Job Discussion Forums

James_T_Kirk · Joined: 20 Sep 2003 Posts: 357 Location: Ten Forward

Greetings all:

To be blunt, it appears as if I am totally screwed right now. The university that I have been working with is extremely late in sending me the documents I need to obtain a work visa for China, so it doesn't look as if I will be going after all Crying or Very sad

. I am pretty pissed off right now, because three months ago I had a plethora of university jobs to choose from, and now I have nothing. Obviously, I made a mistake by not playing a few universities so I could have some backups lined up, but that is water under the bridge at this point.

So, what would you do if you were in my shoes? Is it too late to find a job at a decent unversity? Should I abandon my China idea and head to someplace like Taiwan instead? Do you know of any good job openings in a university setting in China (feel free to PM me...however, I am not interested in middle schools or language schools)?

Oh, FYI, I have a TEFL, some teaching experience, a BA, and a master's degree (in an unrelated field). Thanks in advance for your feedback!

Cheers,
Kirk

nolefan · Joined: 14 Jan 2004 Posts: 1458 Location: on the run

Hi cap...

Is coming here on a tourist visa an option for you or not? You can always get it changed to a Z visa in the mainland. There are still a ton of Unis scrambling around for teachers all over China.

Shoot me a PM if you're stranded and I might be able to hook you up with a standard Uni job.

Good luck

Spiderman Too · Posted: Thu Aug 19, 2004 4:44 am Post subject:

Just this morning the Foreign Affairs Officer at my university told me that one of the new teachers has pulled out and he needs to quickly find a replacement.

Send me a PM if you want further info.

denver · Joined: 26 Jul 2004 Posts: 76 Location: PANAMA

Captain Kirk

Looks like you're not alone. Now we're in the same boat to China.

About two months ago, I contacted an employer in Shanghai.
They were quite interested in me and wanted me to teach at one of Shanghai's top middle schools. I have been exchanging emails with this agency for over a month now and I've been religiously learning Mandarin Chinese and joined this forum so I could learn as much as I could about the place before arriving. I've even made a bunch of friends online who are always ready to help answering my questions about living in China. I even started looking around the classifieds in THATS SHANGHAI. Getting ready to make the big jump! Wink

I was so happy this morning knowing that I am starting my new job on 1st September. I'm ready to go, ready to leave my current apartment and having a patio sale to help raise some money for my BIG TRIP. The agency in Shanghai sent me a "contract" which I signed and faxed back. Everything seemed to be going smooth. They wanted me to arrive on a 'tourist visa' and promised to change it into a Z visa right after my so called "probation period". So I decide, "heck, I gotta risk something to get something"... so after a lot of pouting on my part because I wasn't getting the Z visa before I flew into the PRC, I finally go ahead and say, "ok, I'm coming to Shanghai on a tourist visa". So this week the agency has been asking me about my date of arrival because they are picking me up and so on.... and just last night I gave it to them. I even got a confirmed booking with the airline and everything. I was so excited because of this big event in my life Smile

So this morning when I wake up, I go to my computer, check my email and voila.... bad news struck, here is the email I get from the agency just 12 days before I am supposed to start work halfway around the world.

***

Hi:
I am sorry to say that the school has changed their mind, they don't
wanna
any foreign teachers this semester. It's really a big problem for us.
If you still wanna to come to Shanghai, we can try our best to arrange
another school for you, but we can't assure you that we will find the
suitable school for you.
Sorry for the trouble again.

***

At this point.... I need some serious advice from you guys.

The Chinese consulate is giving me my tourist visa tomorrow morning and I was going to head to the travel agent to purchase my ticket. Now I feel like I'm standing on thin ice and I just heard something crack.

Should I still come to China and hope that the agency finds a "suitable school" for me? Should I just look for jobs while in Shanghai on my own?

I have a B.S. in Education
5 Years teaching ESL experience
And moreover, I love teaching! Smile

Any suggestions?

You guys could just about save my life now! Embarassed

Mac · Joined: 18 Apr 2003 Posts: 77

From your online name you come from the same state as myself! I would suggest that since you are getting your tourist visa anyway why not come to China. If I were you, I wouldn't depend upon the school to get you a teaching position. I would keep checking the internet for teaching jobs before you came over. There are plenty of teaching jobs still available. From your email it sounds like you have close to 2 weeks before you are scheduled to fly over you have some time to make some contacts. I hope this will help you!

Chris_Crossley · Posted: Fri Aug 20, 2004 2:08 am Post subject: Come in, then look, that's OK

denver wrote:

James_T_Kirk · Joined: 20 Sep 2003 Posts: 357 Location: Ten Forward

Thanks for all of your replies and PMs. In retrospect, I think I probably overracted when I started this thread. I have been in contact with my school and, since I am fortunately flying into Hong Kong, we are going to get the paperwork settled from there. I know from my past experience how things work in China, and I shouldn't be surprised that everything is being thrown together last minute, should I? Anyway, worst-case scenario, say my school bails on me, I will just say screw it and find a job on a tourist visa or with some help from all of you great friends on Dave's...no worries! Thanks for the advice (and job leads) everyone.

Denver: I know how you feel. While I wish you weren't in the same situation as myself, in a way it was comforting to here that I am not alone. Let me know how things work out with you.

Cheers,
Kirk

Roger · Joined: 19 Jan 2003 Posts: 9138

Denver,
I hesitated to give James Kirk any advice since he is an old hand in these fora. But you seem to be a total newcomer. Welcome, but don't forget an extra-large supply of optimism and realism!
What disturbs my peace a little is that you seem to be cash-starved - judging from the fact that you have to sell your household to finance your plane ticket to China.
I suggest you take a little extra cash with you for hard times!!!

Now as for coming to China: I wouldn't discourage you. But you should not head into a megapolis such as Shanghai as a total green and unmoneyed newcomer.

Why don't you try to get a job with a regular school rather than with one of those go-betweens? Haven't you read enough on our fora about unscrupulous agents? Since you are totally inexperienced in some ways, you have to learn basic thngs in Chia before you actually make money here. This means you should have a stable job. Those agents never have stable positions. Those schools you actually work in have no fixed timetables for you; at the end of this week they might phone your boss to tell him you wouldn't be needed on coming Monday... That's very, very common here!

In my opinion, you ought to work in a public school that hires you LEGALLY.

If you can't find such a school, the only recruiter I can recommend is buckland in Yangshuo; they will ship you off to another school potentially thousands of kilometers ay - but by all accounts you will be taken care of!
That's not what I can say of any other agent!
www.buckland.com