fun. Yes, and as the article and you point out, these low salaries are not going to attract a lot of folk. This is true especially with the ongoing march of inflation in China and for some who hit thresholds, an increased tax burden.

The article could have made note of a couple other factors but chose not to. One is that the foreigner in China always needs an extra cushion to pad the blows from constant scamming, overcharging and exploitation.

The other is that the stricter visa regulations have driven up the cost of obtaining a visa substantially for applicants in many jurisdictions. Additionally, the requirements have been toughened up so the days when someone with dubious English skills and no experience and no degree filled such empty positions on a non work visa are disappearing fast.

One could also mention the need to be able to save adequate money for retirement and such.

OhBudPowellWhereArtThou · Joined: 02 Jun 2015 Posts: 1168 Location: Since 2003

talentedcrayon · Joined: 19 Mar 2013 Posts: 91

I only conducted the one interview on behalf of my school.

But, in my experience most schools do not conduct a proper interview. That's the reason I offered to do interviews for my boss.

I asked the guy these questions:

- Tell me about yourself
- Tell me about your work history
- Why did you decided to come to China to teach English? - I dug deep into this question because the candidate had 20 years of experience in a technical field. Then he completed a masters degree in that field... and then for some reason he came to China. It didn't make much sense. If he was changing careers why do the masters?
- Why are you leaving your last school? I asked about this because it seemed like he had probably been fired.
- How would you describe your teaching style or teaching philosophy?
- What did a typical lesson plan look like for you at your last school?
- What kinds of materials and activities do you use?
- Students at our university can sometimes be unmotivated. While it isn't reasonable to expect a teacher to change everyone, what do you do to keep students motivated?

I asked several others, but I don't remember anymore.

The candidate had good answers for the questions about his work history, reason for changing careers and reason for looking for a new job. But, he was expecting those questions. Funnily enough, I don't think he was expecting me to ask him about the job itself: teaching.