Job Discussion Forums

moderntime · Joined: 27 Mar 2005 Posts: 26 Location: Changchun, China

Hello everyone,

I'm supposed to start with WUST in September, probably for a late August arrival, but I'm getting nervous because I have not yet received my letter of invitation needed for my visa.

I was requested to get a medical exam for my letter of invitation. After sending scans off via e-mail multiple and trying to fax it several times (the number was said to be busy each time), I never heard back from Jessica Pi, the woman whose contact info I was given and told that she would be there all summer. Previously, she had responded to my e-mails promptly, so I don't know what to think.

Most of my dealings had actually been through another teacher who was in charge of the recruiting process, but unfortunately he has left for vacation. I've also contacted him in hopes of getting an alternate contact there.

All of my communication thus far has been via e-mail. Does anyone have a number for the university that I can call? Of course it was stupid of me to not get a number from them in the first place.

At this late stage in the game, would it even be possible to get my visa in time for a late August arrival?

Well, I won't be such a newbie again...

Roger · Joined: 19 Jan 2003 Posts: 9138

You can get a visa within a couple of days, sometimes quicker. I do not see a problem in the timeline.

Your job should actually start in September, and you should be in Wuhan by the end of this month.

Often the staff at such universities are on holiday until the new term commences. Hence I do see a small problem: they might contact you late(r).

But what actually does disturb me is that a TEACHER has so far been the correspondent on the Chinese side; this is highly problematic.

It can mean that he or she has been emailing you in total ignorance of the university having hired someone else. This is by no means rare!

You should be dealing with the FAO, not with another teacher.
i wish you good luck!

tw · Joined: 04 Jun 2005 Posts: 3898

SillySally · Joined: 26 Jul 2005 Posts: 167

This uni is rather famous in the Central China area.

It hands out MBA and PhD degrees like water to those with guanxi. I know many beneficiaries of this largess.

People are friendly like most in central China.

That is all I know about this uni..

moderntime · Joined: 27 Mar 2005 Posts: 26 Location: Changchun, China

Hey, I know that this is very belated, but thank you to all three of you for answering this. My job at this university completely fell apart, apparently because I'm Chinese-American, though from the very beginning I made this clear since I sent in my photo as well.

The woman that I had been told to contact never got in touch with me at all. I later found out from the teacher that she said that I had been placed in another school--of course, this is completely false. There were other false promises to other teachers that had been hired.

Well, at least I wasn't actually in Wuhan when I got the sack. It's a real pity though, I was looking forward to checking out the punk rock scene there.

Roger · Joined: 19 Jan 2003 Posts: 9138

My heartfelt regrets! I hope you have been lucky somewhere else in the country?