Job Discussion Forums

[mersshroyer]

Hey everyone,

Not sure if this has been discussed yet, but how is Hong Kong as a place to start a teaching career? I have my BA and a TESOL cert. plus some experience teaching online, but have yet to work in a language institute. I'm 23. Everyone keeps telling me to just go to Korea for my first job, but I have little desire to do so. Nothing against Korea at all, I've just already taught there at a summer camp and wanna go somewhere new. I'm very attracted to Hong Kong's uniqueness, the expat community and the fact that it's pretty safe (so I've heard.)

I've seen some job ads that have salaries starting at 12,500 HKD plus accommodation. Could I expect to save any money that way? I'm not trying to get rich but I do want to be able to make payments on my student loans.

Thanks!

[Perilla]

HK is generally a pretty expensive place to live, and on a salary of HK12,500 a month it would IMO be impossible to make any inroads into your debt. In fact, many would regard that salary as insufficient to live on. If you search around you should be able to find a language mill-type employer paying around 20K, which won't get you rich but may allow for some level of savings/debt reduction if you are careful with your money.

[sistercream]

Do note that the better language institutes will normally be able to attract and retain more experienced teachers; if you arrive just with qualifications and no in-depth classroom experience it would be extraordinary serendipity to get a job with a decent employer (and it would be nice to be howled down by hordes of teachers with contrary experience).

And as Perilla has said, this region can be expensive. As a non-smoking, teetotal, Chinese-speaking person who's happy to live in a remote, working class dormitory suburb and eat mostly local style, HKD15K per month would be comfortable enough for me (including rent & utilities), but I wouldn't be saving any more than the compulsory MPF (retirement insurance).

[mersshroyer]

Ah, dang it. Sounds like I'll just have to come back after I get experience elsewhere.. Korea here I come.

[Joshua2006]

Korea is a fun place to be...just don't let their 'isms' get you down - everyone else has the same issues as you. Take it with a pinch of salt for two years and then look to move. I planned only one before I moved but ended up staying for 9.....and of those 9 years, 98.7% of it was aaalllllll good.

[Perilla]

For what it's worth, I far prefer Korea to HK and often regret not staying there longer than the two mostly very happy years I spent there. Admittedly though it's not everybody's cup of tea. Korea is big time culture shock. HK isn't. Therein lies the major difference between the two, IMO. Plus, for most TEFLers, they will save more money in Korea than in HK.

[mersshroyer]

I totally see all the upsides to living in Korea, but having already been there, I guess I'm just looking to get a different experience. I found it really on the dull side, but then again, I was in the south and pretty far removed from the cities. What I'm after is something slightly more adventurous, I guess.

Well, I don't want to turn this into another Korea thread, but thanks everyone for the advice!

[Perilla]

[kowlooner]

Food, $100 per day, transport, $30 per day, 30 days a month, $3,900 per month total, let's double for extra buffer, $7,800 per month. So, with your $12,500 and no rent to worry about, that leaves you at least $4,700 and up to $8,600 to save or spend. Take out housing expenditures, and food + transport tend to run about 40-45% of expenditures (incl. savings) in the US, so the figures above are more or less in line. But, so much depends on what other expenses you choose to incur.

[Arsenal79]

Why not look for a job in Shenzhen instead of Korea?

[Perilla]

[sistercream]

Like Perilla, I struggle to think of any upside to living in SZ. It's such a sprawl of modern, largely jerry-built megacity that if you live in the north or east it would be quicker to reach HK from Macau or Zhuhai. If I wanted to live in southern mainland again, I'd choose Zhuhai over Shenzhen any day.

[youtalkingtome]

Also worth noting, while it's easier to find a job in Shenzhen, the requirements to get a proper work visa / residence permit are tougher than HK. Guangdong province requires two years of teaching experience to be eligible for the work visa.

[mersshroyer]

I can't really see myself living or working on mainland China because I'm afraid it would be too hard to keep in touch with loved ones due to most social networking sites being blocked. Some would see not being able to use Facebook as a really stupid reason to not go somewhere, I'm sure, but it would just make it super hard for me to talk to my boyfriend while I'm away.

[Perilla]