Job Discussion Forums

[kungfukitten]

I'm in the process of choosing an area to teach in with Aston English School in China and was wondering if anyone has had any experience of them?

It's also my first job as I just passed my CELTA in August so really want to make sure I don't get stuck in a sticky position thousands of miles away from home. I haven't spotted this school on the TEFL Blacklist website so hoping that's a good thing!lol

Also how much money should I take with me for emergencies?

[lf_aristotle69]

There's already a current thread on how much money to bring to China...

From what I hear Aston is no worse than Chinese English First and other similar training centres. Try to avoid being farmed out to various schools and venues if that's not what you want to do. i.e. if you just want to teach all your classes inside their training centre.

Welcome to China and Good luck!

LFA

[kungfukitten]

[Eyrick3]

If you can't find anyone that has direct experience with this school, then perhaps your best option is to do a search on the tell-tale signs of poor management and/or abusing contracts. Once you start to see signs of this type of behavior, split.

Some useful advice/questions to think about:

Where you planning to go? If you're in a big city, you won't have to worry about finding another job.

Are they arranging your visa? If so, are they covering the expenses? How long will it take them to issue the visa?

If you're in a small village/city without your country's embassy, be hesitant to give your passport over right away. Enter on a 90-day tourist visa. This will give you enough time to make sure they school is living up to their end of the contract. Visas generally take 2 - 3 weeks to issue, so technically you could hold off on handing it over for about 2 months.

Does you contract have any "ambiguous" writing? If anything looks like it could be mistranslated, it most likely will. Ask that things are clarified / rewritten.

All in call, do your research, as you're doing now, and be safe!

[Voldermort]

[mike w]

Don't enter on a 'L' visa - working on one is illegal, and the authorities are smarter than they used to be about this pre-Olympics.

I would question the motives and the legal position of any school who suggest that you come in on anything other than a 'Z' visa. If the school can legally hire foreigners, then they can provide you with the necessary documentation to obtain a 'Z' visa. If they can't do this - then look for a school who can.

[Eyrick3]

[kungfukitten]

[lf_aristotle69]

Have you been looking at the STICKYs about visas???

I'm not sure if it's technically possible/legal to get more than 30 day Z visas??? However, they are invariably issued with 30 day validity from date of entry, and they're single entry only.

Once you're in China you have a medical check and then your school should commence the process of transferring your visa from a Z entry visa for work purposes to a full Resident Permit (RP) for work purposes. You will go to your city GongAnJu (Police Station) to submit your passport, medical test results, and other documents together with your school FAO. They will keep your passport for a few working days after which you, or the FAO can collect it, you will have a receipt to give them.

After you get your passport back (with the new multi-entry/exit Resident Permit sticker inside) you'll have to give it to the FAO who will organise your Foreign Expert's Certificate (FEC), essentially the FEC is your teaching certificate. Your Passport should be returned to you by the FAO after a maximum of 10-14 days, and you should also be given your FEC which should legally be returned to the school after your contract expires. Some bad FAOs/schools tell you they have to keep these documents, NOT true.

As said previously by others, schools have to be licenced to employ foreigners. If they have the proper licence there is still a limit on how many foreigners can legally be employed. Any school that can hire you legally should have no problem getting the appropriate Z visa application paperwork to you in your country before you come to China, you go to your nearest Embassy/ Consulate to apply, taking a variable amount of time depending on location (1 to 30days...). i.e. you will then have the right working visa for entry to China which can be easily transferred to a Resident Permit after you arrive at your chosen school. If you come over on an L or F visa (on your own, or at a school's behest), the transfer to RP may (post Olympics hullabulloo) not be so smooth.

And getting caught working on L or F or X (student) visas is not good and can have swift consequences (eviction from China).

Some old, and new, hands still prefer to come to China on a longer term tourist visa so as to take their time looking for a good job, rather than already being locked into one in advance. But, as we've said, post Olympics, it seems it's more problematic than it used to be. Talk to incumbent teachers at any school you're applying at to find out if they came over on tourist visas, and if they were all promptly converted to Z-working visas (may require a trip to Hong Kong/Bangkok/Seoul etc., although in Olympics time we virtually had to go back to our country of origin!!!) and RPs.

Good luck,

LFA

[kungfukitten]

[stillnosheep]

Aren't Aston a chain? try the search function, both here and on search engines (under Aston EFL school English - etc)

[stillnosheep]

If your school isn't part of chain they've probably hijacked the name!

[kungfukitten]

[nickpellatt]

Aston are a pretty big chain in China...I dont have an address, but if you search TEFL.com they always have jobs on there for the Aston group (amongst others). There is also a link to their site and you can see if the school is listed.

I dont have experience of them...but there was a thread recently about them...search through threads on this page...and possibly page 2 to find it. Generally, people gave them the thumbs down as it was suggested there are better places to work in China....I looked at their site and actually quite liked the look of them myself.

Big chains, tend to ask for more hours, for less pay. Old hands in China dont rate them because of that. If you are fairly new to EFL it may suit you.

Do bear in mind that even within chains...there are good and bad schools as many are run as franchises.

[kungfukitten]