Job Discussion Forums

afireinside · Joined: 04 Nov 2004 Posts: 14 Location: GOLD COAST AUSSIE!

Hi,

Well, we are in Shanghai right now and thought everything was lined up. We sold our cars, left our jobs and fully committed ourselves to a job teaching just out of Shanghai. We met today with the guy and he says he cannot contact the headmaster as it is Chinese new year. (bad timing) We thought we had the school lined up and everything.

We spent $3000AUD on our tickets and now have nothing. We are staying in a hotel at $50 a night and now we are worried. We were told by the agency to come on a Business Visa, which we did as it would be easier to change when we got here.

So here we are stuck in Shanghai, WHAT THE *BLEEP* DO WE DO? We are a young couple 24 and 23 from Australia, no teaching experience or tesol certs. Anyone got any clues? Any advice? Any jobs? We feel so screwed over. We have read many horror stories like this on this forum and I guess this is one to add to it. Its not the best time of year as all schools are closed until March. PLEASE HELP ! Its 1.33pm Shanghai time on Thursday. What would you do?

millie · Joined: 29 Oct 2003 Posts: 413 Location: HK

hello fireinside,

A little cold outside now. That's bad luck for you mate.
But don't panic.

Having a business visa is a big advantage and lets you work more or less legally in Shanghai (lots do without a problem here.)

Not a good time to find another job but get onto this site:
http://shanghai.asiaxpat.com/
Click on careers there are lots of jobs there, many with phone numbers.
Choose those you feel qualified for rather than reply to all of them.

Next move out of that hotel to a cheaper place
(eg) Captain’s Hostel at 37 Fuzhou Road near Henan Lu.
Cheap dorms at 50RMB per bed Tel: (021) 63235053.
It will be full so make sure to ring for a bed.

There are other hotels around for RMB 200 or so -others have posted on this site before but eg:
the guest-house on the campus of Shanghai International Studies University - about RMB200/night. 3 star I guess
(Chinese name: Shang Wai Ying Bin Guan)
189 Tiyuhui Road West, Hongkou. Tel: (021) 55384500

OR get the agent to help your find a hotel for you.
Pudong side has a quite a few reasonable places a few stations out from LuJiaZui. It would seem the least he could do for you now.

I think peterpaul below means Pu Jiang Hotel (6324 6388) on Huang Pu Road (Lu) - a short road near where the Suzhou River enters the Huang Pu river. Again, probablly full, so do check before-hand.

To find reasonably cheap accommodation (rather than hostels) you need to look outside of central Puxi and that’s why I suggest getting your agent to lend a hand.

There are some winter ESL camps beginning soon;
Check your PM (private messages) at top of this page now.

Best of luck- I am sure things will work out.
M

peterpaul · Joined: 02 Jun 2004 Posts: 36 Location: Shanghai

Don't worry. You should be able to find a job soon. However, the short term will be a bit tough. Right now it is like Christmas-very few people are hiring, as many things are shutting down for the next couple of weeks. However, there are some things you can do.

Prepare a resume, and post it all over online.

Ask some schools if they need someone to do English Corners. Try looking at EF, Wall Street, and Web International online, and make a cold call or two.

find some kindergartens, and do the same. Kids Castle is a good place to start.

Count your cash and make a budget. Moving out of that hotel will be a good start. The Puiang hotel by the Huang Pu river has a cheap hostel. if you don't drink much and eat a lot of bread you two could eat on about 20 rmb a day.

Walk a lot and see the city. It will distract you. Try FuXing road in the old French concession.

Don't Panic. I was in a similar situation a couple of years ago. In a week I had a new job, a new place, and a new start...

PM me if you have any more questions, as I live in Shanghai...

burnsie · Joined: 18 Aug 2004 Posts: 489 Location: Beijing

Can't go past the advice give. DON'T PANIC. Once you have settled down into Chinese life you will look back on it with fond memories.

This situation is not unusual in the business with unscrupulous business practices.

One trick one of the posters here I read used was wherever he goes he offers tutoring or free lessons in exchange for meals or accommodation. If you can't get them for free then maybe a substantial discount should be on offer.

It should start picking up just after the Spring Festival, say around 15-16th Feb.

struelle · Joined: 16 May 2003 Posts: 2372 Location: Shanghai

Yeah, I second all the 'don't panic' advice, but just a friendly reminder to others who are planning to work in China: Don't put all your eggs in one basket!!! By that I mean, have some kind of back-up plan in case things go wrong. So many Westerners put this blind faith in recruiters and later suffer the consequences for that. But it's not the end of the world, there are ways you can regroup.

On that note, a good option here would be to check into a cheaper hotel like the Pujiang, or my favorite: Maggie International Youth Hostel, 1825 Tianshan Rd, Changning District (near Zhongshan & Yan'an Elevated Rd interchange)

Dorms go for 40RMB a night, privates for about 160RMB. If it's not busy, you can get an entire dorm room to yourselves, but don't count on that during this season!

When the holiday is over, that's the time to start pounding the pavement. Go around to schools and universities that you're intested in, and you may find a vacant spot at the beginning of the term that the FAOs want to fill. You will probably need to do demo classes.

There is also the option of local recruiters now that you're in Shanghai. The chances of being screwed over are less now that you can meet on their turf. Some good links from Asia Expat.

Steve

Roger · Joined: 19 Jan 2003 Posts: 9138

This forum will never cease to amaze and amuse me with the tales of naive, unprepared and cash-strapped touroids!

Susie · Joined: 02 Jul 2003 Posts: 390 Location: PRC

Start sending off your job application letters and resumes now. The link below gives websites of China jobs.

http://www.eslcafe.com/forums/job/viewtopic.php?t=3487

tradinup · Joined: 13 Nov 2004 Posts: 132 Location: Shenzhen, China

Obviously coming before Chinese new year is a terrible time to come. If you knew this was bad timing then why come then? No one goes to school now... I bet hotels are the most expensive now too.

If a recruiter asked you to come right before CNY it seems like a pretty good red flag that he is one of the 99% of bad recruiters. If you have no experience and no education, I think you at least need to bring some street smarts.

Cash reserves have probably been mentioned a million times on this board so I won't say anything there.

stevenabroad · Joined: 16 Jan 2004 Posts: 34

"We are a young couple 24 and 23 from Australia, no teaching experience or tesol certs. "

Well then your pretty much fully qualified for one of the thousands of jobs currently being advertised all over the place. And if you don't limit yourself to shanghai then your options are pretty much limitless. Look at the bright side you have the freedom now to decide and since your already in China employers will be banging on your doorstep and you can live very cheaply as long as you stay away from tourist hotels

millie · Joined: 29 Oct 2003 Posts: 413 Location: HK

A week or so after the forlorn OP makes urgent pleas for help on both China boards (and meets with numerous helpful responses), I wonder what has happened Question

Roger · Joined: 19 Jan 2003 Posts: 9138

A good question!

I happen to be privy to information relating to several cases of foreigners arriving in China and becoming dependent on the informal charity of China-based FTs, and in one case, of overseas-based naive people who send them money to "survive"...

Madmaxola · Joined: 04 Jul 2004 Posts: 238

YOU DIE

dajiang · Joined: 13 May 2004 Posts: 663 Location: Guilin!

Always look on the bright side of life.
What to do? Enjoy yourselves.

You're young, got plenty money (am I right here? you sold your car and have a small sum of money to play with?), no time schedule, you're in Asia, life ahead of you, no commitments back home...
What to do??? H ell, life it up mate.

So, you know how much money you've got, put some away for whenever you get back home, put some more away for in case of trouble (these things you have probably already settled before, or should've anyway).

Now, look at a map and decide where you wanna go.
Next step, put all those places as dots on the map, and draw a line connecting them... this is your itinerary.
Don't let borders stop you, you're aussies, can get visa for anyplace in the world.

Otherwise, if you don't have enough money to travel around for a few months or more, get to know some foreign teachers in schools anywhere, speak to expats and find out whatever you can about jobs anywhere, check out websites, get phone numbers and drop by.

On the road you'll see you'll get job offers here and there. In traveller's hangouts there are usually notes giving you a phone nr, Chengdu there're always jobs, as in Yangshuo traveller hangout nr.1.

Don't worry. You'll survive.
Have a great time.

See ya,
Dajiang

ps, check out a cheaper room. Go to the hostels mentioned in the LP, unless you spend 50 kuai, not 50 dollars. (Shanghai is an expensive place to hang out, any other place in China is way cheaper.)

Meleefracas · Joined: 26 Mar 2005 Posts: 63

As Millie said, OP please do let us know how you're doing now. It's great how most of the members here are willing to help this poor person. I, too, had a bad experience with a recruiter. He was an American who possibly was using a false name, as I've subsequently found no mention of him on this site. Even so, I should have joined up and asked for advice on this discussion forum back then. I'd only read the Job informaton Journal at that stage. Stupid.