should i stay or should i go
- 2015-02-22
true, am desperately looking for information i do not want to be hassle or have miserable time. For instance would you not agree that a 3 month probationary period is way too long.
Somebody
- 2015-02-21
Do you expect to learn anything useful from people who might have worked there nine years ago?
Carl
- 2015-02-20
Could you please elaborate more on ChangChun Da Qiao? they offered me a position.
Frank
- 2006-08-02
Hey, KJ,
He's baaaaaack... Your favorite faux foreign teacher "Simon Whitaker" has returned... with the EXACT same laughable job posting, dated 1 August 2006.
Hopefully, he'll find few or no takers this time around as well.
mj
- 2006-07-27
think twice in getting ur a** on this changchun ad. got friends teaching in cahngchun right now (they are under an agency )who are living a miserable life. i also heard and read (blogs and esl postings) that this company changes its name from time to time since they are already blacklisted. simmon "whatever" might just be one of their names.
Frank
- 2006-07-24
Yeah, KJ, speak on it! You beat me to the punch on this one! The same characteristics of this posting jumped out at me as well!
I love this quote from Simon Whitakers ad:
Let me tell you two things we are not an agency we are a school so we won't be "pimping" you out to elementary, middle or high schools in the city you will only work for Daqiao I've been a foreign teacher for the school nearly a year and a half I have never had one complaint about the school except you will work weekends
This run-on (and on and on) sentence says much! First of all, where did Simon learn the term pimping? We all know this is term used by FTs for various reasons. As youve established KJ, this guy is so obviously NOT a foreign teacher. He might be foreign, but as you said, English is not his first language (nor likely his second; third, perhaps?).
If hes never had one complaint about the school then why would he know about such common complaints about things like pimping out FTs???
I always say be very careful of anyone who makes such claims as weve never had a complaint from a foreign teacher before. This is exactly what happened to me in my first teaching job in China. When I began to complain about broken promises, poor management, etc., to the Chinese agent (in the USA) that placed me in the job, he too, acted dismayed that such problems existed, claiming I was the first teacher at any of his schools (!!!) to encounter and report such problems! In no time, I came to learn that my complaints and concerns were quite common and systemic in China.
Also, as you also pointed out, Shijiazhuang has a rather lousy reputation among FTs as a city with far more than the usual level of pollution and other bad traits.
I also like Simons closing remarks: All up we offer are pretty enticing salary higher than most schools. I love the way he decides the readers feelings in advance!
Yes indeed, I would say, stay away from Shijiazhuang Simon.
At times the scam recruiters are so transparent that it's almost laughable. This one offers a job in Changchun and wants us to believe he is a foreign teacher there. If so, they have pretty low standards. Beyond the dopey, non-punctuated sentences, there are so many typical second language mistakes that one would have to be blind not to notice them. Check it out:
This guy has named himself Simon Whitaker. Well okay then Simon, I'm challenging you right here and now to prove to me beyond a shadow of a doubt that you are a real foreign teacher. Where are you from? What are your credentials?
Finally, if an employer or recruiter suggests that you "may have the opportunity" to teach in some villages outside the city, that means you will have to teach in some villages outside the city. Well, that may be your cup of tea, and some villages can be pleasant indeed - especially if you know someone there, but don't bet on it. Also, your valuable time will be eaten up in the commute to said villages and you probably won't be compensated for the time you spend going to and fro on a hot, crowded and dilappidated old bus.
My advice; avoid this school and avoid Simon unless he can come up with a more convincing argument for joining up with him.
Summers can be quite hot, springs are cool to warm, autumn time is probably the best not to hot not to cold, but the winters... there ok I guess.
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And please don't try to paint such an alluring picture of Shijiazhuang. Yeah there are lots of people there, I'll grant you that. Beyond that.......forget it...................just another armpit, industrialized city that has nothing to offer a Western teacher seeking to experience China and Chinese culture.