As some of you know, I've been looking for a job as an English Teacher. I can't really say I've been looking hard. I've sent out about 8 or 9 resumes, and called a few places. Without much success.

Then I sent out a resume yesterday (along with 4 others). This morning as I was reading a book, I got a phone call. They wanted to know when I could show up.
I had no idea who they were, where the job was, what the specific details were, or anything like that. But I wasn't about to let them know that. So I asked them to e-mail me the contract, and making the excuse that I was in the middle of something important (the tenth reread of Harry Potter #7), asked if they could e-mail me and I'd get back to them.

So now I just have to head back to my hostel with its overpriced internet, and download the contract, I forgot I can't do that at the cheaper, and more comfortable internet cafe.

So Yay me. As long as I like the contract, I'll be teaching small groups of adults, good pay, 20-25 hours a week, for one year, free housing, free net access at the school, in a city near Shanghai I believe.

I hope everyone else has as good a day as I'm having.

I do hope you teach them well... I may need tech support some time in the future. :)

I'll do my best, but I'm not promising anything.

That is excellent to hear Domoviye, I am so happy for you. I hope that it turns out well for sure.
I think that you'd do an excellent job at it anyways.
And that has to suck about the downloading though.
But yes good luck Dom and I hope that the contract suits you. You better spend more time on here when you get the job too or you';; be in big trouble Mr! :D jokes but yeah lol

Tor

Well I've looked over the contract, and it could be good or it could be bad. If they play nice it will work out. But if they decide to pull my chain, I could be working every single day. Not long hours, but having a full day off is appreciated.

So I sent it to my Dad to look over. He's worked for the biggest union in Canada, and early in his career, he effectively headed a local union. So I'm more then willing to lean on his expertise.

Hopefully it works out.
Cheers

Woo! Congrats Dom, and I hope you enjoy returning to the world of employment.

Good news indeed

congrats Dom on finding the job, and good luck with it. :D
Heather

Domoviye that is excellent to hear and glad that you have someone who can look at it for you! :)

Goodluck! (Not that you need it)

Thanks everyone.

Tomorrow morning, I'm phoning two places that seem a lot better. I couldn't send them e-mails for some odd reason. If I get a job with either of them I'll be a lot happier.
Ones a government job, easy hours, less pay, but according to a former employee the worst thing I'll have to worry about is boredom as the city is small. So more time to write.
The other job is a private company like the one that wants to hire me. But their contract is a lot more concrete and detailed, so I trust it more. And I like how they're set up.

But even if those two don't hire me. I'm fairly certain I'll demand the first company put it into the contract that I have at least one day off a week. That will solve my biggest problem with the contract.

Cheers

where are you getting your internet connection Dom

Mostly at an internet cafe down the street from my cafe. It costs 2 yuan (8 yuan equal 1 US dollar) an hour, and other then being hot is very comfortable.

When I need to download or upload something I use the internet at the hostel/hotel which costs 10 yuan an hour and is not nearly as comfortable.

Will you be looking for a home or flat to rent there. Now that your working.

They supply a one room furnished apartment, I have to pay utilities though. Or I could accept a 1500 yuan a month housing allowance. A 2 bedroom apartment in Beijing (one of the most expensive cities in China) costs about 1500 yuan.
As long as the apartment they supply isn't a dump, I'll live where they place me. It should be within a reasonable distance of the school.

With most teaching jobs here housing or a housing allowance is almost always supplied. So many places are desperately looking for Native speakers they throw in a lot of perks. The problem is making sure the perks are exactly as promised. Because once you've signed a contract its really difficult to prove they're breaking it.

Ah. Question. Why would you choose to live in a one room furnished apartment? when you could live in a house or flat in a different country.

What interests you about Beijing?

With the housing it comes down to this. If I get a place through them, any problems I have I just phone up my contact who I know speaks English and have him or her deal with it.
If I get a place by myself I phone up my landlord, who may not speak English and try to explain to them what the problem is.
It's a matter of convenience.
And as long as I have a bed, a kitchen, and a place for my computer I'm happy. A larger place would just mean more to clean.

I'm not really interested in Beijing at all. It has some nice history here, but its a little crowded for me.
The job is in a much smaller city close to Shanghai, so I'll probably feel more comfortable there. Being in a crowded city of several million is a far cry from the two small spread out cities I've lived in, in Canada.
As for other interests. I was bored where I was living, and travelling seemed the best way to relieve the boredom. Its worked so far. The teaching is just a way to get money.

So how is your Chinese, Dom?

I can say thank you, no, see you later, Good day, water and road. I think I also remember how to say I, you, they, but I get them confused fairly easily.

I just haven't been in one place long enough to really learn. My pronunciation sucks, so I need someone there to make sure I say it correctly.

Congrats. ^^

I wanna go on holiday to China...

Come in the fall, its bloody hot here.

My Dad looked over the contract and he likes it. His only concern was the money, the 6 weeks it would take to terminate the contract, and to make sure I get everything in writing.
So I sent two questions to the contact, asking for the termination of contract to be shortened to 3 weeks (I didn't like the length of time either), and to make sure the apartment is within a reasonable distance of the school.
It looks like in all likelihood I'll accept. The moneys average, and as long as they're willing to negotiate on the contract termination I'll be happy. I'll still take the job unless they come back and tell me I'm being impertinant with my demands, but I'll be happier if they give in.

So it looks like I'm heading off somewhere that I couldn't find on a map, with no idea what awaits me, and very little money.
This is getting to be a routine.

Woo! Sounds good, Dom. Just make sure you have an internet connection to keep us all updated.

Internet is provided free from the school. So lots of access. So I'll be spending a lot of time abusing that privilege. Even better I can write stories on my laptop again (finally got it working somewhat) and put them on the web using memory cards and their computers.
I love it.

I also accepted the job. The more I look at it the better it sounded, also my contact put my few concerns at ease.
And if anything bad does happen, I can run away and get a teaching job in Vietnam, I always wanted to go there as well.

So I'm moving to a major port city near Nanjing and Shanghai on the weekend. Hopefully I won't be moving again for a year.
Having a steady paycheque is going to be nice.

Cheers

Ok this is annoying.
It sounded like they needed me ASAP. So I got a ticket already that would let me be there by Monday morning. Beijing's planes, buses, and trains are packed, so you usually need to wait five days to get a ticket.
This morning I got an e-mail that they might not have a house for me, and to hold off on heading there.
I was suppose to have an e-mail this evening telling me if they have accomodations and when to expect them.
Haven't gotten it yet.
So I have a train ticket waiting for me at my hostel, that I don't know if I can return. So I may have to go to Nanjing which is a 40 yuan train ride away from the city I'm going to be working in and renting a room at a youth hostel there. Since the city I'll be working in only has hotels which are more expensive.

So I don't know when my job starts, I don't know if I can return my ticket for full price, and I may have to move to another city I don't know anything about so that I don't lose several hundred yuan on the train ticket.
Its enough to make me want to scream.

Wow you really don't seem to be having the best of luck at the moment :( I hope things pick up for you and that this teaching job (and its accommodation) get sorted out quickly.

I'd love to travel... but don't like being in areas I don't know and wouldn't cope in situations like this.

My luck is usually weird. I have bad luck and dumb luck.
Right now I'm in the bad luck phase. Nothing too bad, just enough to keep me on my toes. Soon I'll be into dumb luck, and no matter what I do things will work out.

This isn't too bad actually. Like I said I can go to Nanjing and hopefully stay at a better hostel then the one I'm in right now. And Nanjing is cheaper all around then Beijing.
And if the company I'm hoping to work for doesn't tell me soon, or have an opening by the first week of September, I can apply elsewhere.
I never phoned some places I was planning to. And I'm in the second stage of an offer for a job in Indonesia. So things aren't bleak yet. Just annoying.

Edit: I'm not coping that well either. I've screwed up somethings, and at the beginning I was in a nice fugue state of mind. I'm just too bull headed to admit total defeat (retreating and asking for help is acceptable though:)) so I keep moving forward until something happens.
It also helps having very nice parents, and occassionally being oblivious to all my problems.

I'd be to bothered by not knowing a word of Chinese, to be honest, to move there.

My luck is usually weird. I have bad luck and dumb luck.
Right now I'm in the bad luck phase. Nothing too bad, just enough to keep me on my toes. Soon I'll be into dumb luck, and no matter what I do things will work out.

This isn't too bad actually. Like I said I can go to Nanjing and hopefully stay at a better hostel then the one I'm in right now. And Nanjing is cheaper all around then Beijing.
And if the company I'm hoping to work for doesn't tell me soon, or have an opening by the first week of September, I can apply elsewhere.
I never phoned some places I was planning to. And I'm in the second stage of an offer for a job in Indonesia. So things aren't bleak yet. Just annoying.

Lol well yeah it does sound very annoying, and i'm highly impatient and too easily stressed out so I definitely wouldn't cope.

It sounds better about the prices though and the better hostel, so it looks like it will have its advantages and you seem to have some more avenues available so no point giving up hope just let. Your luck might change :)

I'd be to bothered by not knowing a word of Chinese, to be honest, to move there.

It would bother me for a while but i'd just do a six-week intensive course or something and then i'd usually be alright... languages are easy :p

Miming, shaking and nodding the head, easy to read maps, occasional extremely helpful Chinese people,an English-Chinese dictionary, and a complete unwillingness to back down helps deal with the language barrier.

Miming, shaking and nodding the head, easy to read maps, occasional extremely helpful Chinese people,an English-Chinese dictionary, and a complete unwillingness to back down helps deal with the language barrier.

Yeah, where there's a will there's a way and languages are no exception. For somebody that's not overly gifted with languages, moving to somewhere that speaks chinese definitely cannot be easy but it can be done.

I'll always get my point across somehow... i'm too stubborn not to lol

It would bother me for a while but i'd just do a six-week intensive course or something and then i'd usually be alright... languages are easy :p

Yeah, but you're a linguistic genius.

I'll always get my point across somehow... i'm too stubborn not to lol

Lol.

Still no answer from the company. I even sent them an e-mail saying I'd take the independent rental option, rather then getting an apartment through them.

So after the computer boots me off in a few minutes, I'm heading back to my room, grabbing phone numbers and phoning other companies.
I haven't signed a contract yet, so if I get a better deal, or a faster response with someone else, I'm taking off.

I love uncertainity.

Hehe, it does seem to offer you a kind of freedom. I hope you get things sorted Dom. Keep us updated.

Good luck :) Keep us informed...

Good luck! I hope everything works out

Still haven't gotten an answer. Although, I have finally recieved an e-mail from the guy telling me he's phoning the center again tonight.
So hopefully tomorrow will give me an answer.

As i've said before, I hope all goes well. I hope you get your answer soon.

Well if it doesn't I can have an interview with another school tomorrow.
I just like the contract with this one, so I don't want to lose it, because they can't get their act together.

Edit: Of course if they can't get their act together I probably don't want the job. So hopefully they'll have everything worked out tomorrow.

I was gonna say, Dom, if they can't get their act together, they'd probably be a crappy employer.

Update: Still no bloody news.
So I sent an e-mail telling my contact that I have an offer from another school. He has until Saturday at 4pm to tell me when the job starts.
This is a lie of course.
But I can get some crappy job with no securitym but at least a paycheque in Beijing quickly. If I won't be leaving in a day or two.
If they can't give me a firm answer by then, I don't want to work with them.

Wish me luck.

Gluck, Domoviye!

I sent out my resumes. And I got a response from one already.
So I probably have an interview tomorrow with a school outside of Shanghai. They wanted to know if I was still interested, and needed somethings clarified.
If they like me I get to start on September 1. I haven't seen the contract, but its a government school, not a private one. Which generally means they'll screw around less. Plus this school contacted me only a few hours after I e-mailed them. So good on them.

I also sent out resumes to other places, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

Anyways I'll continue keeping you updated on the trials and tribulations of Job Hunting In China.

Um......Wow.

I'd finally started to get really worried about jobs. Nobody was calling back to me, and a lot of my e-mails weren't getting through.
So I sent out about 5 resumes today.

I just checked my e-mail, two of the places had responded. One of them, a company, sent me three e-mails with different jobs each time.
I now have my choice of 5 jobs. Ranging from university teacher, to kindergarten teacher.

I just have to say I accept.
Actually in the case of the Kindergarten job, they just said we can't wait to see in five days.

I sent them back a message asking to see a contract, and in the case of the company, details.

So um...I guess I'm employed.

Crap.

Crap? What now? Wasn't that the aim of the game? :confused:

One can be both delighted and disappointed at the same time. Delighted for the stability and the excitement of the new job, and disappointed that the freedom and adventure of wandering is coming to a close (for example).

congrats and sincere apologies on your new job Domo! ;)

Actually the "crap" was the fact that after nothing, I suddenly had these offers. And so quickly after sending out those resumes.
With the Kindergarten job, they didn't even have time to call my references, and they want to let me teach little kids that quickly.
It seems kind of nuts.

I'm a university teacher now.
FEAR MY WRATH!!!!

I took the job in Nanjing. The higher paying school in Shanghai thought they could do better, and I didn't want to teach teenagers.
So hurray, I'm gainfully employed.
And I as per the contract I'll have internet and a free computer at my new apartment.
So I can write again.
HUZZAH!!!

Oh dear God... Dom. Teaching university. In China. Now I'm certain that is one of the harbingers of the apocalypse :p


Oh, and huzzah indeed!

yay Domo
congratualtions.
Hope you will still have time to kick around the site every once in awhile.

When you’re finished in Shanghai, come to Australia, there is a crazy shortage of teachers; chances are you’d be employed within the minute and be inundated with perks and monthly pay bonuses.

Word I work 15 hours a week, 5 days a week. I have an internet connection at home, and promise of a computer to go with it.
I not only have the time, but the means, I might even attempt to become a mod.

Eoz, I'll consider it. But they may not like my lack of a teaching degree.

Thanks everyone.

Well I signed the contract about an hour ago.
But I had the strangest feeling my contact was very disappointed in me. Just the way she talked and things, it seemed like she thought I should have a better BA, look different, be better prepared, and other things.
It was kind of annoying.
But I got the job.
The contract I signed wasn't as good as the example contract I was sent. I work one more hour a day, don't get a kitchen, and no computer is included in the housing. But overall can't complain.
So starting September 3rd I'll be teaching oral English to University students.
Wish me luck.

Edit: I discovered something about 3 minutes ago makes me really like the company (head hunter) that got me the job. It was an e-mail saying if the university didn't work out, he could have a car pick me up and drive me to Shanghai tonight to start working at a high school tomorrow.
If I stick around in China after this contract, I'm getting in touch with this guy again.

Sounds good Dom, are you looking forward to starting?

If by "looking forward to starting", you mean not quite gibbering in terror at the thought of being in way over my head, and now being unable to leave a strange city and country for almost a year.
Then yes I am looking forward to getting started.

Good Good :p

What an exciting life you are leading Domo! I am a housemom chauffering my kid around, we lead totally different lives.(no worries I like my life) Yours sounds like a lot of fun, I hope everything works out the way you envisioned it.
congrats!

Thanks Word.
But believe me, exciting also means stress. I'm currently looking up different things I can use for lesson plans. Because I have no idea what they want me to do, other then teach oral English.
I'm suppose to be talking over my job and schedule with the university at some point. They just haven't told me when.
Of course if everything goes wrong, we can spend the class discussing how much better it would be if someone else was teaching them. That way they'd still be speaking English.
Cheers

ooo hahah your having second thoughts on your english teaching capabilities are ya? Well I am sure you will do fine. Just know you are bound to make many mistakes and feel like an idiot 3/4 of the time, so when you expect that, you won't be dissapointed when you feel it! ;)
Hope you get everything in order. when do you start?

This is just usual stage fright. I had it when I started working at McDonalds, and in a machine shop, and as a flagger on a road crew.
Just need to get started and I'll be fine.

I start on the 3rd. I should be moving into my dorm apartment, today or tomorrow. And hopefully they'll explain where I have to go, when I have to be there, and what they want me to do before I start in the morning.

And hopefully they'll explain where I have to go, when I have to be there, and what they want me to do before I start in the morning.

If not, just make it up. After all, you are the teacher :p

Very true. I have enough ideas to get me through the first day, one of which involve a poll of what they want to focus on. So that will help with further classes.
Now I just have one major problem. They still haven't phoned to tell me I can move into the apartment, or what my schedule is.
So I sent an e-mail asking them. Hopefully they tell me or tomorrow is going to be interesting.

Yes well it certainly will be interesting if you have got no idea lol glad things are working out for you though Dom.

Goodluck with it hey.

Thanks Torana

Well I don't start work tomorrow. I do get to move into the dorm finally though, and I have a meeting with the department at 2:30 in the afternoon.
So free internet here I come.

YAY for free internet lol

Ok this is the final update for this thread.
I am working 6 hours a week this month. 4 classes on Wednesday, 2 classes on Friday. Next month this changes, and I should be working 16 hours a week. Although if they make me work less, I won't complain.
My Wednesday classes are all Travel English. Apparently people use a different version of English when they travel. This should be fun, I can focus on cultural differences around the world.
My Friday classes are Business English. Nothing too difficult, I'll just make them do a lot of presentations and debates.
All the classes are between 30 and 35 students.
According to a teacher who is starting his second year here, the biggest problem I'll have is getting the students to actually pay attention. Most of them are just in the class as a requisite and couldn't care less about learning anything, because they don't need it.

I'm finally moved into my apartment, which is actually two dorm rooms thrown together, with a seperate bathroom. No kitchen unfortunately. So as soon as I have money I'm buying a slow cooker and a hot plate.
But it does have a decent fridge, and a working microwaves. So I'm not eating out all the time anymore.

I have free internet, access to a free washing machine, a computer (I didn't have one initially, but the teacher I met, had one in his new apartment that he didn't need), and I can lock my door so I finally have some actual bloody privacy.

I'm also about a 2 minute walk from a grocery store/department store. Decent prices, and the grocery store looks fairly clean. I've seen some grocery stores that were horror shows here, so I'm very pleased about the cleanliness.

Best of all, with the computer now I can start writing again.

Thats about it for me.
Cheers.

Sounds great Dom. I'm glad you have things sorted now. And we'll be expecting to see some evidence of this writing... :p