Job Discussion Forums

[phillyfitz]

Hi, I was wondering if anyone can help me with something. Last summer I signed a 6 month contract to teach for a private school. I became extremely ill after about 6 weeks and because of this and some pressing family issues I left and went home. I forfeited about 2 weeks pay but did not leave notice. I have read that this may cause me to be "blacklisted" and that I would not be able to teach in China again. If anyone has info I would appreciate it.

[Redfivestandingby]

Maybe if you go back to the same province. Your school would have reported you as missing when you left without notice and this would be placed in your record.

Simply go somewhere else. China is way too disorganized to have inter-provincial communication about this sort of thing.

[phillyfitz]

Thanks Red. I had read on here that I might not be able to get a foriegn expert certificate from the government. I assumed this meant the central government and some sort of list they keep.

[Dalian Veteran]

As far as I know, the foreign expert's certificates are handled at the provincial level.

But even at the provincial level, I think it's too bad that they have this blacklist. Employment issues are employment issues. The government shouldn't keep any kind of blacklist unless you broke the law or spied on their country or something like that. A person's work habits and such should just be between the employer and employee.

This blacklist gives too much power to employers. It assumes the employers are always right. Is there a blacklist of employers who don't fulfill their contract obligations to teachers? Probably not.

China's a great country to live in, but it's not really a great place to work in unless you have an MBA or science/engineering degree. Unless, of course, you're a firm negotiator and have good guanxi skills.

[NateM]

[Dalian Veteran]

Still feeling the urge to continue my rant on this blacklist thing.

Just imagine if the U.S. immigration authorities granted or denied worker visa renewals based on work habits or work performance. That would cause a major outcry.

I know China has 1.3 billion people, but such a blacklist is taking immigration control a bit too far. I still say, these are issues between the employer and employee. Plus, what if you happened to piss off the wrong person? Such a person can actually have the power to bar you from working again in an entire province. I love China for all its good points, but this phenomenon of personal power is one of the country's bad points.

[Retro201]

Agreed.

However - Modern China's historical roots included the control of a citizen's behavior. Its not totally unexpected that that control now extends to foreigners as well.

As it is unlikely that this policy will change, extra vigilance on the part of job seekers is required. All too often, it is a lack of careful screening by potential FEs that leads to a bad work place experience. It is still a sellers market in China - so with a little extra effort it should not be too difficult to find an employer that treats teachers well.

For all you new potential FEs out there here is how I would target my job search (in order of preference):

1) Foreign accredited schools

These most lkely will be managed by westerners using western-style management principles. Having said that - there are still some schools that
"pull the wool" over the eyes of accrediters. With suffficient research, you can quickly weed these places from your list.

2) Chinese Government schools / programs

These places most likely have established practices in place to look after FEs. Also - although perhaps a little less attractive in terms of remuneration, what you sign in the contract is what you generally get. Again - be vigilant!

3) International Language schools

Some dodgy places here - but worth a look


Places to avoid:

Fly by night language institutes that attempt to entice FEs with empty promises. You can easily identify these places. They have corny names like "Bright Future", "Happy Moon" and "Rising Star". They also attempt to sell their schools to teachers as a great opportunity to experience China.

As for recruiters - forget it. You can do better by your self in a seller's market.

Good luck everyone!

[Roger]

They are logicistically unable to keep tabs on you since they must transliterate your name into Chinese, which can be done in a variety of different ways; this doesn't really help them much because they often put your name in the wrong order (first name/surname).
But the danger of a CHinese blacklist would be further diminished as time goes by and lists vanish. You can probably find a job in another big town in the same province, or in a different province.

[Retro201]

Logistically I think they do have the where-with-all to maintain a nation-wide computer database on FE employment. However - perhaps not the political will to put it all together. (After all the exploits of underpaid FEs is not exactly a security issue in China.)

So - I agree with Roger. Don't worry about black lists. They most likely don't exist.