Job Discussion Forums

[MsHoffman]

Deleted post.

[Non Sequitur]

I agree those conditions in the new contracts you're seeing are lousy and I wonder if they are in public schools.
Accordingly my first question is: Why move?

[ChrisHenry15]

Ambiguous contracts are for the benefit of the uni. Not you.

[OhBudPowellWhereArtThou]

Could you post the most pertinent parts of the contract?

My experience is that public university jobs have very little wiggle room. It's pretty much take it or leave it unless you've been there awhile.

[astrotrain]

[LarssonCrew]

University jobs always made me laugh.

The teachers may be required to be 'in office' more than us but almost no university teachers work 20 hours a week. Most get ridiculous benefits no foreigner sees, such as but not limited to:

- Overseas trips for things like research and for recruitment of foreign students
- Free benefits like red envelopes at spring festival, other festival treats
- Ability to make money changing grades for students
- Free labour [lots of students do things like cleaning the teachers office, helping them out by designing things for them or teaching some classes for free]
- Loads of extra work through students or connections around that city, which is illegal for foreign teachers [can't work anywhere else remember]
- Super cheap housing
- Mortgage matching [My friend was paying 6000 RMB a month and his univresity had to match that on an apartment they sold to him for 2200 a square metre in a city that costs 25000+

Anyways, beside that, I've always felt it strange that the Chinese mentality is like the Victorian era, pages of 'fines' and demands as a way to punish the teacher for doing something wrong like *gasp* letting students out five minutes early, however the contracts contain almost ZERO incentive work.

Good appraisals and doing well on your task? Any bonus? No.
Any chance of us taking the English studying students on the arranged English trip to Singapore? Not a chance, they'd rather take someones aunt who doesn't speak a word of English
Any chance of reinbursing you if you need to do something for your class to make it better? Nope
Any chance of including things like guaranteed pay increase for each year? No?

[twowheel]

This alone is enough to be a dealbreaker for me:

[rioux]

[OhBudPowellWhereArtThou]

I've never had an office or office hours at a public university or college. The closest I've gotten to having an office is an invitation to use "the teachers' room" to work on grades.

I've never been required to forego my first month's salary because the first month of class is training, though I've worked with "teachers" who swear that they have years of experience but can't control a class and don't know how to create or execute a lesson plan.

I've never had nor have I been offered a trainer.

FWIW

[Mixal]

What about those fees if you cancel a contract before it expires? I've seen them in most uni contracts.

[OhBudPowellWhereArtThou]

[MsHoffman]

Deleted post.

[Non Sequitur]

Tell the student he/she can put that on his/her Resume as 'work experience' and that you will be a referee if all goes well.
I'm writing a unit on job search currently and the oft-repeated mantra from students is: How to get work experience?
Glad things have resolved themselves for you.
Assuming they offer a contract

[ChrisHenry15]

I will probably stay at my current school for next year, I'm just worried because I got into a pretty intense conflict with the FAO in February. There was no yelling or anything like that - actually the FAO commented more than once that he was surprised that I was not yelling, because FTs "usually yell a lot".

Doesn't matter what he said about yelling. Irrelevant. You should be worried.


So the conflict was resolved fairly quickly and I've kept a low profile since then, but TIC... the last thing the FAO said was that I "should move back to the US".


They will not renew your contract. Hope for a LOR and help transferring your RP


Anyway, I feel like until I get my renewal offer (crossing fingers), best to look at other schools. There are strong rumors around the FTs here that we will receive our contracts by Friday of this week...

See above comment.

Also, off-topic: I hired a student to be my assistant. I asked some Chinese friends who have nothing to do with my school what is an appropriate rate of pay for this kind of job, and then I confirmed the rate of pay and the cultural custom of hiring a student with a couple Chinese teachers here at the school.

No reason to hire an 'assistant' Each class has one or more monitors to help you with school related issues. Chinese friends will help otherwise. A bit weird but whatever.

So now I've given a hard working student a job, and on the plus side I can get quick translations done, clerical tasks, etc.

See above comment


I pay for this assistant out of my own pocket. Still managing to save a ton of money because I keep to a pretty low-key lifestyle.

OK?

What's been most enjoyable about having an assistant is I don't ask my Chinese friends for favors anymore. We just hang out and have a good time.

What kind of favors? Most you can do on your own. I've open bank accounts, sent packages abroad, set up Taobao/Alipay all on my own with very limited Chinese skills. Also, pay a student to hang out with you?

I know students would work for me for free, but I'm not comfortable with that. You work, you get paid. I don't care what your culture is or what have you. And every Chinese person I've met agrees with me, and quite a few are happy that I'm giving a student in a pretty low-level junior college a job.[/quote]

Justify it how you see fit. Class leaders/monitors know the responsibilities it entails.

[Non Sequitur]

Quoi!