Job Discussion Forums

[rickinbeijing]

This is just a partial list; please feel free to add your 2 fen worth.

Before contemplating formal acceptance of a job (i.e. on a written, non-photocopied, standard contract), be sure you ask for these basics (in writing, in a contract addendum):

1. Maximum contact hours per week with students (both in class--the "teaching load" and in the office--"advisory", and in extracurricular activities such as campus English Corner, etc.). Find out ahead of time which extra duties your position entails and which are voluntary. Otherwise you might be called upon for every function under the sun.

2. Whether you are expected to make your own exam or use one by the department (some schools require them even for oral English classes; colleges and universities require them even for AVO classes). If you can devise your own, are you allowed to use performance assessment or must you use formal assessment. Colleges require final exams to be administered on set days unless you have notified and received approval in writing for an exception from the college.

3. Office space: separate or shared. Have them specify whether it is a study carrel, a shared office for foreigners only, or a common office for all department staff. Regardless of which, request and expect a key upon arrival.

4. Holiday schedule: have them photocopy the official campus one and circle all the specific days you will receive with pay and without pay, both Chinese and Western. Have it faxed or mailed to you, preferably signed by the wai ban and the department chair.

5. If it's a college or university, or middle school they should have a wai ban (i.e. foreign liaison officer). Have them enumerate in writing what that person's responsibilities are to you ahead of time so there is no confusion about this later. In many situations, a waiban can make or break a teaching experience.

6. Do not expect private colleges or middle schools to operate any better than public (i.e. government) ones; indeed, they're likely to be less predictable. Find out who calls the shots: the waiban, the department, the property management ahead of your arrival. And never assume any of them communicate with one another as a general rule of thumb.

7. Salary. Get the net income, or take-home amount (after local taxes) in writing with regular pay days clearly indicated. Request electronic bank deposit if none is mentioned as taking wads of 100 yuan notes yourself can be both unsafe and time-consuming. Also, the bursar may be hard to find at times and may not be able to delegate the task to others, even if ill.

8. Accommodations. Generally, foreign teachers (B.A.'s) receive less desirable housing than foreign experts (M.A.'s, Ph.D's) at colleges and universities. This may or may not be the case in middle schools and private agencies. Insist on an inventory list of the amenities to be found in your apartment before you sign on the dotted line. At a minimum, you should expect hot water, heat (at least in northern climes) a/c (at least in central and southern climes), shower, tv, bedroll, dining room set, and living room (sitting room) lounge chair and sofa. Anything less is suspect.
Confirm whether utilities are paid and, if not, what the typical monthly bill should be. Again, get these assurances in writing prior to your arrival. Also, know upon your arrival who is responsible for emergency maintenance such as hopelessly clogged toilets (Chinese plumbing is notoriously shoddy) or lack of hot water.

9. Health benefits. If you teach at a college or university, your medical costs may only be completely covered at the campus infirmary which, in most cases, is substandard. (Some schools require you to go to the campus clinic for small matters like sore throats and then receive a doctor's referral.) Many private agencies and some key schools do provide off-campus benefits. Find out which hospitals have been designated to receive you and when you can expect to be reimbursed for expenses. The contract should stipulate how much sick leave you can take before being docked. If not, get it in writing.

10. Tutoring. Many colleges and schools do not permit you to do tutoring. Some encourage it and some expect it. Find out which category your employer falls under. Be upfront about your willingness, or lack thereof, to tutor, especially if it involves Chinese colleagues. Expect to be compensated above your salary at market rates. I would say a minimum of 100 RMB per hour in large urban areas; better if 150 RMB per hour. Anything above that is gravy. Business execs will sometimes pay upwards of 200-250 RMB per hour for small group tutorials, which can be rather lucrative. Just don't let it eat up your prep time.

11. Personals. If it's important to you, find out from your waiban specifically what liberties you have for inviting guests to visit and stay overnight. Are they required to sign in? Is there a curfew? The best advice comes from those already living there if you can tap into that resource. Otherwise, find out ahead of time. Many waibans will inform your department of your moral character, or lack thereof, as they perceive it. It can have a deleterious effect on your position, especially if you seek to be re-hired for another year.

12. Finally, whenever a change is made to some specific clause in your contract or the addendum, be sure to initial it and have your waiban do likewise. Leave nothing to chance. Many a waiban is incompetent or indifferent (caring only whether you're still breathing). The sad reality is that most (certainly not all) are concerned for your safety but not your phsyical or mental well-being beyond that.

As for visas, insist on a "Z" work visa (1 yr.) for all colleges and middle schools and at least a "F" visa for private agencies. (Note: in Beijing these are only granted for 3 months at a time; up to 6 months elsewhere). Be sure your school has the authorization to extend a visa. Ask the waiban to photocopy and email or fax to you their authorization certificate for your perusal or, if possible, check with someone already working there or ask a Chinese visa agency in your home country. Some claim to offer visas but often illegally or through a 3rd party.

Good luck, but you'll need less of it if these matters fall into place.

[Yu]

Great questions... just don't ask them all at once. A few at time is time is the most you can expect anyone to answer. Posting like 10 questions at once is overwhelming to them, and you will usually not get the response you are looking for.

[rickinbeijing]

Yes, don't inundate them with these questions. Prioritize and ask them incrementally, i.e. a few at a time. You don't want to risk a first impression that you're a potential Great Wall of Whiner. ha ha

The visa is essential from the get-go. If you're young and single, the accommodations may be of secondary concern anyway. Certainly you must pin them down on the teaching load, if not the salary. Once your essentials have been addressed to your satisfaction, then FAX them the others and number each question. If your waiban has no one else to guide as is often the case at a small school, by all means call him or her after being extended a verbal offer for a contract and ask away! Of course, it goes without saying that your tone should not be demanding.

Cultural note: if the waiban hesitates to give you a direct reply it may be because he or she doesn't have an answer but for fear of losing face or saying the wrong thing decides not to tell you. Or the waiban has the answer but must clear it with higher authorities, a rather cumbersome task which give a new meaning to Red Tape.

[journeyeast]

I say ask away.. Dont hold back on your questions if you have them. Any recruiter worth their salt should expect to have an engaging discussion with a first time teacher candidate.. and should be abe to answer to the best of their ability all your questions.

If its about general placement with no specific school on the agenda;
Be wary of the recruiter that can answer all of your contract specific questions. Specific things like who pays for the phone and electricity (Should be covered anyway by the school) cannot truly be answered by a recruiter that is covering for all of China. Contracts and school preferences simply vary too much for them to give you an honest answer unless they are recruiting for a specific school or location.

By the way, these are great questions to ask. Dont forget to ask:

In the event the school should break their contract, is there any service that the recruiter can offer to gaurantee legal and safe employment and/or re-placement with the burden of cost fully on the recruiters shoulders.. thats key.

[rickinbeijing]

Private recruiting agencies should indeed be obligated to respond to any and all reasonable inquiries from applicants but in consideration of cultural differences, the same unfortunately cannot usually be said for waibans acting as recruiters for public schools, especially colleges and universities. Of course, common sense dictates that one should be wary of any recruiter, private or public, who is reticent to reply even after sufficient time is given for a response.

Breach of contract, always stipulated in the standard foreign teachers and experts contract used by public school waibans, is a nebulous clause. Technically, you are liable for reimbursement of huge sums of money but I have never heard of any FT ever being nailed down with this financial penalty. Still, it must happen from time to time in such a large country. Best not to discuss it too much anyhow since it will make your waiban suspicious of your intentions. And raising suspicions of Chinese doesn't require a lot of prodding.

[Roger]

My advice is:
You shouldn't have to ask any questions because the professional hirers know what they should offer you, and they do list them in their websites or work agreements. However, yes, some questions may have to be voiced, though the fewer you have the better because CHinese are a curiously impatient lot, and if you ask the same question twice over then they might call it a day.

A few observations on those questions:
Private: There should be no such a question. In fact, you must accept that visitors to your school-owned apartment are not tolerated. They do tolerate very often these days, but asking such questions reveals a dubious characteristic of yours. The rule still es: no members of the opposite sex from the host country should stay overnight unless they are married to the apartment resident. The school that answers your queries concerning this would put their foot in a big pot of hot oil if they agreed to you in writing that you can have local guests stay with you! This must be viewed as a rude enquiry!

Visas:
Saying that a 'F' visa is preferable to any other visa apart from the work visa is a piece of disinformatsyia. It simply is not true. only the work visa is legal. Business visas are "tolerated" - which means, they can also be found to be illegal at any time.

Employer categories:
Your first question always should be: who is going to be my end-user? In other words: who exactly is going to have me on their payroll?
This question arises only if you are dealing with AGENTS. These usually are but go-betweens that have no responsability for you. They too are not legal,and that's why most of them tell you a business visa is the best thing for you. Legal agencies are registered with an Education Bureau and tell you right upfront that they are merely hiring you and passing you over to a public school.
Some recruiters (agents) are not legal but not necessarily illegal; they sign a contract with you which they honour to the dot on the 'i', though they will not officially sponsor you but pass you off to one of their takers. I think Nolefan in Hebei knows some such agent(s) in Hubei province, while I would recommend Buckland in Yangshuo.
In these cases, your employer will in fact be a public school that lacks the rsources to deal with FTs direct; they will obtain your work visa, and the agent will monitor the situation from day one to your last day.
Most other agents are mere opportunists that pay you when they need you, and that drop you when they are underworked. They may pass you on for a commission as well, but you won't be able to get back at them.
Of course, most prefer being hired by their end-user themselves, i.e. a public school, univesity, private K 12 or for those that come here for the money: a training centre. BUt the latter almost routinely will loan you to other schools. This you had better know from the beginning.

DId the OP forget something?
Probably. I don't really know. However, one thing I nearly always ask is: do I have paid holidays?
If you work for a training centre, your paid holidays will be very short, and during the season when it suits your employer - i.e. when no students at public schools enrols or no school needs a teacher on loan.
Expect to have a few weeks of unpaid holidays as well!

Airfare
I think the OP didn't mention airfare. This is a must, though; the amount can vary enormously. Some pay a fixed amount, others want - and that's a new trend! - see your ticket and refund you the exact amount up to a ceiling. Some pay you after your first semester, others at the end of one year. Some pay roundtrips, others one-way tickets.
If you are lucky you can negotiate a prorated payment inn monthly instalments.

COnvertibility of your income
Another point you need to get clarification: can you, and if yes, how much of your income can you change into foreign currency?

]

[rickinbeijing]

"The Chinese are a curiously impatient lot." Oh, really? And Westerners, by contrast, are paragons of virtue in this regard? Please, spare us the (perhaps unwitting) orientalist mindset.

I was referring specifically to public schools which do not have recruiters by and large and do not operate with the same manner of professionalism. And while we're at it, as posts to this website clearly reveal, more than a few Western and JV agencies recruit with less than open files.

Who is saying an F Visa is preferable to any other? Of course, the Z Visa reigns supreme. F Visas are legitimate depending on how they are obtained but in China these days many a PSB office works underhandedly with fee-based services so it usually doesn't matter.

Your others points are well-taken.

[joe greene]

How can I obtain a copy of the SAFEA regulations?

[Roger]

[Voldermort]

Lets make something clear about the business visa. Yes Roger it is illegal to teach on a business visa. You are also unable to become a foreign expert. Though you can still obtain a resident permit.

It is however not illegal to give lectures while holding a business visa, and to recieve a salary. You must still pay you tax, and you must still conduct your business in a legal manner.

If you are planning to work in China, then you must of course obtain a working visa. This is Chinese law, and it is there for your protection.

[rickinbeijing]

First off, Roger, I'm not your mate. You'll have to look for one yourself in one of the bars. Second, if you feel that Chinese are less patient than Westerners, especially in a pinch, then I suggest you check into an old Chinese hospital that still performs labotomies.

Third, I personally know of two individuals who are teaching on F Visas in Beijing Shi under the guise of giving lectures because their colleges were in desperate need of native speakers. It may be illegal but in China that's still a quite elusive term.

Now run along and conduct more academic participation-observation research.

[cheekygal]

Even native speakers have misunderstandings while expressing themselves. Ack. Sometimes I feel life time is not enough to master your own language.

[burnsie]

[Roger]

[joe greene]

How can I obtain a copy of the SAFEA regulations?