Job Discussion Forums

[JRJohn]

A couple of years ago, I taught at a university in Zhengzhou, and had a great relationship with my students. I made some friends, and could still save money. The school asked me to stay on another year, and I wish I had.

Now I am looking for university jobs, starting from August or September. I went to eChinaCities, and applied for a job. OOPS! sighed the recruiter, that job's just gone, but we have a training school in another city that you might like! You **pay rent and key money!*** I got sick and tired of this in 2012, when it seemed to be a constant factor with every job I applied for. None of the advertised jobs seemed to be available.

Can you recommend any websites with real jobs, especially universities and public schools? Some people say I should wait till May before applying for September. I tried that in 2012, and it did not work.

[Toast]

echinacities is kind of a pain these days - seems as though 4 or 5 recruiters have locked the whole place down.

don't wait until may to start looking - that's too late for most of the jobs these days. the bureaucracy has gotten heavier since 2012.

for me i'd start (and will start) looking in the next month. i've generally found schools that can get off their ass, plan ahead 4 or 5 months in advance for teachers they will need starting sept 1st, rather than just waiting until the day before classes start are often going to be more organized and reliable across the board. i still shake my head at my FAO. the contracts she sends out to potential teachers are still dated from 2007.....there's something of a warning sign about impending disorganization.

one school in dalian i've been looking into has a cut off date for applications of march 1st for a september start.

seriousteachers seems to be okay. even the occasional decent job is advertised on here. most people are going to recommend doing the hard yards, however. wikipedia search for schools by province and start sending out resumes.

i've been compiling a list of job sites to check every few days, but it's buried under a huge pile of junk. i'll try and post some more up here when i get around to it (after poo and fruit ninja, shower, coffee, lunch, class etc. etc.)

why not contact the old FAO in zhengzhou if the school was good? sign on there for the first year and then make a move after a semester or year once in the country.

[Bud Powell]

Try ESLJOBS.COM. Compare the offerings to what you see on abroadchina.org.

[LPKSA]

If you can, submit a CV in Chinese to any agency you contact (should you decide to go that route).

In your cover letter, clearly state that you are ONLY interested in university/government university positions, and that any offers sent your way that aren't for university positions will not be read. Make yourself very clear about this. If they can't understand, or refuse to understand due to their agenda, too bad.

Question to anyone out there: If you are very direct about your specifications in your job search, can you be blacklisted by recruiters? Has this happened in the past?

[johntpartee]

[Non Sequitur]

It's probably a little early for uni jobs starting 1 Sept. Another month and things will look up.
seriousteachers.com allows you to post for free and there is a search option if you have location preferences.
You can cold call by locating the email addresses of various uni FAOs.
My method has been to look for 'education' on the sidebar of the Wikipedia item for your preferred city.
This will give you a list of state tertiaries. These are not links, so you then need to Google for a site.
Have a look around the home page until you see a likely employment-related tab and off you go.
There are lists of Chinese unis around but I like to look at the site to get a vibe before launching a speculative email.
Best

[drjtrekker]

Yeah, its a bit early.

What is annoying at my Uni is they already started, and they want us to finish the hiring asap.

and why???

So they can have the summer off and not have to work....hahaha...

angies has real jobs. Many are like what others have said...just websites for recruiters...ugh.

The direct contact is a very good way. But takes some work finding them.

GOOD LUCK

[Bud Powell]

Question to anyone out there: If you are very direct about your specifications in your job search, can you be blacklisted by recruiters? Has this happened in the past?

Absolutely not. One should be very specific about requirements, but not outrageously demanding. DO include a range in your salary and go for the package (wisdom that a couple of frequent commenters in the forum recommend).

Don't expect to have your bed covers pulled back at night and to have a mint placed at your night table. (At one university, however, the staff actually had the rooms prepared for our arrival and DID pull back the covers before we arrived and left some sort of goodie on the night table! That was just the first night. On the second day, maintenance dug a pit in front of the entry to the FT's apartment. I guess the school was apologizing in advance.

[Non Sequitur]

[3701 W.119th]

I want to find a university position for my first job in China, but it's all quite daunting. Lots of great advice on these boards, from people who've been there and done that. For a noob looking for their first job in China (in teaching!), though, the idea of approaching universities direct, negotiating terms, etc... Man, it's scary.

Even the initial idea of just choosing a region you like, and taking it from there... I genuinely like the sound of most of them. Pretty much all of them.

Although I didn't want to be, I feel like I'm perfect recruiter fodder. Fresh (32 y.o.) meat.

[muffintop]

[3701 W.119th]

Cheers muffintop. You are a good man, and thorough.

I dreamt last night that I was walking a little country road on the outskirts of a generic eastern Chinese city. I came across 4 dead men on the side of the road: a Chinese policeman, and 3 civilians. I took the handgun from the policeman's side and put it in my pocket. I actually removed his belt, so I could take holster and all, and did his belt up again afterwards. Basically, I wanted to maintain the integrity of the crime scene.

A Chinese resident walked past as I was doing this. He eyed me very suspiciously. I felt strange. We had a moment. I woke up then, sweating.

The point of this story? I do not know. I find dream chat pretty pointless, if I'm honest.

I'm procrastinating. That CV wont rewrite itself.

[choudoufu]

[Non Sequitur]

Agree with that post.
Don't put off applying because you feel your CV is imperfect.
If you are cold calling via email addresses obtained say via Wikipedia/Google all you need is a two para cover email.
A CV with pic, making sure you emphasise US citizenship, native English speaker and Caucasian ethnicity. Add a scanned copy of degree certificate and passport (number and expiry date obscured) if you want to go the extra step.

[3701 W.119th]

Thanks guys, good stuff.

The 'rewriting' bit, I had a pretty strong CV from 8 years working in banking/finance, which I thought I could just tweak for EFL jobs, but realised it's entirely unfit for purpose.

I've written a new 1 page resume today, that really strains to evidence some 'Teaching Experience', gained from just 6 hours of TP on a CELTA course. Felt a bit odd scrapping the majority of my work experience. Maybe I can build it back in if I ever go for business English roles in the future. Need that first year of teaching under my belt in the meantime, though.

Fingers crossed.