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DaveW125
Joined: 18 Feb 2007
Posts: 54
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 Posted: Sat Dec 19, 2009 2:21 am Post subject: Is this normal? |
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My fianc�e and I have been offered a 4 month contract at a university in Wuhan. However I�m a little concerned. We have been offered the job despite not having an interview of any form, not having our references checked and as far as I can remember we didn�t even send them a photo.
Aside from this everything is going as we would expect. We signed and returned a contract and they sent us a copy with a signature and university stamp on it. They have also told us that the documents for our Z visa are in the post so we can take them to the Embassy and sort this out.
At worst I�m thinking this may be a scam of some kind, but nobody has asked for money or for us to send our passports/official documents anywhere, and at best I'm imagining that they will be expecting very little from us when we do arrive. But I was wondering if anyone else has had similar experiences.
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The Ever-changing Cleric
Joined: 19 Feb 2009
Posts: 1523
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| Posted: Sat Dec 19, 2009 3:50 am Post subject: Re: Is this normal? |
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| DaveW125 wrote: |
| My fianc�e and I have been offered a 4 month contract at a university in Wuhan. However I�m a little concerned. We have been offered the job despite not having an interview of any form, not having our references checked and as far as I can remember we didn�t even send them a photo.Thanks |
the place i've been working at for the past four years interviewed me on the phone for five minutes before i signed the contract. i dont think that really qualifies as an interview. it was more of a friendly chat and a chance to see that i really do speak english that they could understand.
as far as references are concerned, unless you worked at another school in china, i'd say they're almost never checked. same goes for educational qualifications. FAOs at most schools will never check anything past looking at the website of the school you graduated from. on the other hand, schools in china usually ask for a photo.
why not ask for the email addresses of any foreigners currently working at the place? you can get a better idea from those people what's going on. |
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ttorriel
Joined: 13 Oct 2008
Posts: 193
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| Posted: Sat Dec 19, 2009 4:25 am Post subject: |
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| You can, in no way, apply western hiring practices to those in China. |
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Hansen
Joined: 13 Oct 2008
Posts: 737
Location: central China
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| Posted: Sat Dec 19, 2009 7:14 am Post subject: |
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Careful during the hiring process. I got a call on my mobile, which was nearly out of credit, from a slow talking, annoying person, who I didn't know.
Rudely, I asked him several times to identify himself and get to the point, since my phone was about to die. Was the Principal of the school at which I was interviewing to work.
Shortly thereafter, I was informed that I didn't meet the hiring criteria. Nothing was said about the Principal. Another reason was given, unrelated to him. I wonder. Could have been a nice job.
If the "Z" paper work is in order, what's to lose? Four months sounds strange, perhaps the spring semester. I'd be concerned about the shortness of the contract and collecting the fare reimbursement.
Flying here at your own expense to work 4 months is a losing proposition.
They may be expecting you to work 30 hours a week for 3500RMB/monthly. You should have the basic details of your responsibilities, such as hours, pay, housing arrangements, and so forth clearly spelled out. Don't assume that anything will be decided favorably to you, if it's not previously understood and agreed upon. |
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DaveW125
Joined: 18 Feb 2007
Posts: 54
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| Posted: Sat Dec 19, 2009 8:03 am Post subject: Re: Is this normal? |
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| The Ever-changing Cleric wrote: |
| DaveW125 wrote: |
| My fianc�e and I have been offered a 4 month contract at a university in Wuhan. However I�m a little concerned. We have been offered the job despite not having an interview of any form, not having our references checked and as far as I can remember we didn�t even send them a photo.Thanks |
the place i've been working at for the past four years interviewed me on the phone for five minutes before i signed the contract. i dont think that really qualifies as an interview. it was more of a friendly chat and a chance to see that i really do speak english that they could understand.
as far as references are concerned, unless you worked at another school in china, i'd say they're almost never checked. same goes for educational qualifications. FAOs at most schools will never check anything past looking at the website of the school you graduated from. on the other hand, schools in china usually ask for a photo.
why not ask for the email addresses of any foreigners currently working at the place? you can get a better idea from those people what's going on. |
I had similar interviews to yours whilst i was employed in Korea. I thought a university might be a little bit more thorough about who they employed, I guess not.
the contract seems reasonably good. It is just a 1 semester thing, 16 hours a week with a one way flight included ( I still have a flight owed from my current job in Korea so that's not a problem).
thanks |
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Renegade_o_Funk
Joined: 06 Jun 2009
Posts: 125
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| Posted: Sat Dec 19, 2009 6:19 pm Post subject: Re: Is this normal? |
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Last edited by Renegade_o_Funk on Wed Mar 03, 2010 1:59 am; edited 1 time in total |
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norwalkesl
Joined: 22 Oct 2009
Posts: 366
Location: Ch-Ch-Ch-Ch-China
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| Posted: Sat Dec 19, 2009 8:18 pm Post subject: |
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| ttorriel wrote: |
| You can, in no way, apply western hiring practices to those in China. |
Indeed. I found that entering into contract negotiations as though I was stateside was a waste of time. It really WAS a Zen exercise in letting go of control, and I received very generous terms and a 10% pay hike when they saw my example lesson.
I could have negotiated everything, but I would have gotten massive pushback at every stage. Instead I showed up and waiting for me was a 5 room 80 m2 house and 14.5 contact hours and travel month during the holidays.
YMMV, and as everything in China you may do the same and get vastly differing results. I think it may have to do with what one thinks and what ones attitude is - I find the students and others to be unusually sensitive to my inner mood.
In the USA they begin with the contract and the relationship builds from there using the contract as the doorway one passes through.
In China one builds a relationship of respect and trust and responsibility and the contract is only used when things go sour.
Very VERY different. |
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