Employment & Prof. Development

Dear Dr. Greg,

I have been offered a second-year contract by the second-tier university where I am currently working; however, I would prefer to move onto another job, because of the heavy workload here (20-22 hours).

Is it true (as I was told by a 64-year-old teacher at my university) that it is easier for the "over-60-year-old" teachers to get jobs at mid-year (Feb.- Mar.)?

I would be happy to take a longer break and return for the spring term, but because of my age (61) I want to be cautious. I don't want to jeopardize my chances of coming back to China. I would be happy to take a 3rd-tier job in a small town starting next February. Is that realistic?

By the way, thank you so much for this valuable web site.

Linda

Dear Linda,

Generally speaking, Chinese universities hire foreign teachers on ten- to 12-month contracts that commence in the fall semester.

When universities hire a foreign teacher for the spring semester, it is usually to replace an incumbent teacher who will be leaving prematurely for one reason or another. Perhaps conditions are unbearable or, through no fault of the university's, the teacher has to return home to attend to an emergency.

Because most former applicants are no longer available—and as time is of the essence—the FAOs will typically be forced to hire anyone they can get at a moment's notice. As foreign teachers in their sixties tend to overrepresent those who still happen to be available for employment in the spring, it might be true that they have a better chance of being hired during mid-year, as do all others who were not competitive for fall semester employment.

Unfortunately, this is not something you can reliably count on and I would not advise it as a job-seeking strategy because, first, you could very likely find yourself without any position come next spring and, second, it greatly increases the likelihood of working for an undesirable school, i.e., one that cannot hold onto its foreign teachers for a full year.

Your best strategy, as you indicated above, is to focus your job search on less desirable regions and lower-ranking universities, i.e., areas and schools that cannot attract the more competitive teachers. This will also provide you with a greater opportunity for negotiation as well. I agree that a workload of 20 to 22 periods per week is excessive, if not abusive, and you should be able to find a less demanding position if you start looking now.

Best of luck to you and let us know what happens.

Thanks so much for the helpful reply. (Third-tier universities in small cities, here I come.)

Linda

Have you asked if the university would still like to employ you if you were only willing to work 14 to 16 hours per week?

No matter how satisfied they may be with her work performance, they will definitely prefer to replace her than to start a new precedence that provides them with 30% less productivity from their foreign teachers.

I seriously doubt they would consider it even if she were willing to take a prorated pay cut.