Job Discussion Forums

[johntpartee]

When I gave my letter of reference from the last school to the new one the FAO told me that it would not be returned, that the government keeps it. I've never had that happen before. Anybody else?

[randyj]

Are you talking about the form letter? My school also kept mine. I didn't think anything about it. In the case of the form letter, I didn't really want it. (I do have a copy, though.)

[johntpartee]

No, the personal assessment. They said lots of nice things; I have it scanned, but I would have liked to keep the original. I've never seen the form letter, but thanks for reminding me, I'll ask the FAO if I can have a copy.

[Miles Smiles]

Keep the scanned copy of the letter of recommendation. It is as good as an original. A scanned copy of my letter of release was also accepted by the FAO of my new school because it was issued AFTER I left the school.

The FAO can make a scan of the letter as well. I'd ask for the original letter back because it is not a required document. It is a supporting document.

I've known other FTs who asked for a letter of recommendation before they left, but were given the letter of release and were told that it WAS the letter of recommendation and the letter of release.

In my case, I was issued the requisite letter of release AND a letter of recommendation from the dean--- written in English. I wonder how many others were able to get both.

[johntpartee]

But if the scanned copy of the letter is good enough, why did the government keep the original? I'm sure you're right, but I'd just like to have the original with my other documents in a nice neat little package to hand to any prospective employers.

[Miles Smiles]

[johntpartee]

[xiaolongbaolaoxi]

Letters of recommendation can be hard to get in China. Essentially, if all you need is a set of forms, and you have them, why should they do anything else for you ? If you need a reference, well, the next school can simply call them. (However, you will be expected to write letters for your students at the drop of a hat.)

So, if you want a letter of recommendation in English that would be usable/helpful for jobs/school in the west, let them know that the forms are not enough, and phone calls across hemispheres aren't going to work either. When leaving a university, I really had the bend the truth about how important it was to get a letter. Turns out the issue was not the letter, it was that the department chair would effectively be putting words in the dean's mouth, a political no no [as the mouth and the rest of his body was no longer in the province]. So, as long as the letter was intended for use outside of China (noone would call the dean directly), the letter was not a problem. Written in Chinese and English on uni letterhead. Alternatively, write the letter for them and ask them to sign it (which still feels weird to me, but even in the west I/we was/were encouraged to do this.)

XLB

[johntpartee]

Yeah, I have the scans of the reference letter in Chinese and English with the school stamp on them (that red-ink thing). I don't really think I'll need the original; like you said, they can always call the government office, I'm assuming they wanted to keep the original for some reason, like filing it or something. Outside of China, I can just e-mail the scans. This is just mostly wondering WHY they started keeping them all of a sudden. I like all my stuff in my hands.

[randyj]