Job Discussion Forums

johntpartee · Joined: 02 Mar 2010 Posts: 3258

Good idea. Last term there was a married couple here, he was 66, she was 63. They applied from their home state of Washington. They were here until June; in May they were offered renewals (by then he was 67, she was 64). They refused (she did, actually; couldn't handle the weather here Very Happy

) and returned to the US. He sent me an e-mail last week telling me he had accepted a position in Guangzhou beginning in February.

That's one instance; the other two (and the others I heard of) were roughly the same circumstances; one of them is still in Zhengzhou and still teaching, I guess he'd be in his mid-70s now.

I was hired by this school from Mexico and arrived here two months shy of my 59th birthday. I renewed last month until July 2014 (I compromised a little, they wanted me to stay five years).

Non Sequitur · Joined: 23 May 2010 Posts: 4724 Location: China

For my last gig I was hired at 65+ by a provincial government vocational college in an attractive coastal city. This was after a gap of 3 years since I previously worked in PRC.
I have an associate degree in business and a 40-hour ESL CERT.
In my experience, anyone who states categorically that 'X Y or Z is impossible in China' either hasn't worked here or is trolling for bites.
OP you just have to be more proactive than a younger person.
PM if you need additional help but you should be looking to be really active now in the lead up to the hiring season (Sept 2013 start).

piglet44 · Joined: 26 Aug 2010 Posts: 157

It depends on the province in China and how much guangxi they have. There are about 80 foreign teachers at my current uni and several of them are over 60. I am 56 and my husband is 66 and nobody seems bothered about our age.So as was said before you can't generalize about China it's different in different provinces.

Mr. English · Joined: 25 Nov 2009 Posts: 298 Location: Nakuru, Kenya

I am 60+ and working here in China. If you have the experience an employer wants, you can work in China at any age.

BizLiz · Joined: 20 May 2013 Posts: 30 Location: China

My neighbor "Tucker" just turned 70 and he is still in demand with the parents in our community. When you are good I don't think the age matters much - only to the public school system. Tucker has been teaching over 15 years in Beijing and the students love him. He'll probably teach until he drops.