Job Discussion Forums

cardboardbird · Joined: 15 Nov 2007 Posts: 30 Location: On the road

What is the attitude in China toward guys with earrings? Im looking into teaching in China next year and realise that appearance is a big factor when being hired. My impression is that schools are looking for 'regular' looking folk.

I have one piercing in each ear (in the lobe), but even when I take them out the hole is still quite noticeable. Do you think this be a problem?

loboman · Posted: Mon Aug 04, 2008 2:06 am Post subject:

If you go for an interview take one or both out and once you start to work then go wild

Song&Dance · Joined: 04 Jul 2008 Posts: 176

Yeah, it is ok to lie or give false impressions, so many do it.

Unbelievable!

Be yourself, get a job where they accept the real you, avoid problems when they discover they have been had or duped.

North China Laowei · Joined: 08 Apr 2008 Posts: 419

Earrings in China on males...

some schools won't like it at all, some schools won't care at all, and other schools, well, prudence is the mother of virtue, so to speak. This is China and there is no straight answer here. It all depends upon the school's target audience and frankly, how desperate they are to hire a foreign teacher.

NCL

DistantRelative · Joined: 19 Oct 2004 Posts: 367 Location: Shaanxi/Xian

Don't sweat S&D's response. "It" seems pretty bitter right now. My opinion is, if they hire you based partially on photo's you sent without em, then your obligated to take em out during contact time, and do what pleases you during your non working hours. Seems fair enough to me.

Zhuhao,

Shawn

Song&Dance · Joined: 04 Jul 2008 Posts: 176

kev7161 · Joined: 06 Feb 2004 Posts: 5880 Location: Suzhou, China

We had a teacher last year with a big ol' tattoo on one arm. He was asked (even in hot September) to wear long sleeves. Granted, he was teaching small children.

North China Laowei · Joined: 08 Apr 2008 Posts: 419

With all due respect to previous posters, this is truly a non-starter and an item that should not be of any concern to the OP at all. If the school doesn't like it or them, the school will ask the FT not to wear them for sure. It won't be a terminable offense by any stretch of any great imagination and all of this talk here about deceit and dishonesty, well it's just way-way-way-way-off-the-mark. I have been here a good number of years and what I have seen and again and again is that if the school doesn't like it, the first time, the school won't say anything, Chinese style. The second time it will find a way to convey its message if it deems it all appropriate.

Kevin is on the mark about body markings, however; the teacher will be asked to cover them up as they cross some silent line in local culture. I have seen schools ask both Chinese and foreign teachers to cover them up.

The OP should be more focused on whether or not the school is a good school, whether or not it will pay him on time and accurately and whether or not they can actually arrange all of his papers on a timely and correct basis.

This is such small, minor, irrelevant issue in the scope of things here and that is how it should be considered.. Be on time to your classes, teach well, be sober in class and relatively not unkempt, and the rest is minor.

lionheartuk · Joined: 03 Jun 2005 Posts: 173 Location: Guangdong

I wear a diamond stud in my left ear and have had no problems in the 5 yrs I have been teaching here. Some students are fascinated by it.

therock · Joined: 31 Jul 2005 Posts: 1266 Location: China

Most schools do not even require you to have an interview, the better schools might require a telephone interview. However the chances of the school knowing before you arrive is minimal. The students will love it and it will give you a topic to talk about if you get stuck in class. Last year we had a guy with tattoos on both arms. The students were really fascinated and I remember in one class he would talk about his tattoos.

grwit · Joined: 20 Apr 2006 Posts: 329 Location: Dagobah

I usually take my earings out for the job interview and then start wearing them occasionally to see the reaction. However, my last job interview at a primary school I forgot to take them out and after the interview I noticed and was a bit worried. 2 days later they called and told me I got the job.

I have 3 earrings in my left ear and 1 in my right and have never been told not to wear them after 3.5years and 4 different schools.

grwit · Joined: 20 Apr 2006 Posts: 329 Location: Dagobah

Oh I also have tattoos on both arms but I can cover them easily with a short sleve shirt. Tattoos are a bit more frowned upon but again after you have the job and have been working, if the school and students like you, then that is also not a problem.

Moon Over Parma · Joined: 20 May 2007 Posts: 819

Having tattoos: I agree with rock. Unless your tattoos are "Kill 'em All," anti-Chinese in any way, graphically violent, endorse drug use or criminal activity or have nekkid folks you won't receive substantial flack. You'd be surprised how tattoos can encourage students who don't normally talk to actually communicate with you during free talk.

For the most part I tend not to show off my tattoos during class. If the students see them and ask questions I will show them and discuss them. In my free time I do not conceal my tattoos. Sometimes that's when students see them.

Depending on your location, you may also have many students revealing to you that they would also like to get tattoos. They are growing in popularity and I've seen many twenty year olds in university with actual tattoos. Tribal stuff. Ornamental. Not the triad crap.

When I completed work at my previous university I invited a couple of students to accompany me to a local shop as I had more ink done. One of them brought a friend. A week later I moved to my next port of call and I received a camera phone image from one of the students of a tattoo the tag-along had done at the very same shop! I take no responsibility for their actions. They are adults with minds of their own. Had they been a student of mine they would have heard my reiteration that they should make sure they really want the image they would like to have tattooed because they have to live with it their whole life, and that removal would be more expensive, painful and not entirely perfect. I really tried to hammer home that my tattoos where not done on whims but reflect a lifestyle and feature images important to me.

Piercings: I'm not into them. I did have a pair of male students who had their ears pierced. Usually one ear. Never noticed if they had both ears pierced. Unless it's a very obvious piercing I don't think most schools will care. If you're into modern primitive piercings then there is a chance it would be an issue. I don't think your description falls into that.