also, they would totally hate it here

So, we’re in the home stretch now. Next Thursday is my last day here at work before I’m off for summer break – but I won’t be returning this fall. I gave notice of my resignation to my boss about two months ago and told him that I would do what I could to help find my replacement – this included posting the job, sourcing resumes, screening applicants, and training my replacement at the end of the school year.

Of course, there has been next to no movement on filling this position. It’s June 9th and they haven’t even so much as posted the job on the Portland Public Schools website, let alone anywhere else. Word has gotten out that the position is open for the fall, though, mostly through the Chinese and ESL communities here.

Which is actually kind of a problem. This job demands more of an English fluency than Mandarin Chinese, and the people who are interested in the program are all Chinese native speakers. I don’t really think they would know how to navigate the frustration involved in dealing with various aspects of the job, nor would they be able to manage up to the administrators with whom they’d be working. Not to mention the parents…!

Apparently, the Chinese way of inquiring about a job is to walk straight into the place and talk to anyone who will listen about how much you want to work there and then listing in three different (or not so different!) ways all of the qualifications you have for the position. Even if the person (AKA me!!) is telling you that she doesn’t make hiring decisions, you keep telling them that you’d really like to work here for a variety of reasons and could you arrange a meeting with the principal?

Okay. Maybe it’s a cultural thing – maybe these people don’t have the resources to learn proper job search protocol and etiquette. But if you have someone telling you to your face that they don’t make hiring decisions, to submit a resume, and that someone will contact them for next steps… can’t you just… accept that?

Apparently not. Apparently, some people are so anxious/overzealous/whatever that not only will they come back to submit a resume, but they’ll also mail one in, and then email one, and then call me to follow up and ask me to arrange an interview with the principal.

Are you serious?! Is this how people recruit and hire in China? Do they have to deal with people badgering them day in and day out… like a normal occurrence? How do they even deal?!

The funniest part about all of this, is that I have these resumes sitting around and people calling me almost every day to check in, and we’re not even actively hiring for the position yet.