Sorry, no Sean Connery, guns or submarines. This is about focused job searching in the month of October in China.
I arrived back in China part way through August to take on a little part-time teaching work in a low-cost-of-living location while I’m finishing up my credentials in grief coaching. The latter is going smashingly. My major projects are complete (pending proofreading), coursework will be finished this week, and I just need a partner reassignment in order to complete some supervised telephone sessions. My current clients seem happy, and I’m looking forward to launching my business officially in the next few months.
The former, referring back to working part-time for a school in Southern China, is not going too well. It seemed like an adequate situation at the time. I’d met the management in 2011 before leaving Haikou, and I have an acquaintance who works at the place. I wasn’t going in blind. But of course, it is China, and the school is run by the Chinese rather than Westerners. So the situation is inevitably rife with problems. Education in China is incredibly bad – I won’t explain here – you can go back and read my many posts on the Chinese education system from my last round of adventures here.
But in summary, my friendo waited until I arrived before telling me about all the bad things that were happening at the school. And then, the school lied about being able to get me a work visa. They can only get me a business visa, which makes it illegal for me to work here, leaves me vulnerable to potential fines and deportation if I’m caught, and must be renewed every three months. Hmm. And as well, I have a non-English-speaking semi-co-teacher who keeps telling me how to teach English. Hmm, again.
So, long story short, I have less than a month left on my tourist visa, and no desire to chance it with the current school. The search is on for a legal job. There are actually thousands of ESL teaching jobs in China. Most of them are sketchy in some way. A strong minority of them will actually involve full on employee abuse for the inexperienced and unsuspecting foreign individual. I’m currently dialoguing with a few different universities right now – having significant education and experience really helps speed communication.
Let’s see where I end up…
Ah the joys of English teaching jobs in China!
you can say dat again….
Good luck with the search! I’m angry with my employers now for getting me to help them out on the weekend (Which is a strict no-no for me after the first year of being in Shanghai was 6/7 day work weeks) and then them trying to pull a fast one over on me with additional rules and trying to skimp on the pay. Thanks guys!
Thanks! Within a few hours, I have an almost job offer at a university in Nanjing. Things do move quickly here. It is pretty much a guarantee there will be some sort of nonsense. Some of it is manageable and just the cost of doing business, but then there are the other instances…
Nanjing is a cool place and a short train ride from Shanghai! Mmm yea it’s never nonsense-free.
well amen to that! what would my life be like without nonsense??? I’d be bored out of the tree I usually live in.
Whoa. You live in a tree?!? That’s awesome!
oh yeah, I wouldn’t have it any other way
Be careful and keep posting! Love a story with suspense, intrigue, mystery and just make sure to throw in a little comedy too.
Oh my goodness! So do I! So much so that I let my life be the page(s) upon which it is written.
I also need to write an addendum to this post – I have a job. With focus, a few hours, and hungry employers, I’ve snagged a jobbie in a University in Nanjing. It seems promising for what it is. I’ll probably get to teach a writing class as well, which I always enjoy
I’m reading backwards so I read about your University job first.
How awful to arrive and discover that the school lied about everything. Well done on finding a job so quickly T.
Luckily, things often work out in the end! I’m glad to have gone back to Haikou – I spent last summer there following a pretty tough and exhausting work experience in the Hunanese countryside, and I thought I wouldn’t come back to China ever again. It was great to come back with a more positive attitude. I think I’ve found myself a good situation, finally!