The job search
Since I posted an ad on Dave's ESL last Monday, I've gotten a grand total of three replies.
1. A private English school in Qingdao, Shandong Province. I viewed their website and I must say that it was very impressive. We chatted last Tuesday and have not heard from her since so I'm scratching it off my list.
2. A company in Beijing looking for an English Editor. Mainly the responsibilities include "drafting and editing official documents of the company; supporting internal communication and daily communication with other related companies in Asia and drafting and editing internal message in English; and supporting external communication, including working with English medias, answering enquiries and keeping good relations with them." Sounds like a 9-6 kind of job... Nevertheless I sent my resume.
Yesterday, I got an email saying that my qualifications match the person they're looking for and that we should talk more over the phone to discuss further details. I'm waiting for their call.
3. A metal company in Beijing looking for a... the job title escapes me. When the caller, his name escapes me too, described the job, it sounded more like a call center kind of thing. He said I will make a lot of phone calls to Europe and America. I'm not sure exactly what I'll be telling the people there but he said I'll have to write analyses of the things that I learned everyday. Hmm, will a blog be ok? And the job will be at night, since we'll be following Western time. He promises to send me more information. Except for the analyses part, it sounds like a call center.
Rain: It might be glorified telemarketing!
Joni: (stared blankly)
Needless to say, I'm not very excited...
Leaving TieLing
The other night I had dinner with my GeGe from the Foreign Affairs Bureau, his colleague Liu, my Chinese friend Frank who did most of the translation, Rain and his girlfriend Ivy.
Basically, what GeGe wanted is for my headmaster and I to talk about the problem, solve it amicably and finish the contract. The conversation circled around this for a good number of minutes. He persuaded me not to leave the city because foreign teachers here are too few and they "need" me. I was adamant at saying that no, I really want to stop working for GaoShan and that this is tiring me too much. At one point, I was almost near tears which made the men very uncomfortable. GeGe promised to call his friends at the Foreign Experts Office and ask them to inspect the school for irregularities. I don't know how this is going to help me but whatever. He assured me though, that it's impossible for GaoShan to have me blacklisted via the Chinese Embassy in Manila.
Tonight or sometime soon, I might be having dinner with Frank and his lawyer friend and discuss what could be done.
This is the plan: I am set on leaving. I'm going to get paid on the 6th and I will go to work until that day. If the lawyer, foreign experts people, etc can find just cause for my leaving, then I'm free. If they can't, I'll pay the breach penalty then leave. Let's just put it this way: The goal is to avoid paying the breach penalty. If I'm left with no choice, then I'd rather pay than stay. Hey, that rhymes!
I am leaving whether or not I've secured a job by that time. I can use the break. I've been working my ass off since I came here, I might as well take a few weeks off and have a much needed rest. While resting/looking for a job, I'm going to crash at Rain's and try to be as inconspicuous as possible.
Wow. You've become a bandit of sorts. A pointer on waiting for these jobs to call you back however: don't wait for them. Call them back. The Chinese have so many Chinese clamoring for the shittiest jobs that I think that they think it is odd when foreigners aren't acting the same way. The Beijing gig sounds good. I have heard that Shandong is beautiful. Good luck. By the way, what is Rain doing for work now?
ReplyDeleteRain's teaching at another private English school here. There are only three schools in the city that have permits to hire foreigners. One is my school, then the school where the headmaster is married to a Pinay, and finally the school where Rain teaches at now. I suppose I can also work there but I feel like I need a clean slate.
ReplyDeleteThe Beijing company has called back and asked me to send a picture. The Chinese always want to know what a person looks like. Anyway, in the first email that she sent me she mentioned that one should have a good command of Chinese. When I replied, I told her that I'm in no way fluent in it although I think it's good enough for daily communication. So when we talked on the phone, she asked me about my Chinese. We proceeded to have an informal interview. In Chinese! Which was fun, actually. We still haven't discussed the pay, living conditions, etc although she mentioned I could choose to just work part-time, which is 2-3 days a week. Since the last thing that she asked for was my pictures, I now think that everything will have to depend on whether they like what they see or not.
Go, Joni, kaya yan!
ReplyDeleteNakupo, kabado na nga ako. I really hope so. *crossing fingers*
ReplyDelete