Job Discussion Forums

[jg]

ZiCheng,

Don't bail on the forum when you get a job, it'd be nice for other overseas Chinese to see a report of someone who made it. I for one would like the people who get job hunting here to come back and update, even if it serves no other purpose than to liven up the (sometimes) sourness of this board.

[ZiCheng]

Will do,

And, just as an update, there has been some interest from employers now that I have started using an English moniker, and one definite job offer, though I turned it down. See the "Yangshuo school won't issue work visa" post.

ZiCheng

[voodikon]

as someone before suggested, if it's a career in jazz you're looking for, why even look for english-teaching work? i'd recommend, if you have the financial capacity to do so, just arriving in suzhou and staying with your family while scoping out the jazz scene in shanghai.

and if the music scene is what's really vital to you, i'd also recommend looking into chengdu. i definitely know of places that will hire qualified people of asian descent, and there is a very thriving music scene here, both jazz and rock, experimental and more traditional, among foreigners as well as locals and plenty of interaction between all these groups. pm me if you'd like more info.

[ZiCheng]

Thanks for all the help here,

I found a job at last, and probably would not have if I did not make some changes to my Resume that came at the suggestion of some members who posted in this thread.

First and foremost is that I probably would not have gotten anything if I stuck with "ZiCheng," I used an English name along with my Chinese name in all of my Resumes.

I made a point of explaining my English qualifications in my initial email as well in my cover letter so that employers had no confusions so long as they read the whole two short paragraphs in my email.

I didn't do this often but making a follow up call helps with the impression you make on your employers.

The job I got is with the Changchun Teacher's College. They state on their job ads that ethnicity is not important to their hiring. There is a review of their school on this forum and else where by tw which is unflattering, but not so much that it persuaded my not to accept the offer. The contract is 9 months.

Thanks to all.

[Ping Jing]

Good Luck.

Yunqi

[ec]

congratulations zicheng.
i'm british born chinese, and planning to look for a teaching job in china next year. your job offer reassures people like myself that although it's difficult, with perseverance it can be done!

[johnchina]

Congrats. I know for a fact that Changchun Teachers' College does not discriminate on the basis of ethnicity.

[tw]

[daodejing]

Just show up in Shanghai and apply at Web International. There are Web centers here that need to hire new teachers.

[7969]

[tw]

[james s]

If I were a Chinese school mgr and a guy with a chinese name applied for my job looking for 5000 per month, I would ask a ton of questions:

1. Are you a native speaker.
2. Did you immigrate to the foreign country and are returning to CHina expecting to make big $?
3. Will my students pay for a Chinese guy to teach them?
4. In a racist country, what will I get more for, Asian or Caucasian?
5. If I put your face on photo advertising, will your skin colour alone get me money?

All of the answers are up to you. in other countries doing other work, colour does not matter. BUT in China teaching English, it does.

I knew a Taiwanese guy who had immigrated to the USA when he was 2. Minor accent, but what I would call native speaker. 24 years of English.

Couldnt keep a job for is life. He was good too.