Job Discussion Forums

[Long ai gu]

Do I have to bring my diplomas with me or is an inter-net copy good enough? They are quite damaged and I don't want to travel with them.

[loboman]

Copies are fine, sometimes they ask for the original. Most schools give you a new one for a few bucks.

[teacherbel]

HI!
My school asked me to send them a copies of all my diplomas..which I did..I still have to get their reply as I just sent it last Friday..So, I presume that email copies are ok?

I would appreciate a reconfirmation.

Thanks..

[samhouston]

And I've always wondered what employers actually check the validity of the diplomas? Do the government offices ever verify university credentials before issuing the Z paperwork?

[seperley]

I asked my FAO if any effort was made to verify degrees. My FAO said no, but it may be different in other areas. I do know that back when the Chinese consulates required home-country authentication, the consulates did their own authentication, apparently by comparing degrees to microfilmed copies.

Now, for five dollars, a company named Degree Verify in the U.S. will verify degrees issued by participating American colleges and universities. I am unsure of who does a similar thing in European nations.

[jeffinflorida]

[Mpho]

I have worked now at three different public institutions in Xinjiang and Guangxi and all three required the original diploma so that the PSB could verify that I had a degree.

It has been surmised by some that the Colleges pass on copies to the PSB who is establishing a database on all foreigners in China with all information to be coordinated between provinces, autonomous regions etc. for cross-checking illegal workers, people overstaying visas, etc. It has been suggested they are cross-checking this with the passport entries and exits to get a handle on where the foreigner travels to.

Yes, it has been a common practice in China to "alter" the scanned or e-mailed copies to suit the schools purpose, such as non-degreed hires or even to bolster the faculty who now have studied and gotten a degree abroad. As we all know, degrees mean money in China.

My previous FAO told me that they like the original diploma so that they can verify who should be contacted at the school for recruiting teachers from the school directly through their Chinese contacts in the States. Some of the e-mailed and faxed copies are a bit "fuzzy" and English signatures a bit hard to read.

Mpho

[mjlpsu]

In Shenzhen the diploma is supposed to be shown to the Foreign Experts Bureau when applying for the Foreign Experts Certificate. That should be the only reason the school would want it. I requested that I accompany my diploma to the bureau and there was no problem.

[Moon Over Parma]

If you ever need to switch jobs you'll want to have your diploma on hand. You will need to make copies, maybe get them authenticated. If you are a responsible individual who keeps track of their personal belongings and takes care to insure that they are not destroyed, damaged or lost out of neglect, then you won't have to worry much. I've been doing this off and on for a long time now, and I've always had my diploma with me, took care of it and never lost it. Hell, I even keep it in a box, in secure place, ready to be yanked and taken with me in case of an emergency (fire, earthquake, etc.) in my apartment. While not life or death, I do treat it like I would my passport.

I say bring it, just in case.