Job Discussion Forums

[tifanjo]

I was a teacher at EF Urumqi for about three months, up until about 3 weeks ago. I gave the proper amount of notice according to mycontract, and even went about the whole thing in a very friendly and professional way.
There were no problems until the Center Manager, Tonia Feng, found out that my plans were to teach at another language school in Urumqi. At that point, she stopped saying "That's too bad, everyone had good things to say about you", and started making threats to make it impossible for me to work for that other school.
She threatened to use her connections at the PSB to make it impossible for me to get another Z visa in Urumqi, even though I was completely legal and within my contract. Under pressure from other people at EF, she relented and promised not to interfere.
Then, she started saying that it was impossible to get me anything other than a 10-day tourist visa, in spite of her connections at the PSB that are apparently good enough to prevent me from ever getting another job. I have my doubts about this, but she swore it was just standard practice when cancelling a Z visa, and then when I got my passport back, I actually had a 7-day non-extendable tourist visa.
Not only that, but she was making threats to withhold my passport until I paid her in cash for for the flight allowance I had to refund to her. I definitely owed them money, and I was willing to pay to them what I was contractually obligated to pay them, but those sort of intimidation tactics are, in my opinion, beyond what anyone should have to deal with.
Aside from the craziness of Tonia, who apparently thinks her employees are dogs that she owns and can kick around, the working schedule there is hell, and the 40 hours a week the contract mentions as your total working time is an absolute joke.
The end of the story, sort of, is that I am now working at that other language school and they have said they may not be able to get a visa for me because of some lies Tonia told the PSB. So, she went back on her promise for a bit of petty revenge.
The DOS is decent, the city is fantastic, but think twice before working there because ultimately, you will be at Tonia's mercy.
PM me for more info.

[tom selleck]

I have warned anyone who would even listen about that -cough- school. My experiences with that school were nothing short of a nightmare in technicolor. Before Tonia and the current dos ( whom I, to be fair, have heard good things about ) it was far, far worse.

I was prepared to do the same-quit at the beginning of my second year contract with adequate notice. I had everything arranged to go to the EF in Tianjin. At the eleventh hour, the offer was withdrawn. I had limited time to research a new gig... My things were all packed; I was living in a flat filled with boxes. Ready to go to the post office and post my things to Tianjin. Dianna had called the center manager in Tianjin and kaiboshed everything.

Who is Dianna? The previous center manager.

And Tonia's best friend.

And who helped Tonia get the job? In this country, it's not the best man who gets the job, but guanxi, guanxi, guanxi. But Tonia wasn't finished.

Fast forward 2 months. I landed at the EF in Chengdu. Tonia actually tracked me down! Phoned me all the way from Urumqi! She told me I had to mail my res. permit back to her. Actually, she was so new at that time, she didn't know to provide a release form to let me get on with my life in Chengdu. So she tried to cover up her lack of experience and incompetency by getting me to "mail" the res. book back to her! The local center manager at the Chengdu franchise, Donna, was pretty strong. Used her guanxi to get my situation handled and avoid an unwanted Visa run to Hong Kong!

I could provide so many other examples but.....both you and I are apparantly viewed by others as sour grapes with an axe to grind. The purpose of this forum isn't only to bit ch, but also to warn others. You try. I try. But sometimes it's just like banging your head against the wall.

Take a picture of this. A car dealership in your home country soon develops a bad reputation. How much longer are they selling cars?

Just wondering......

[Roger]

Well, well, that Tonia person may be as bad as you can describe her, but you owe us also an explanation of why the hell you chose to quit three months into your term. You surely didn't tell them right upfront that you were going to leave before your time was up, did you???

So, while Tonia may have shown unprofessional and vindictive traits, you have provoked her by being unreliable.
Some guys seem to forget that when they work here thedy are a kind of guests that should do their utmost to keep everybody else as happy as they were before you came here! You simply can't job-ghop here - that's not your privilege!

[tifanjo]

Ah, Roger, you've got me there! You're right - I didn't tell them up-front that I was going to quit before my contract was up. It would have been difficult to tell them something that I didn't know at the time - I had no intention of leaving early.

What happened is that the work load ended up being much heavier than it was implied to me, and the amount of extraneous administrative hoops to jump through were just being added on to and added on to - true, the teaching hours in the contract are high but a new teacher can't know exactly what that's going to feel like. And teaching the little ones ran me down more than I realized, to the point where I didn't have the energy to enjoy life here - I may as well be working myself to death somewhere else for more pay! In addition, there was a lot of talk about hours being reduced, but nothing happened and the classes continued to be loaded on.

So, I chose a time when more new teachers were arriving, I offered to keep teaching my classes if they couldn't find replacements, I made my apologies, and I backed out. I figure it's better for everyone not to have an unhappy and unmotivated teacher around.

I did my best to make the transition easier for them, but there's no reason for me to condemn myself to 9 more months of unhappiness when I am replaceable to them - just given a little time.

I would hardly call quitting one job "job-hopping", in any case.

For what it's worth, I'm not the only teacher that has had problems with EF Urumqi recently. Two of us quit in the same week, and another quit about a week later. That's about a quarter of the foreign teaching staff, I think.

I hate to be associated with the general whiners of this forum - but I do think people should know what they're getting into. I'm not anti-China, I'm not anti-Urumqi, I'm not one of those people who just likes to complain ... I really had honest intentions and I'm finding myself getting screwed over someone's inability to realize that employees are not her personal property.

To sum up - I made a mistake working there in the first place, but did all I could do to smooth it over as I left, and apologize.

There are good things about EF Urumqi as well - but watch out for Tonia!

[Norman Bethune]

[Lee_Odden]

Met a couple of guys last week from EF who were asking me about a job. Apparently the EF in Beijing isn't much better. They were planning on pulling a runner. Working 25 - 30 hour weeks with split shifts with a management that doesn't care. The really amusing part is how the EF advertises the use of free time as part of their promotion:

[Old Dog]

Roger, Your unbridled cheek astounds me sometimes. I have just read your posting here and am left almost breathless by your utter effrontery. You wrote:

[Lee_Odden]

I guess this means that Roger isn't getting any Kentucky Fried Chicken and candy for Christmas either? (I know for damned sure that I've been crossed off the list.)

OD - Is the "Headmaster of the Forum" position appointed by the moderators or can anyone apply for the job? And if so, do you need a TEFL certificate? (I have a real degree but no TEFL training. But I can probably get a fake one if that will help). How many hours per week would I have to work and what is the base salary? Is overtime mandatory? Is there a minimum number of posts per day or per week? Do you pay by the post or by the month? Does the substance of the posts have to be validated? Do I have to be completely sober when I post? Does the job include health benefits that cover treatment in an alcohol rehabilitation center? And finally, can American citizens apply? (If not, my friend says he knows where I can get a really good fake Canadian passport if that will help).

I am AIDS-free, good with people and am very honest. I am a few pounds overweight, as you can see, but I more than make up for it with my glowing personality and personal charm. I do smoke an occasional cigar but I gave up marijuana many years ago (I never really inhaled; I just experimented like Bill Clinton). Small children and animals really seem to like me. And I am really good with women and I know how to treat them with respect (except my ex-wife had a big problem with headaches every night, for some reason). Also, I do shower every day because I am a little overweight and sweat a little bit more than the average person. I can lose the beard if that would help too but I do suffer from a skin disease of ingrown hairs that causes my face to become severely infected when I shave. Does your health insurance policy cover maintenance and experimental medications?

The photo on my profile is a few years old but I pretty much look the same. Before I came to China to teach English to little children, I was the manager of a garbage disposal and toxic waste service. (No, I am not Italian but my uncle is and I had to say that I was to get the job). I am a very honest person and my record speaks for itself. During my service to the company, collections improved by 110 percent and my routes increased by 500 percent because I would make personal visits to my clients if there were any problems because I really care about people. I am a �can do� kind of guy.

I am an employee you can count on and I think I am perfect for the job of �Headmaster of the Forum� and would be available for employment at the end of my contract (but if you need me sooner, I will find some way of leaving my current position early but I may not be able to provide you with a letter of release or a recommendation letter. But my uncle Vito said that was no problem and that you should call him if you ever needed anything).

Looking forward to hearing from you.

Sincerely yours,

"Honest and Trustworthy" Lee Odden

[justcolleen]

Lee, you might want to pump up your CV (resume) to cinch your application. There's a lengthy, and most argumentative, thread on the General Discussion board that may - or may not - be helpful.

If you need a reference, lemme know.

Colleen

[Lee_Odden]

Colleen:

I guess I could use a woman's perspective. If I do get an interview, do you think my current glasses compliment me or should I consider contact lenses?

Thanks for your help.

[nativespeaker1]

OD, I, too, would like to see a "kinder, gentler" Roger. And LO, I'm not quite sure who your target was, but you're hilarious. I love you both.

[justcolleen]

[struelle]

It's not my job to change anyone's posting style, as I see it, they post the way they want to. However in Roger's case I sense he gets a bit frustrated (as I do too) by hearing different people write about the same stories, situations, and responses over and over again.

For example, by now the following situation is so common you could summarize in a short paragraph: A newbie teacher waxes lyrical about some exotic location in China, but he doesn't do his research thoroughly about what teaching conditions are actually like there. He signs a contract on a whim, and some time into it (usually 3 months) he suffers from culture shock and/or other conditions, and decides to quit.

Now wat's frustrating is that he constantly offers warnings and advice to newbies about how to AVOID the above scenario, but either nobody uses the SEARCH FUNCTION or the advice falls on deaf ears.

To be fair, I also got caught in this trap when I signed a contract with a boarding school in 2003-04. I didn't research it very well, and was seduced by the top reputation the school had in Shanghai. I also was extremely low on cash and needed something immediately. As you can read on the archives, things got really nasty in Feb - Apr 2004, and I almost did a midnight run at the time.

Generally speaking, if someone with loads of experience offers advice on how to avoid pitfalls, it's good to follow it.

Steve

[Roger]

Old Dog,
I take your advice humbly and with a lump, no: grain of salt! I shouldn't lash out at newbies for their naivete, right?
OK, I will make a superhuman effort at pleasing them and you!

But I cannot promise success every time in the future.

The poster in question has my respect. He has told the forum - "us" - why he quit early. I accept his reasons as valid. But these reasons were not contained in his original post. I think you will agree with me that sometimes it is NECESSARY to know such details.

You will, perhaps, even agree with me in saying that some employers get undeserved flak from disgruntled employees, and some newbies need some reforming on their job.

Forumites here come in all colou, really, and many are, sorry, but this is a fact: bad apples. I honestly believe if someone hasn't been in China for the last two years they tend to be irresolute, opportunistic or overly naive - take your pick! You hear from 2-week China veterans how "wonderful and hospitable this nation is", and 6 months later, the same guy might post "what a disgusting country this is, how rude and dishonest its people are"... Let me say, I have never wavered between such extremes in many years.

But I have met quite a few posters in person, and I enjoy their company most of the time. But this is also due to some circumspection on my part: I won't offer my telephone number to all and sundry.
You will, I am sure, agree that many westerners are as little reliable and trustworthy as many of our employers are.

Never say "all of them"!

[Old Dog]

Roger, How you gloss! I was castigating you:

a. For upbraiding someone (no matter if they were a newcomer or not) for the very sin you yourself have been guilty of - though a sin, I have no doubt, you think no one in the forum remembers.

But, given that the poor unfortunate was indeed a newcomer, then your posting was clearly yet another example of how, in your accustomed agro, you were setting out to intimidate so that he, too, might dance very reverently to your Headmaster's tune.

That said, the fact that your latest victim was a newcomer was neither here nor there in terms of my posting - though you seize on this irrelevance to cast yourself in glory.

b. For adopting a hectoring tone - as if, somehow, you have the right to hector because all light in these forums regarding Chinese things shines from you in a fundamental way.

In your eventual reply "gloss", you attempt to define the "us" of your original posting as "the forum". Bulls*hit, Roger. When you demand anything in this forum, the demand is usually couched in an unpleasant, Teutonic manner, and the demand implies the requirement for an explanation to you personally. Never mind the words, read the "tone". "Report to the Headmaster's Office. You have displeased him."

Your own early years here were not all that glorious, if one is to judge from your postings. Indeed, your later years have not been all uniformly glorious, if one is to judge from the same sources. Maybe they would have been easier and you would now wear fewer scars, harbour fewer suspicions, be less inclined to lash out, be less concerned with the "undermining of your authority" had more experienced hands guided you with a greater gentleness and understanding.

As I said earlier, much of what you write is useful and appreciated. I have had just as much experience of China as you - and in some senses more since I have been able to integrate very successfully into several small parts of China - but I would not attempt the "Encyclopedia of Chinese Things" act that you do. My experience of so many things has been so small. I have had so few employers in so long a time. I have not had run-ins with the PSB. I have not been duped by employers. I have not run out on employers. I have not posed as a Western businessman for the benefit of some local scam. I have not blundered into bordellos. But this is where your Chinese peregrinations can serve to benefit the community. You know it all and can speak from experience.

I repeat, the good you can do and the goodwill that your helpfulness generates is undone by your sometimes crude, sometimes hectoring manner. If you want to be Top Dog, the Headmaster, no one is going to fight you for the position. Most people just come here to play. They don't come to swagger like a Leading Consultant from a Carry On Series. You do not have to bite heels, bark and snarl to maintain your position.

Whether you please me or not is a matter of total indifference to me. I take your helpfulness to the forum as one of the pluses of coming here. Your fantasies - the cloak and dagger stuff, the mysterious strangers, the continual accidental blundering into bordellos, the condoms in lieu of toothbrushes, doing 10 women in 10 years, ..... Well, I just take it that you like a drop. I read your stuff for information sometimes and, at others, as examples of the raconteur manquee's art. Others, I regard, shall we say, as so much Xanadu, if you take my meaning.

I have read all your posts most carefully over the years. Like Laodeng, when you get just too much above yourself, I shall remind you of what you might hope is forgotten in the interests of the moulding of character. Oh, but I do like you. Merry Christmas.