Job Discussion Forums

[Jaenus]

Sorry to sound so desperate, but I want to make sure my i's are dotted and t's crossed.

I've just now begun posting job wanted ads and I asked interested employers to reply and give me some information on the questions I asked.

The questions are: -drum roll-

Will you work to get me a Z-VISA, resident's permit, Foreign Expert's Cert?
Do you refund air fare, and/or do you provide funds for a return flight?
What, if any, travel allowance do you supply?
What sort of accomidations do you offer? Furnished? Internet?
How many students are in a class room approx?
How many hours a week approx?
How many days off a week? Consecutive or spread out?
What is the over time pay?
How much does the work pay monthly? (big question there...)
How many holidays or vacation time, and paid or not?
How many locations will I be teaching at?
The contract will be stamped in red and signed when I get to China.


At first this list seems pretty exhaustive and a bit demanding, but I figure if I'm flying from California to China, I want to know what I have waiting for me.

So, I'd like your help, all you veterans out there.

Is this list good enough, what else should I be asking?

Any advice is great appreciated, even if it is more of a critique... Smile

(also, I only have a BA. Am I eligable for a FEC? )

[The Great Wall of Whiner]

Ask for the e-mail address of a previous teacher. If they won't provide one, chances are they have something to hide.

[Midlothian Mapleheart]

Edited to remove offensive content.

Middy

[tw]

VERY good thread!

From my post at www.eslcafe.com/jobinfo/asia/sefer.cgi?display:1092387407-80816.txt

(1) Can the school get you the documents needed to get your Z visa?

(2) How far is the school from city center by public transit (bus, streetcar, ferry)?

(3) Will you be living on campus or off campus?

(4) If the school says that it is a "college", ask them if they have any "junior college" students. These students are the ones who could not get into senior middle school because they did poorly on the government final exam. Basically, they are as good as senior middle school students when it comes to both age and English level.

(5) Will you be required to teach at multiple campuses?

(6) How many students per classroom?

(7) Is overtime calculated based on the total number of extra periods you teach WEEKLY, or determined after a full month of lessons? For example, let's say the school tells you that they will pay you 5000 for teaching 20 periods a week and 60 per extra period. For two weeks in February (28 days) you teach 24 classes a week, and for the next two weeks you only teach 16 periods a week because of cancelled classes (quite common when teaching in private schools), will they still pay you for 8 periods of overtime plus the 5000, or will they try to cheat you by telling you that they owe you no O/T since your hours add up to 80 periods for the month?

( How many foreign teachers does the school have now?

(9) Are you required to teach from school-provided textbook (boring, dull and often full of errors) or can you "use them as a guideline" and use your own materials?

And one more:

(10) Do you have to share kitchen and/or washing machine and/or refrigerator? Will the school supply you a PC with broadband connection?

The problem is that most employers and recruiters either don't know the answer, or they seem "lazy" to answer them because of the number of questions. As least that's what I have experienced.

[EDIT] And yes, your BA is enough.

[Jaenus]

Thanks all, and yea TW, that link you gave me is a good thing to keep bookmarked.

I assume that they would be either lazy or hesitant to answer these questions, howerver sadly I dont see myself going half way around the world if I dont have a good idea about their business.

[latefordinner]

TW: yes, a very good thread. Or rather, the timely return of an important topic. I know, we've seen this one before, but this is one thread where I don't mind watching re-runs.
GWOW:

[Kilroy]

Those are some very good and sensible questions to ask, but I'm afraid it's going to scare most of them off. Try to stagger the questions over a period of time... maybe more than one e-mail. If you ask all of them in one go, they'll be overwhelmed. Also, see who answers most of the questions, as I doubt you'll get a school that will give you answers to all of those questions.

Good luck... you are going to need a bit of it.

[tw]

[clarrie]

1 REstrictions on movements and association vis-a-vis your apartment - do your guests have to leave before 10pm?

2 Are gates/doors locked at night and if so how difficult/what's the process of getting let in?

3 Grading - pass/fail: expectations.

4 Expected teacher observations/assessments - expectations/assessment criteria.

5 Dining facilities - if stuck on campus and meals are supplied, what are the alternatives? You really don't want to eat slops 2 times a day, 7 days a week! Then again ...

6 Distance from airport and other inter-city links - sorry if already mentioned.

7 Discipline policy - ditto above.


Regards

[brsmith15]

Also, for your classroom use, I submit the following based on real teaching experience here in the PRC:

1. Is all that noise outside necessary?
2. WINTER: Can we heat this place?
3. SUMMER:Can we cool this place?
4. Who's spitting?

5. Please turn your cell phone off.
6. Turn it off!!
7. O.K., you moron, turn the &^$# thing off or I'll thorw you out the window!
8. Bye-bye. Have a pleasant trip....heh.....heh.

9. Please don't eat the chalk.
10. Hey, Bao, wake up!
11. Can you girls stop giggling and looking at the boys?
12. Can you boys stop giggling and looking at the girls?