Job Discussion Forums

[KarenB]

Just to preface this, I am a 6 year veteran in China, and have taught in two colleges during that time. (Have signed contract to continue with present school for 5th year). I have assisted my school from time to time in recruiting other FTs, and have learned a few things the hard way in the past 6 years, and more specifically in the past 3 days.


1. Decisions about leaving a present school should be made early on -- by the end of the first semester, a teacher should have a good idea of whether they are happy with their present situation and want to continue with that particular school. If they decide they want to teach elsewhere, an active job search should be initiated by the end of the first semester (through internet, networking with other FTs, etc.). Now, of course, that decision doesn't need to be communicated to the present school until much later -- until the teacher has a hard offer (ideally a contract) from somewhere else. (Do remember, however, that by law, both the FT and the school must communicate their intentions for the following academic year 3 months prior to the expiration of the present contract. That means if your contract expires on July 15, your school must let you know by April 15 if they want you to continue, and you have to let them know if you intend to).

2. If the teacher wants to work at a different school, the teacher should contact the FAO, Headmaster, or Dean of English Dept. for the new school directly, sending an email along with resume, and requesting a personal visit (if feasible). If the teacher knows another foreign (or Chinese) teacher already at the school, they should mention the acquaintance as a reference, but they should not use the teacher as a go-between with the FAO. I recommend contacting both the Headmaster/Dean and the FAO if you are able to get that information.

3. Other foreign teachers should not act as go-betweens in recruiting or negotiating
1- If the "go-between" teacher isn't at the school, they might not know all the details about the situation at the school.
2- Another foreign teacher might slow down the process, because you have to communicate with them, wait for them to communicate with the school, etc.
3- Another foreign teacher might unintentionally create or perpetuate communication problems with the FAO.

4. Other foreign teachers do serve an important role in letting prospective teachers know the "lowdown" on the school (if they're presently working there)-- i.e. working conditions, housing, expectations, etc. (In my case, when negotiation for our present school 4 years ago, the FAO was a little vague about details, we simply emailed the foreign teachers who were here at the time, and got the exact details on items that were important to us). You should ask the FAO for the email address of one or (preferably) two of their current foreign teachers. (Different teachers can provide different perspectives on the same school).

5. If a foreign teacher is relatively sure they want to teach at a school, they should communicate that interest to the school as early as possible -- sending a letter of inquiry, along with resume, as early as January and February is not too early. By March or April, the better schools often have more than enough applications (this is the case at my present school). By mid-summer, almost all schools have filled available positions. By September, the only jobs left are at the very disreputable schools. (Except, occasionally, a good school will have someone back out at the last minute, leaving an opening).

6. If at all possible, an official personal visit to the school and meeting with the FAO and principal/dean is highly recommended. This gives you the chance to see the school for yourself. It is probably better to ask questions in person (when they're taking you on a tour) about things like housing (such as when they show you a house, you can ask what the school provides, and what you're expected to provide), when they show you a classroom, ask about the standard class size, etc. This way, the questions are in a more natural setting, and at the same time you're asking questions, you can be communicating your desire to come (if such is the case). Of course, there's certain things that you'd definitely want in writing, such as salary, air fare remuneration, number of teaching hours -- and those things are usually stated up front in the school's offer, and definitely in the contract. A person-to-person meeting gives the school more opportunity to judge your personality, language skills, etc., and leaves less room for miscommunications that might occur in correspondence. A personal visit also gives the prospective teacher more of a feel for the administration style of the school.

7. Once a mutual decision is made, it should be NOT be considered a done deal until the school has tendered a contract. Therefore, it should be understood that both the school and the prospective teacher may continue to consider other options until a definite verbal or (preferably) written invitation is made by the school, followed by a distict affirmation by the FT, followed quickly (within a week if in same province, or reasonable time to allow for mail if in another province or country) by a contract, is made. I cannot stress this enough. I know of several situations, where either the prospective FT or the school thought they had the other "in the bag", and then lost out to a better prospect before the contract was actually signed. If a school dilly-dallies around too long in getting a contract to you, I would be highly suspicious, and would continue looking elsewhere.

[Spiderman Too]

An excellent post but for one point;

"Do remember, however, that by law, both the FT and the school must communicate their intentions for the following academic year 3 months prior to the expiration of the present contract ..."

A three-month-notice clause is incorporated in SAFEA's contract but I don't believe that it is stated in any of China's laws relating to the employment of foreigners.

One of my contracts, with a training center, specified one month notice.

So, I would advise;

"Do note, however, that under some contracts, both the FT and the school must communicate their intentions for the following academic year 3 months prior to the expiration of the present contract ..."

[clomper]

Got a question..

I got offered a research analyst job and they wanted me to start as soon as possible. Nothing in my contract states that I have to give a notice nor there's a specific date when the contract starts and end. What will be my course of action for this one then??

[Bluecat23]

[chengdude]

Thanks for taking the time to write out such a detailed and informative post.

Point 7 is one reason that Point 5 is not absolute. Then again, nothing ever is, I suppose, and not too many folks have the luxury or wherewithal to wait until the last minute to cherry-pick jobs from schools that have lost teachers they had previously counted on.

[nolefan]

All valid points and they should apply in 90% of the situations.

However, this is China and things don't always go as planned. My wife and i signed with our uni for a third year and were excited about the whole process and that is when crap hit the fan if you will and we didn't have umbrellas ready.

Within one month, our contracts were null and void. We packed our stuff, left and moved on to a different city. in other words, we pulled a semi runner mainly because we had been abused by the same people who were so nice to us for 2 years.

what bothers me the most in this whole scenario is that none of the things that happened make sense at all to anyone...

Without going into too many details, just remember that sometimes you need to be able to turn on a dime and move on very quickly. Don't get too comfortable thinking that it is all peachy and nice because you never know.....

consequently, I would add two major points to your list:

1- within the first 30 days of your employment ( new school or renewal), keep a bit of cash handy just in case something happens.
2- always have a backup plan for what to do and where to go in case go sour.

[7969]

[KarenB]

Nolefan is absolutely right with the two points above.

For point two, one can begin preparing for this in advance by cultivating relationships with other schools. I do this by accepting invitations to do stuff like being the Question Master at the province-wide CCTV contests, and hob-nobbing with some of the Chinese teachers and Deans from the other schools at functions like this, and also stuff like the Christmas party for the foreigners. Also, socialize regularly with other FTs in the area, so you can learn about good situations regularly. And of course, one can keep abreast of what's going on on the internet job sites. In my case, I have several universities in mind should I need to move on, and have cultivated relationships with both the Chinese administration and FTs there (so far it hasn't been needed -- but just in case).

Yes, you definitely should start looking for new jobs several months in advance if you want to get a good job. The best places often don't have many openings or just a select few, because teachers tend to stay on where they're happy. Many times the best schools don't even advertise, so you have to have an "in" (i.e. know a FT there or even better, know the FAO or a Chinese person in high places in the English Department). So if you want to get into a good situation, start early -- right NOW is almost too late.

[kev7161]

I think now (and moreso in May) is a good time to start searching for those September jobs. I've seen some adverts for them (and a host of summer jobs hitting the 'net). If you are here in China and you can go visit the school that you're interested in, so much the better.