Dipont, Nanjing China
Dipont, Nanjing China
I received an e-mail from a recruiter at Dupont. They have an opening for an experienced librarian at one of their Nanjing campuses. I have read the reviews and want to know if this is a viable possibility. They looked at my file at SA and they want to schedule an interview. I would appreciate any help in trying to decide if I should even consider the job.
Comparison
A viable possibility compared to what??? Dupont runs academy programs, meaning they are a school (program) within a school. Sort of like a third . "honors" program. The kids are usually the brighter ones. The programs are pretty well funded, and most teachers comment that the workload is pretty easy. They compensate and pay well, compared to the local labor market and cost of living.
So what else do you want to know???
So what else do you want to know???
More Information
In the reviews that I read, some of the candidates were offered a position at one school and when they got to China they were assigned to another one. Sometimes the working conditions were pretty poor. Some of the reviews of Dupont basically said the recruiters will promise you anything to get you there. It seems to depend on the campus where you are working. I really would like to know if the campuses at Nanjing are decent and if there is going to be a "bait and switch." I'm new at this so it's a big step. What I can do is go ahead and set-up an interview and find out the name of the campus, then go from there.
Worst Case
There is very little you can do to prepare, or protect yourself from a true socio-path. That said are there a lot of library positions open that they could switch you with? You could also always leave if they scammed you.
It sounds like its really early in the recruiting process. I'd have the interview (either phone or Skype) and hear what they have to say. You can always say no afterwords. Ask questions and dont be afraid to make them hard questions. Be direct and ask "You have some negative reviews on ISR regarding staff that were hired for one position only to find they were assigned a different campus, how do you respond to that?" As an experienced teacher I have to believe you have a fairly honed BS detector, and you loose very little just by interviewing.
It sounds like its really early in the recruiting process. I'd have the interview (either phone or Skype) and hear what they have to say. You can always say no afterwords. Ask questions and dont be afraid to make them hard questions. Be direct and ask "You have some negative reviews on ISR regarding staff that were hired for one position only to find they were assigned a different campus, how do you respond to that?" As an experienced teacher I have to believe you have a fairly honed BS detector, and you loose very little just by interviewing.
Last edited by PsyGuy on Thu Feb 09, 2012 9:03 pm, edited 1 time in total.
We had a Dipont librarian visit our library a month or so ago. Admittedly she didn't work in Nanjing but the conditions she described made me squirm. They had 75 books in their library, which was the size of a small classroom. There was really no technology to speak of, in light of having only 75 books I can 't say I'm surprised. Support from the Chinese school was scant and while the students in Grade 10 were well behaved for the most part their academic achievement was hindered by their lack of English and they are supposed to be entering the IB Diploma program next year.
I would be very cautious if I were offered a Dipont contract.
I would be very cautious if I were offered a Dipont contract.
I was interviewed last year with them. I ultimately said no because they could not guarantee that I would be teaching AP/GCSE/A level. Even though they advertise for those positions, the recruiter told me that the teachers who teach those classes have usually been with the program for a few years. They were going to start me with ESL classes for the first year. At least she was honest.