I have been approached (spammed) by numerous recruitment agencies over the last few months and out of curiosity I respond back to learn more about what they have to offer, should I choose to change where I work.
There is a list of questions – included below – that I ask to learn more about the position as many are vague in what is on offer. These are all reasonable questions anyone would ask of any potential employer in China to ascertain if the position is worth pursuing.
Invariably there is no mention of what visa they offer, so it is always my first question. This happens quite often.
What Visa do you offer?
- Will I have responsibilities other than teaching? (like cleaning your classroom or the school, recruiting students, evaluating students for placement, handing out flyers for the school, etc.) If so, will I be paid for that time?
- Will I be expected to stay at the school even when I don’t have classes?
- How do we decide if the students are progressing or successful?
- Will there be a curriculum provided?
- What salary do you offer?
- How many students are in a class? How are they placed or evaluated for placement?
- Does the job provide housing? Is it furnished? What does “furnished” mean?
- How are the bills paid? How far is it from the school? Is it easy to get to work from there? Do I have to pay a deposit for it? How big is it? Will I have to share it? Is there a monthly “maintenance fee” that I must pay? How much is it?
- Who is my boss? To whom do I report? Who evaluates me?
- What criteria is used to decide if I am successful?
- Will I have a work space available at the school? A desk, an office?
- How much sick and vacation time do I get? Who decides when I can use it? Can I use it all at one time? Does it accrue monthly or can I only use it at the end of my contract?
- Is there a bonus or gratuity payment at the end of my contract? How much is it? How is it determined?
- What teaching resources does the school provide? Teacher’s manuals? Photocopy machine? (who regulates it’s use?), Internet? Computer? Printer? Paper? Chalk/Markers?
- Is there air conditioning and/or heating in the classrooms?
- Are there other foreign teachers at the school? Can I talk to them before I make my decision?
All of these, as I have said, are very reasonable questions a professional should ask in a foreign country to ensure that the work conditions are clear and above board.
No problem? Quite the contrary.
I have received threats and offensive comments for asking these questions.
Why would this be?
I am a professional and expect the staff I deal with to be equally professional in discussing the work conditions on offer, and it is important that these questions are answered before I consider continuing by sending any personal information, but invariably I am met with:
‘I don't know why you have so much complaint, arrogance’.
Is it arrogant of me to want to know a bit more about the job?
These questions were asked just after establishing contact and me asking if they can please answer a few questions for me to establish a few things.
‘Whatever you said, I have added you to be a trouble person on website. If foreigners like you, nobody is willing to give you a job.’
I just want some answers !!!!
My favourite response when I asked these questions was, when I was assured that it was ok to work on an ‘F’. I responded that I knew it was illegal to work on anything but a ‘Z’. eventually this individual reached the verbal equivalent of frothing at the mouth that culminated in:
‘……and the police will find you and catch you’
Yes, of course they would because I would be an illegal worker.
Employers in China who want to hire a non-Chinese person seem to forget that they also are being evaluated for their ability to interact with non-Chinese.
Should a non-national want to learn more about a job I advertised I would expect them to ask, at the very least, a few of the questions I ask to show they were thinking about how the job is done.
What do you think?
TESOL is a joke.Really. Yes many Chinese who teach English are not good at it.
I've turned down more jobs in a week in China than I've ever been offered my whole life. (Of course I've always been self-employed and never really looked for a job.) The lack of sincere native speaking English teachers in China is the reason almost every student I come into contact with has poor grammar and very limited vocabulary. Word usage, language conventions, syntax......are words most seasoned Chinese English teachers have never heard, much less know and know how to teach others. Even the guy who approached me at the English corner one day. He claimed to have 'studied for his masters degree' in the U.K. (I was told later by one of his friends that he did 'study' there and failed; never graduated). He said to me, "You foreigners very can't teach English grammar to we." I didn't laugh. I didn't point out his mistake. I just scratched my head and walked away.
From 1945 until around 1966, the Philippines would not allow a Filipino teacher to teach English. They required foreign (mostly American) teachers to teach English there. Perhaps this is why, every time I come across a Filipino teacher in my city, that they speak English so well, so fluently. China was as repressed as North Korea up until 1976. When they did 'open up', they cracked the door open. To this day, it has not opened enough to really allow the people there the freedom to truly understand and learn English (or much of anything else Western). They are requiring for profit schools to shut down due to the scamming nature of these places. They have so-called 'English teachers' who can't speak more than a dozen words in English. I've had students who were reprimanded and scolded by their teachers because they could speak far more and have far better grammar than their teachers. So, this is what you are up against in teaching English in China. It's part of the overall package. You have to put up with such nonsense. I was offered a principal's position at a private high school in Beijing that would pay me 30,000 RMB a month, free housing, free car (and driver), free meals in the executive dining room, free everything else. I turned it down faster than they offered it. My personal freedom would be gone the second I said 'yes.' Of course, I didn't come to China for a job to begin with. Anyway, you are up against a wall of ignorance. You have to deal with that and not fault the people. They don't know any better. They are trying to deal with their vast lack of understanding and knowledge, all the time, trying to 'save face.' Most aren't of the attitude enough to know and admit what they don't know. It is a special challenge to try to teach in such a place. But, as I said earlier, it is part of the deal in China. Remind yourself of those students who really did absorb everything that they could get from you. Those who did succeed by learning from you. There are more of those out there though they might be a bit harder to find.
You kind of smeared yourself with your baseless bullying comments to the poster 'teamkrejados' by faking being one of her students.
Removing your comments subsequently seems to indicate they were baseless, and hiding your profile implies a lot about who you are and your agenda.
if people have a bad china day they vent and you notice this. we all have bad china days. if it is a good china day we dont vent and dont notice this. i know some chines back home who only eat chinese and mix with thier own people and watch chinese movies etc. most are imigrants (expats) or first generation chinese. you have nto made the assumption 'all foriengers' extendt this to not making the assumption some foriegners-all of the time. ref not helping others - this was one of the first principles i was taught by other chinese aka don't get involved aka look after your own. and also thank you for secret asking to add me and smearing me here. a really winner classic match with your friend ratfink.
'you say Im not worth the time or energy to respond to, yet you made time to attack my Parents raising me and my Grandparents shame, more people you have no clue about. For a moderator, you really show your deep dark family issues here. OLD BITTER MAN GET YOUR FACTS BEFORE BUYING YOUR HEADSTONE.'
You have not made one constructive or insightful comment on any threads you have participated on, and hide your profile details.
Maybe think before you post.
It gives people a better impression of you if you write something that is insightful.
you say Im not worth the time or energy to respond to, yet you made time to attack my Parents raising me and my Grandparents shame, more people you have no clue about. For a moderator, you really show your deep dark family issues here. OLD BITTER MAN GET YOUR FACTS BEFORE BUYING YOUR HEADSTONE.
Child, you aren't even worth the time or energy to respond to. If you are genuinely Chinese then I feel sorry for your parents for having brought such a bigoted and racist child in to the world. Your grandparents and family would be ashamed of your comments.
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