Job Discussion Forums

[englishgibson]

This is not about �self-righteousness�, �devising evil schemes�, but this is about the employers� hard work and expectations of seeing your a*s off that plane in China and in the school at the time given/promised. As an employer recruiting for that one position you might have to deal with quite a few applications, overseas phone calls and emails. Having prepared one letter of invitation and having sent it to one applicant means something, doesn�t it? Having chosen that one applicant means something, doesn�t it?
Plan A or plan B shall be considered and many have them, hell a �full alphabet of plans� sometimes with all due respect, however if one chooses to play with one employer after accepting the position�..
I don�t think that one person/applicant is worth it.
Again, there are many offers around China as well as there are many ESLers searching for that convenient, cushy position, however we all shall keep our �words� without giving the Chinese employers reasons to doubt we are worth it.

Cheers and beers

_____________________________________________________________
Honor is not just a word

[tw]

Allow me to add my two fen. Would anyone want something like happening to them:

You have gotten your documents and just as you are ready to go to the nearest Chinese Consulate to get your visa, the phone rings and it's the employer on the phone. The contact tells you that oh, they have found someone who is more handsome/beautiful, better educated, more experienced and willing to work for a lower salary than you would and as such, they have cancelled your visa notice, etc. Not a nice thing to do on their behalf, is it?

As englishgibson said, it's not about being "self-righteousness". Yes, anyone and everyone who wants to change job should and must have multiple "plans" (as HFG calls them) or as I like to call them, options. I have received multiple contracts from various employers inviting me to teach at their school next term, and I have narrowed it down to one employer, with two as backups should something happen to choice one (like not being able to get me a new FEC). Have I told the other two employers about my decision yet? No. It may sound a bit unethical but hell, if Chinese employers can pick and choose their new FT's, why can't FT's pick and choose their next employer? The fact is, and I know from personal experience, many FT's are hired not because they were the first choice, but because either the employer was unable to get a FT in time for the new term, or the person they had chosen never showed up or pulled a runner and they had to find an emergency replacement.

But what I am NOT doing is having signed more than one contract and thus committing myself to more than one employer. The OP's question was whether he could receive two sets of documents (Invitation Letter, Work Permit, Visa Notice) from two different employers. Well ladies and gentlemen, feel free to start hurling them torches this way (I will just disappear from the forums for another 4 months) but I am going to say it anyway: IT IS JUST UNETHICAL AND UNPROFESSIONAL and it ranks right up there with doing runners without giving the school plenty of chances, or pulling a no-show act when the school goes to pick up the FT at the airport.

Chinese employers are petty and cheap as they are already. Let's not give them another excuse to make things difficult for FT's abroad looking for employment in China. The next thing you know, employers will stop looking for FT's abroad and only concentrate on foreigners currently in China, including BACKPACKERS.

[tefter]

How about this:

A year ago a Canadian friend of mine was offered a teaching position in Jiangsu province. The school signed the contract, stamped it and emailed it to him. They asked him to wait for three weeks so they could go through the process (sending the application to their local educational administration, then to the provincial eduational administration). And he waited. He didn't want to sign a contract with another school in the mean time. He wanted to be "ethical". When the three weeks were up he called them and was informed that the school... had hired another foreign teacher! It was already July 10 and he didn't have time to find another good position and go through the whole thing again. He was royally screwed.

Well? What's the answer to this?

[tw]

What I say is the school was extremely unprofessional. They should have recognized your friend's commitment and their commitment to hire him. Furthermore, they should've had the courtesy of telling your friend that for whatever reason they weren't going to hire him.

Speaking of that, did they ever tell your friend why they'd decided not to hire him after all? What kind of school was it? Was it a private language training centre? Those language mills hire year-round, so your friend could've found another job in no time. If it were a public school, then I wouldn't have considered your friend "royally screwed" either because knowing Chinese public schools, many of them would've been frantically looking for FT's in late August and early September.

Anyway, I understand where you're coming from. Three years ago when I was looking for my first teaching job in China, an employer who later became my first and worst employer sent an e-mail to me at around 2am. It was like ooops, sorry, but we made a mistake inviting three FT's to come and etach at our college when in fact we can only hire two. So, if you STILL want the position, please e-mail back ASAP. Nice, eh? Also, early last year a school had to void the contract which we'd both signed because they couldn't get me the necessary documents. It was a good thing they were kind enough to mail the medical report back to me, along with the photos they'd asked for. So, I know exactly what your friend went through. But the question is, just because your friend had a bad experience, just because you are wary, just because Chinese employers can be unprofessional and unethical, does that mean FT's should stoop to that level also? After all, aren't we trying to educate the Chinese about Western ways of doing things? Yes, I know applying for teaching jobs in China can be nerve-wrecking and it's a huge gamble every time we apply for a position. But it's something most people have to go through.