Job Discussion Forums

[chinacat9]

I have been offered a job at Donghua University for next term.
Does anyone know anything about this school. Is it a good place to work for? Thank you for any information you can share.

[jamema]

Donghua is located in a good part of town with easy access to the centre of Shanghai by bus or skytrain. There are lots of interesting little bars and restaurants in the area. Donghua is not a "top tier" university but the students are pleasant enough and reasonably motivated. I suspect the salary offered by Donghua will not really allow you to enjoy all the pleasures Shanghai has to offer.

[MarcusK]

Donghua advertises that they're hiring teachers to assist with pronunciation. However, they told me that the class size is 40-50 students! Is that the "normal" size that one should expect to find in university English classes? That seems a bit large to me.

[stavrogin2001]

I too have been offered a position here and I too have been offered the same money.
I however have had a hard time getting much solid information like a contract or a previous teachers email address. I have asked, but not received.
Any information that you all have out there would be most helpful, because I find the contact to be very slow in relaying information.

[stavrogin2001]

This is unacceptable for conversation classes. I have refused to teach before when this is the case. I find that even thirty can be burdensome with a Chinese conversation class.

[Yu]

I have also been offered a job at Donghua. I inferred it would be pronunciaiton. Perhaps, I was correct in that assumption.
I have not got much information from them. I posted on the getting the best university job in Shanghai. This explains my offer from Donghua.

[stavrogin2001]

Again, I do not know how you all feel about this, but obviously the leaders are not wanting to give too much information. If we all pool our information maybe we can learn more about the Donghua programs.
I was offered a job about 4 weeks ago with little info on the position. I was told that a contract was being written, but never recieved a copy.
Lastly I requested some referral info and all my reply had was a note saying that I was being offered more money now.
Have you all had similar experiences? For example: class sizes, accommodation, woring hours, etc?

[Sevarem]

Okay, I was offered a job at Donghua as well.

So far, they've offered 5000 RMB per month, plus 3000 RMB per month as a boarding allowance, or I can take an apartment on campus.

I've been told I would be teaching oral/conversational English, no homework given, maybe one or two tests a semester.

That's all I know. Next!

[MarcusK]

The info that I received matches what has already been posted. However, at least in my case, I felt the reply to my initial message was prompt. I sent a follow-up with three very brief questions, and received a reply within a couple of days. Perhaps I was just lucky? I haven't yet asked for a current reference, nor for a copy of the contract. There is still plenty of time for each of those.

If you've requested information recently and not received a reply, I suspect a delay in answering could be the result of the May holidays. Also, it can take quite a lot of time to draft individual responses to lists of questions, especially if the person responding isn't fluent in English. I wouldn't be too worried if you haven't heard back yet.

Speculation: They may just be starting the hiring process. Often that entails collecting as many resumes as possible, then sorting through them to identify the most suitable candidates. My guess is that they have a standard form letter that they sent to those who submitted resumes. Following the May holiday, they will likely move more quickly to narrow the list of candidates.

[Errol]

My experience as a job applicant with DHU is the same as reported by everyone else. I have also asked some specific questions, and requested a copy of the draft Contract - but there has been no reply. My initial few contacts with the University were prompt, friendly and helpful - but during the past 3 weeks there has been silence! I have sent follow-up email messages to DHU during that time, but have received no reply. That said, I tend to agree with the comments made earlier by MarcusK. Errol

[stavrogin2001]

Thanks everyone. I have been talking to DHU for about 5 weeks now, as was said earlier, I recieved very prompt replies until about three weeks ago.
I was also given a mini-interview on the phone about three weeks ago.
I guess what I have been experiencing is a stalling technique to gather more applications plus the May holiday. It seems most final decisions are made after May holiday and before June.
My only reservations were that I asked for references of current or past employees and a copy of the complete contract. This is what I have had a hard time getting, but now seeing the sheer volume of people they are looking at hiring, I can see why. They must be very busy.
Well gentlemen and ladies, good luck to all, and who knows, maybe some of us will be colleagues in the next semester!

[MarcusK]

My guess is that most places would be unlikely to send out copies of their contract unless they are actually offering you a position.

A school might want to provide references if they are having trouble recruiting. In the case of Donghua, it's apparent that there is quite a lot of interest, so perhaps they feel the references to help sell the school aren't necessary right now. Still, were I to be offered a position, I would certainly ask for references, and expect to receive them.

[Clancy]

I think a better name would be "Dung What?"

[MarcusK]

Is anyone else making progress with Donghua? Today I received a response to my note asking them when they might be making a decision.

The gist of their note was that they had already offered me a position!

I guess I'm used to having someone come right out and say "We'd like to offer you a position." Apparently it was implied by their response with the details about salary and benefits. *shrug*

They said that if I were indeed interested, I should send them a copy of my c.v., passport, and diploma, along with two letters of reference. Once they receive those, they will send a copy of the contract.

So for those of you who are waiting for an offer, perhaps the school thinks they're waiting for your decision! If you really are interested, you might want to send a follow-up email stating so, and asking what the next step is.

I'll try to post more info when I receive a copy of the contract.

[Errol]

Like MarcusK, I too received a reply from the University today. Attached to it was a copy of the "Supplementary Agreement", that accompanies the standard employment contracts for foreign teachers that most state-owned schools, colleges and universities use here in China.

The "Supplementary Agreement" I received basically only states what was already contained in the online job advertisement, and the standard replies that most of us have already received, about salary, hours, brief duties and accommodation.

I had asked eight ( specific questions about other matters such as the amount paid per period for extra lessons (overtime rate), whether they could pay some of the accommodation allowance in advance to cover the set-up costs of obtaining an off-campus apartment, whether there was any objection to working part-time in outside jobs, and so on. But, there was no response to these specific questions. So, I have submitted them again!

I wait to see if there is any serious reply to those questions.

My three years of experience working here in China cautions me not to sign any Contract or Supplementary Agreement until I have received clear answers to my questions!