Job Discussion Forums

[Lindsey Nottle]

Friends of a friend who work for a school in china said they were desperate for a teacher because their guy just up and left. That was weeks ago. They've dragged out the contract negotiations and are taking forever sending the invitation so I can get a visa. I'm near the point where I'd go almost anywhere else in the world if I could hop on a plane in the next 2 weeks

[Anda]

A couple of months is normal with many government positions here in Asia. Two weeks isn't very long. Currently most places are closed for the Summer holidays and won't be needing staff until about the 1st of September.

[letchluther]

Dude if you are that impatient, you should stay hoome. There's nothing good can happen for you on the Chinese side of the pond.

[North China Laowei]

To the OP,

I don't agree with the two previous posters at all.

Even n the current very, very skewed ESL market here in China, six weeks is an inordinate amount of time. Have you sent them copies of all of your papers? Your university degree? Your TEFL certification if you have one? Your passport details? Etc., etc.

If you have, then I would frankly urge you to begin looking for another job here -- there are lots to be had. If the school is truly authorized to hire foreign teachers, and if you have provided them with all of the relevant papers, it should take them 2-3 weeks at the most after your contract negotiations were finished to process the foreign expert certificate, obtain the necessary paperwork on their end (all of the provincial authorizations which come easily if they know what they are doing), etc., etc.

My own personal experience would tell me that they are playing games -- perhaps they are waiting to see if they can find someone cheaper, perhaps they really don't know what they are doing, etc., etc. I have seen this happen so many times here, as have others, I am sure, and in these cases, in the end, the results are not usually satisfactory nor what one would have expected. Perhaps even your application hit a snag for some unknown reason in the bureaucratic maze and they can't fix it and don't want to tell you.

Even in the current market and even with the current situation here, set yourself a maximum time-out period of 3-4 weeks per application. If a school truly wants to employ you, they can make it happen in that period.

And when foreign teachers just up-and-leave, you should always "why". Each case is different, for sure, but it will still provide you with an overview as to what is going on.

[eddy-cool]

Impatience is not a reliable guiding principle! Six weeks is not unusual as a waiting period. Please, consider the following:

- It's now the middle of the summer holiday - administration staffers
may be on their paid annual leave.
- This year there is an added element of insecurity and hysteria due
to the Olympics. The Chinese are over-sensitive now that so much
has gone wrong so far this year in the runup to the Olympcs; your
invitation may not have been greenlighted yet due to nervousness.

[North China Laowei]