Job Discussion Forums

lilbecky · Joined: 18 Jul 2005 Posts: 12 Location: sunderland, england

has anyone worked at this university or heard anything about it? any comments would be welcomed!

the contract seems to be pretty standard with all the usual aspects, airfare, accomodation etc.

mavazah · Joined: 12 Apr 2005 Posts: 21 Location: East Beijing

Where is it located? Is it in Beijing or near there?

lilbecky · Joined: 18 Jul 2005 Posts: 12 Location: sunderland, england

They told me on the email it is in Beijing, but not in the city centre. It is north of the city, but I do not the exact name of the district to hand, but something about being next to the olympic park rings a bell.

They told me its half hour on public transport away from downtown.

mavazah · Joined: 12 Apr 2005 Posts: 21 Location: East Beijing

I don't know this Uni personally but I did have a look at its website back in august this year when I was looking for a job back closer to Beijing. I work in a similar type environment now in East Beijing, its a similar size campus and takes about 45 minutes by bus to Ti'anmen Sq. In terms of teaching work, it all depends on what/where you are wanting, but I am very happy with my current job. From my experience you could do a lot worse than accepting a position so close to Beijing and at a public Uni. The area you describe is a bit out of the rat race but easily accessible by public transport (bus and subway) back into the heart of the city. I like Uni work because generally the hours are good (I work 14 hours per week) and although there are always issues re students workloads and motivations etc, I actually like teaching young adults (my students are around 20 yrs old).
Drawbacks are that the pay is usually less (but hey the work hours mean your hourly rate is good!) You can always pick up casual work in the language schools which abound in Beijing. Uni's usually go by the book, that is they usually follow the law re legal working status - its not worth their time and reputation to run a dogdy show. Down side is that sometimes the class sizes are too large, my classes range from 26 students Very Happy

to 47

I have worked in provinces and that has been interesting but I really like being close to Beijing. If you are interested in their offer and want to ask any other questions about what you might ask them prior to signing the contract please feel free to pm me. Also I noticed that they have 2 campus, one in Beijing and the other 150kms away in Hebei so it would be advisable to check with them the actual place of employment. Good luck!