Job Discussion Forums

[Aelric]

So, everyone has a negative opinion of just about every company out there, How about positive experiences, which I think would be more useful to people coming into China then the negative ones. I mean, if I followed every negative comment, I wouldn't work anywhere in any country on Earth.

Anyone have the low down on good spots to work? Satisfactory positions? Don't worry if it's not "objectively" perfect, just if you personally were happy with the position.

[Non Sequitur]

Dalian Maritime U (a tier one, nationally recognised school) and Qingdao Hotel Management College (a provincial level vocational - 3 year associate degree) are two of my faves.

[muffintop]

Yeah, I see what you are saying.
Good postings are not usually shared openly with strangers while they still work there. Some do it but most don't.

Personally, when I find a good gig or something I believe to be good I share it with people I know and trust not to shit things up. Sometimes I hold the info back from some friends because i do not trust them on a professional level.

As much as some like to pretend otherwise, this is not an open community where everyone holds hands and sings songs together. Good jobs are things to be guarded well...or they can quickly become shit jobs.

Also, I disagree with your premise that positive experiences/comments are of more benefit than negative ones for newcomers or folks considering China. Most who wish to go to a new country are full of ideals and misconceptions and 'negative' posts can possibly shed light on the potential reality.

[FreakingTea]

What's "good" to you? Is it work-life balance, class sizes, savings potential, motivated students, professionalism, valuable experience? Something with all of these to your liking may be hard to find, but there's probably every combination of these to many degrees for many individual tastes.

For me, at a public university, I have work-life balance, savings potential, some motivated students, and some professionalism. My salary is on the low end of the scale, but I can save almost all of it and it's good pay for the hours I work, about 12 hours a week. The classes are too big to apply most teaching techniques, though. You have to get creative to engage as many as possible. I should consider changing to a private school to get more varied and valuable teaching experience, too. But hey, if you only want to teach for a year or so, my job is pretty much perfect. I'm very happy with it for what it is.

Does that answer your question?

[muffintop]

Glad you are digging what you're doing!

Very good point that what may be good for one may not be good for another.

[Bud Powell]

[Non Sequitur]

I no longer work at either college I recommended.
Would I recommend, or become an intermediary for a school I currently worked at?
Nope!
I did it once and the school backed out at the last minute. That is after asking me to answer the dude's questions.
He and his wife had taken furloughs/sabbaticals from their jobs and were in the final stages of prep for leaving when it happened.

[vikeologist]

I've written good reviews of both schools I've worked at in China, and then subsequently had to significantly water down my praise because things have changed for the worse.

I suspect that most of the foreign teachers who work here came in at least some part because of my reviews, and I feel a bit guilty about one guy who I personally introduced to the employer, and then was not dealt with fairly.

For the same reason, I appreciate that things might change for the better, even at the schools where people have had the worst experiences in the past.

I often contact people from this forum to advertise my school, (or at least I used to) but as others have suggested, it would be self-defeating to persuade the wrong person to come.

Lastly, a good school for one person may be a bad one for another. We don't all want the same things. For instance some of us want to be developed as teachers, some of us want to be left alone. Some of the teachers I've met who had bad experiences, it was their own fault, even if it was because they weren't completely honest about themselves or what they wanted in the interview. If you tell the school you love teaching kids, it is sort of helpful if that is the case.

[fat_chris]

[fat_chris]

[fat_chris]

[Shroob]

[NoBillyNO]

[johntpartee]

[Bud Powell]