Job Discussion Forums

lyallben · Joined: 13 Aug 2009 Posts: 23 Location: china

Have signed a contract for postion at University not great pay but thought the work is light 12-15 classes a week and city not expensive not so many FTs and research regards uni and city indicates that both ok.i thought it would be an easy introduction to China.
However after signing the contract my contact with my recruiter (actually she works for the uni i think) is sporadic at best.I have asked to be located in the city rather than 45 mins out in a student ghetto. A decision on this seems to be an interminable process despite the fact that i was previously told a decision hadn't been made as where to locate me.(it seems that it had)
a few days ago i asked how the visa process was going and was told that it was spring break soon ( in two weeks time)
It just seems to be taking an interminably long time and in my shimmering innocence i thought the visa thingo would take about 3 weeks.I have asked numerous times to please keep me posted re my visa application. It will soon be two weeks and the papers havent even been processed at the china end.
I have written a strongly worded note to say that i cant wait here forever with no communication.Ive told them if they dont keep me posted and make a decision then the contract will be rescinded and i'll find another position.
I've had enough.

RonHex · Joined: 10 Nov 2009 Posts: 243

schools in China are put on auto pilot about a month before Chinese newyear.. Gov't Dept. are the same... by now classes are finished and the offices are empty.. no one cares enough to ruin a good holiday with 5 minutes of real work.. give em a few weeks and they will be freaking out tryin to organize a teacher for March.... night george is always screwing over morning george.. after 3years i learned to do things not in good time but in Chinese time.. hell even chinese newyears is a month and a half late Wink

lyallben · Joined: 13 Aug 2009 Posts: 23 Location: china

I just got an email to say sorry we have trouble with a foreign teacher fighting and drunk. Sorry cant tell you about job. Literally that. After weeks this cryptic ambivalent response.I have replied perhaps its better that you find someone else to teach at your university.

brsmith15 · Joined: 12 May 2003 Posts: 1142 Location: New Hampshire USA

In the west as far as general management principles are concerned, we try to follow Management By Exception (meaning you pay attention to important, pressing issues not every bit of minutia) and Management By Objective (you set achievable goals). Here it's neither; it's Managment By Surprise.

"Oh, yes, [Fill in your name here], you need to address a group of 250 people on the subject of [Insert some obscure, arcane topic you've never heard of here.] in 10 minutes. Across town!"

Chinese have great difficulty planning ahead and I've always wondered if a par of it has to do with the lack of tenses in the language.

lyallben · Joined: 13 Aug 2009 Posts: 23 Location: china

Yesterday i got this email we dont know about your job- then i was offered the same job by a recruiter at 500 yuan more a month and a transport allowance.This recruiter was at pains to extol the merits of the new school in the "suburbs" and their accommodation.Rather than other accom that didnt even have a kitchen.
I've spent over three weeks signing a contract, negotiating and now it seems that once i asked to live in the city i was given the arse.They were busy finding someone else.The contract meant nothing.Rather than tell me they just fobbed me off and looked for someone else.
I have a question. this whole process has cost me money; I still dont have a job. Am I best to just come to China and look for myself?
Can I get a work visa from Hong Kong? Or can I only get a visa from New Zealand (my home country and passport?)
Any advice would be welcomed.
I'm not angry just weary- like dealing with a combination of monty python and mafia family-

tomstone · Joined: 09 Dec 2009 Posts: 293

Once you get hired and get all of the necessary paperwork, you can get the Z (work) visa in Hong Kong.

LarssonCrew · Joined: 06 Jun 2009 Posts: 1308

[quote="brsmith15"]In the west as far as general management principles are concerned, we try to follow Management By Exception (meaning you pay attention to important, pressing issues not every bit of minutia) and Management By Objective (you set achievable goals). Here it's neither; it's Managment By Surprise.

"Oh, yes, [Fill in your name here], you need to address a group of 250 people on the subject of [Insert some obscure, arcane topic you've never heard of here.] in 10 minutes. Across town!"

Chinese have great difficulty planning ahead and I've always wondered if a par of it has to do with the lack of tenses in the language.[/quote]

Haha, this is spot on. The whole 'last minute' thing is so annoying. The school took me to the PSB on the FINAL DAY my Z visa ran out to change to a residents permit, and rang about 2pm, 'it closes at 3 30, get a cab'.....I was shocked.

Then there's going on vacation with a Chinese, 'please book the tickets for the train as soon as you can.' 'Maybe we should leave it until the day we go?'

They don't seem to understand that planning leads to you feeling more comfortable and more certain, oh well.

Jayray · Joined: 28 Feb 2009 Posts: 373 Location: Back East

brsmith15 wrote:

In the west as far as general management principles are concerned, we try to follow Management By Exception (meaning you pay attention to important, pressing issues not every bit of minutia) and Management By Objective (you set achievable goals). Here it's neither; it's Managment By Surprise.

I hope that you're saving these bon mots. You and some others produce some real gems.

Jayray · Joined: 28 Feb 2009 Posts: 373 Location: Back East

At my last school, the dean of the foreign languages department told me during my first private conversation with her that often, she isn't informed of schedules and important events until the last minute. According to her, the problem wasn't within the school. Rather, the communication problem was within the system itself. Sometimes, she explained, changes come from somewhere else, usually from somewhere within the provincial government. She was pretty good about keeping me informed directly. Sometimes the best that she could provide was that she anticipated some sort of change in schedules, or some sort of decree from on high to come down. Sometimes she was right. Sometimes she wasn't, but at least she'd make an attempt to keep me informed.

Information is power. One way of maintaining control is to withold information. In the west, my experience is that the petty lower managers use this tactic. It's easy enough to bypass such people and go over the guy's head. In China, it does no good to go over anyone's head because you'll just find yourself climbing a rickety, endless ladder and making people annoyed or angry in the process.

I suspect that what the OP is experiencing is something similar. Perhaps the FAO or the recruiter really doesn't know the whens, wheres and ifs, and she doesn't have access to the people who can provide the answers. In the west, if there's no information forthcoming, you can usually count on someone to pick up a phone and make a call to someone who can say what's going on. In China, I believe that when you're told "I don't know" the person really doesn't know, and he realizes the futility of trying to find out. What you get instead of information is a plausible excuse to shut you up until word comes down.

Like brsmith15 said--- it's management by surprise.

brsmith15 · Joined: 12 May 2003 Posts: 1142 Location: New Hampshire USA

Jayray,

SUFE - Shanghai Uni of Finance and Econ - was my last position before retiring. My Chinese boss was wonderful as were all the supportive staff. Pay was obscenely high, sudents great and smart, classes fun, classrooms equipped with everything you could imagine from TV's to computer projectors and internet connection. We got free trips and nights out to Grand Theater and lavish dinners.

BUT, bosso did have that maddening habit of last minute news. One time -- I'm not joking -- he came to my cubby and asked if I could go to one of our sister UFE's for 2 days and talk to the finance faculty about my teaching methods, such as they were. Of course, they'd pay all expenses plus a handsome stipend and bookig at a 4-star joint.

"Sure. Be glad to. When should I plan to go?" It was about 14:30 on a Friday and my classes for the week were over until Tuesday.

"Your plane leaves Hongqiao at 17:30."

If he wasn't such a great guy, I would have crowned him with my stapler.

dragon777 · Joined: 05 Oct 2005 Posts: 163 Location: Christmas Island

Brsmith15, how many classes or lectures did you have to give?

How did you organise yourself in time?

Jayray · Joined: 28 Feb 2009 Posts: 373 Location: Back East

LanGuTou · Joined: 23 Mar 2009 Posts: 621 Location: Shandong

Jayray · Joined: 28 Feb 2009 Posts: 373 Location: Back East

No, they are not.

Nor is he.

Nor is he.

Who said that?

brsmith15 · Joined: 12 May 2003 Posts: 1142 Location: New Hampshire USA

Dragon,

Each semester was different in terms of classes. It varied from 14 hours a week to, one time, 4. The average was 10.

How did I organize my time? Other than class time, I held 4 hours a week of office hours, but students rarely came. The rest of the time, if I chose to stay on campus, was simply working on lesson planning and correcitng tests. I'd say I was on campus an average of 20 hours a week.