Job Discussion Forums

[JamesD]

The overwhelming majority of Chinese people I interview start with the same statement; "I want a job where I can use (or improve) my English."
I tell them all the same thing. "No one is going to hire you to work for them if you say your goal is to learn English. That's not why companies pay people a salary."
So from foreigners I hear the flip side. "Yeah, I really want to work in China. I want to learn Mandarin plus I need a job that gives me time to travel and go out. WHAT?!!! You say 20 hours in the contract and you expect me to work 20 hours??? How do you expect me to have time to see the Terra Cotta Warriors or hit the bars and chase tail if you make me abide by the rules of the contract I signed?"

I've got nothing against people who want to go to a foreign country and learn a language while they work; it's a great way to combine work and life experience, but come on. How many people would get hired in (insert your country here) if they walked in and said something like this? Hearing 20-something newbies with no experience (and sometimes no degree) complain about having to actually work for a living is getting old. Try finding a job back home where you can get paid enough to live well while working 20 hours a week.

I'll stop before this becomes a rant.

[Lobster]

Too late, but you're right. Some people have no focus.

If you really want to study Chinese, be a full-time student.
If you really want to travel, be a full-time tourist.
If you really want to party, be a full-time barfly.
If you really want to make money, be a full-time teacher.

If you really want to fail, try to roll them all into one.

RED

Hey you! Yea, you with the flip-flops, shorts, baseball cap and T-shirt. You're going into the classroom dressed like that?

[choudoufu]

[The Great Wall of Whiner]

Question: Why isn't it a job?

Answer: Because welfare pays more back in my home country.

Schools that pay good salaries, benefits and ask for high qualifications, get the teachers they seek 9 times out of 10.

Want professional, qualified teachers?

Hire professional, qualified teachers.

Asking a 22 year-old kid who just finished a degree in horticulture on a sports scholarship who spent a good 3-4 years partying it up to become a professional teacher is like keeping a dog locked up in a kennel for 4 years and then letting him loose in the neighbourhood and not expecting him to hump everyone's leg in the process.

Just my counter-point.

[askiptochina]

The original poster is too narrow minded and stereotyping foreigners to the extreme.

[Lobster]

Some schools don't want professional teachers because they're focussed on profit rather than eduaction. They want people who are compliant and easy to manipulate.

A professional teacher can make as much, if not more, than one back home due to the tax stucture and cost of living. But that teacher needs to work hard.

I don't think JD was stereotyping all FTs, but just pointing to a certain sub-category of people who show up here looking for....whatever.

After 10+ years here, I'd have to say that about 75-80% of FTs are actually pretty good at their job regardless of their background. Sadly, the other 20-25% are such oblivious raving loonies that they tend to draw focus away from the majority who toil away responsibly. In realistic terms, it means that if you're working with more than 4-5 FTs, chances are one of them has mental problems.

As teachers, we'd like to help them out for the sake of all concerned, but I've learned that this is not a good idea. I will no longer recommend a teacher or assist them with their admin or classroom problems. The few times I've done this it's come back to bite me in the butt. Chinese employers seem totally unable to evaluate the sanity of FTs. You or I talk to them for 3 minutes and say, "this person is demented". Don't get pulled into their drama.

RED

[Salvatore]

You have to Love the World. See my topic about other laowai.

Lobster - could I have a job where you toil away?

Dementia works both ways.

[sistercream]

[Lobster]

I'd better delete this.

RED

[Lobster]

Hey you! Yea, you with the flip-flops, shorts, baseball cap and T-shirt. You're going into the classroom dressed like that?

The answer, it seems, is no. Flip-flop got fired the other day. I hate to take joy in others' misfortune, but...YAY! Damn I hate it when people teach in beach clothes.

RED

[The Great Wall of Whiner]

[Lobster]

You are absolutely correct. Dress was not the issue. It was highly unprofessional behaviour that was his downfall. Was his unprofessional dress indicative of his unprofessional behaviour? I think so...

RED

[GeminiTiger]

flip-flops or sandals?

[mister_kot]

Although I normally go to class in slacks and a collared shirt, I did go to teach a couple of classes this week in shorts and flip flops as a kind of 'protest' because I was called in on my day off after having put 16 consecutive days.

Today when i came in for my regularly scheduled classes, I wore the usual slacks and a collared shirt.

[chinanoodles]

Getting all dolled up for the job is a personal choice in most cases. You will not get paid any more because you wear nice clothes.....usually. Does it help? Under some circumstances it sure does, most...nah.

When I first came here I used to wear slacks and collared shirts every day until I realized it had no meaning outside of the one I gave it. Now I wear what's comfortable for me based on the weather and heat or A/C in the classrooms. /shrug

I never wear flip flops but again it's a personal choice. I am sure I could do so and not have any negative repercussions. Intelligent employers and intelligent students do not give a rats ass what you wear as long as you teach effectively or are at the very least interesting. I have seen as many shitty teachers wearing suits or dress shirts as I have seen wearing sandals and T-shirts....well...almost