Job Discussion Forums

[JLT]

Hi. I'm a longtime lurker but need some advice now. I'm an American born Chinese Canadian with a B.A., two years of work experience at odd jobs (unrelated to teaching), and recently TESOL certified from a Canadian university.

Through a Canadian based recruiter in contact with a Chinese education ministry official, I obtained a contract for a public middle school in Fujian province (without a phone interview). I received the contract and immediately signed it and sent it back July 27th. My recruiter didn't hear from them for two weeks. Then got a message that they were having trouble getting my Foreign Expert Certificate. Then they said that the provincial government was "hesitating" to provide the certificate due to my lack of ESL teaching experience.

I wrote a new cover letter going in depth about transferable (non-ESL teaching experience) skills such as sports coaching, personal training, peer mentoring, and public speaking as a university recruiter.

They've scrapped the original contract and are prepared to offer a new one.

The ORIGINAL contract:
18 hours of teaching but must maintain 12 office hours at school, attend meetings, etc, for a total of 30. 8000 RMB plus apartment and airfare supplement. Start Aug. 28 to July.

The NEW contract:
10 hours of teaching at middle school, pretty sure no office hours (they haven't sent the contract because I need to request it), but an additional 20 hours of teaching/conversation work at a separate "English Training School" with work on Saturdays. 8000 RMB plus apartment and airfare supplement. Start October to July.

So the new one would be 30 hours of teaching, possibly 6 day work weeks (that's what was sent in an email), and October start (one full month delay).

They're saying that by teaching at the English Training School might make it possible to get a foreign expert certificate issued. Didn't guarantee that I would be able to get it.

Question 1) Has anyone heard of a person not getting a Foreign Expert Certificate because of inexperience even though the school gave a contract? Or is the school yanking my chain to get new contract terms?

Question 2) Is it acceptable for 30 hours of teaching plus 6 day workweeks with only one day off? (I've read here that 24 is max standard plus two consecutive days off.) Will I be able to negotiate this?

I'm pretty pissed but know you can't be to save face and is unacceptable when dealing, but find their original contract completely disingenuous and seemed like a bait and switch. I received an offer for a school in Suzhou for 6000 RMB but declined it during the wait to hear back from Fujian. My recruiter said I had nothing to be worried about, plus I was so happy about the salary and their very professionally written contract (compared to what I've seen here and other places). Also, delaying from a Sept. to Oct. start really sucks for me.

Advice, thoughts, explanations, anecdotes would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
JLT

[jamesmollo]

Hi there. It sounds like the public school can't get your f.e.c through the legitimate channels so they are using a 'language mill's' more devious means, who will in effect be your employer and be farming you out to the middle school. Which would mean you would be at the mercy of the training centre with more hours, english corners, promos, parties and all the other crap that goes with it. Steer clear would be my advice. Why not follow up with the Suzhu job? It's a nice place, at least. And the money's o.k
Best of luck

[kjk_esl]

I would agree with James that the school cannot get you a real FEC, visa and will get you one through a mill which will work you to death. There are a lot of school there in China. Just keep looking and applying. Good luck.

[JLT]

Thanks to both of you. I am currently looking for other jobs and will heed your advice.

Question: If the school couldn't obtain an FEC for me in Fujian, should I expect to encounter the same problem in other provinces as well due to my lack of teaching experience?

Also, why would a public school have trouble getting an FEC for me, but a language mill could get one through dubious means?

Thanks again.

[jamesmollo]

It's possible you will encounter problems elsewhere because of your lack of teaching experience, but don't let this discourage you.

There are regulations which seem to be up to interpretation depending on who you're dealing with and which 'institution' you end up going with.
People without B.A's work in plenty of cities and provinces around China with legit paperwork.

Who knows, what the deal was with the public school. Possibly it envolved some bribery they weren't willing to pay out. It's common for public schools to go through agents or language mills for foreign teachers, part of the reason is laziness and that they can't be bothered with having to worry about some foreigner, housing, complaints etc.

Any school able to hire you and provide you with the proper paperwork must be S.A.F.E.A authorised to do so. Bear in mind this is for you to work for them, and them only.

You could always doctor-up your resume to include some teaching experience. I realise this is dishonest, but if you can do the job, and it sounds like you fit the criteria, why not help yourself 'in the door'?

Having said that, I've heard they require 2 years teaching experience, in China?
But, as I said (and this is what I would do) just go with what you have and hope for the best, I'm sure something will come up.
good luck

[nickpellatt]

I have also heard that two years experience is required.

The other thing that hasnt been mentioned is your ethnicicity ... this may also have been the reason for re-negotiations. Unfortunately, many people and places dont want any non-white faces as FT's. This is often discussed on this forum and others, sure there are exceptions, but you may find jobs suddenly becoming unavailable, and emails ignored once you have provided the passport photos some employers may request.