Job Discussion Forums

[piglet44]

well my situation is a bit different from yours Guerciotti. first me in a suit would be a bit funny cos I'm a girl. Second I am married and hubby is not a Native speaker.The few that did contact me I did exactly as you said.
Have sent first CV and only later all the docs.
I have an MA,teaching cert and 30 years experience so SOMEONE must want me right?

[TexasHighway]

piglet44 wrote:

[daCabbie]

This is for Piglett.

Thirty years experience might put you at 55 or could be 75. Which is it?

You don't want a picture in a suit. Take a picture of you and your husband riding bikes, climbing a hill or something like that. Prove that you have the energy to teach a class of 50 teenagers.

If I sent out 100 emails with no response I would question if I was doing the right thing.

Use a recruiter. I have been in-country five years. Three jobs. Two via recruiter. One on my own. Its the same BS no matter which way you go.

Selling your non-native English speaking husband takes special relations with a school, recruiters can do that. No, I am not a recruiter.

You don't pay them, the school does. Always keep your interest in mind and make them aware of what you want/need. Ask lots of questions. Ask it again. Ask it in a different form. Call back three days later and ask again. Then ask the school the same questions in three different formats.

Use a recruiter, but DO NOT let them use you! Ask people on Dave's if things sound legit or fishy. Remember, that recruiter is gonna get 8-10,000rmb to place you and your husband, what would you do for three months salary (to an average Chinese person).

So what's your list?
What do you want?
If you do not know, you will get sent to the worst possible hole in China.

Hope this helps. By the way, China has a lot of older teacher. Don't let that be an issue.

[piglet44]

thanks DaCabbie. I didn't say we had NO response just that a lot of emails bounced. Many responses we got were from places we don't really want to go. and FYI I am 54 and in perfect health.Hubby is 64 and took early retirement and is not so bothered if he works (in teaching anyway) or not as he has a government pension. I sent pix to the schools and IMHO I look about 40 anyway.
I will take your advice and am doing all those things it's just that getting a job when you are not there yet seems rather daunting at this point. I am kinda tempted to just go and I know that when people see me they will want to employ me. I understand that they get a million CVs a day and would rather take someone that is already in China.

[xjgirl]

I doubt they get a lot of cv's every day, unless they paid for advertising on dave's. I posted on a few well-known websites quite regularly over a 2 month period, and I got not one CV that actually matched the requirements on my job ad, which weren't very high at all.

Most were just thrown in the trash immediately because they were non-white
non-native speakers(please don't take that as rascism on my part)

The rest didn't send me the few documents I requested, and that was much less than what most recruiters will immediately demand you send them

[piglet44]

Oh and someone told me that Chinese unis are unlikely to be checking their emails every day anyway so I should not expect that many replies. Now I am getting replies from those esl sites and no direct emails to reply back to (only through esljobs or seriousteachers or whatever) .They are asking me to mail them documents and I can't! grrrr

[sojourner]

Piglet,

Please refer to my earlier posting re "bouncing emails".

I vaguely recalling some months ago that you indicated that you were only interested in jobs in Yunan Province. Is that still the case ? If so, you may not be aware that Yunan is one of the most popular regions for young hopeful FTs - along with "volunteers" and (covert) "missionaries" ! Thus, lots and lots of competition - which usually means a low salary if you are fortunate enough in landing a job. If you are concentrating entirely on a job in Yunan, one possible reason why you have not heard back from employers is that they have been inundated with resumes !

If you want to improve your chances of getting a job in the Middle Kingdom you might want to consider unis in provinces other than Yunan.

Peter

[piglet44]

Thanks Sojourner I have already widened my scope and am looking at pretty anywhere that does not have an extreme climate- also interested in Suzhou,Hangzhou, Ningbo,Xiamen, Dalian or Qingdao and will also consider other places that I am not familiar with.