Job Discussion Forums

scottburs · Joined: 16 Dec 2015 Posts: 4

My name is Scott and I'm interested in teaching in Hong Kong. I'm 33 years old and a graduate of the University of Southern California with a bachelor of arts in Theatre and Political Science. I don't have much teaching experience, but I am expert in public speaking, working in the past as a speech coach and as an actor, mostly in theater and in a few commercials. Currently I've been working in sales the last few years at Zillow, so I was hoping to find some solid advice because I know there's a lot out there and some companies that might take advantage of you.I do want to save up some more cash and travel. Any suggestions where I should start?

Jmbf · Joined: 29 Jun 2014 Posts: 663

Kowloon · Joined: 11 Jan 2016 Posts: 133

Difficult situation. Basically from most EFL employer's perspective you have a BA and that's it. Will be difficult for you to come straight in to a job where you can expect to be saving enough for extensive travel. Average salary about 22-24 a month and rent will be 7 a month (shared) maybe 8k including bills. Eating out and supermarkets aren't all that expensive IMHO...so if you are frugal and don't drink out in western bars too much then actually maybe you will be ok.

I know Monkey Tree (gasp) offer a package of shared housing + a reduced salary. Not ideal but would be a way in with guaranteed work and then you would hit the streets looking for an upgrade after you arrived.

I did 7 months at a rival of Monkey Tree's when I first arrived. Paid the rent and bills while I looked for a public school.

Mingvase · Joined: 19 Jan 2016 Posts: 62

Won't you need to go back to your country to get a work visa though? Or can you just do a day trip to Shenzhen?

Serious_Fun · Joined: 28 Jun 2005 Posts: 1171 Location: terra incognita

Kowloon · Joined: 11 Jan 2016 Posts: 133

metopia · Joined: 20 Jul 2016 Posts: 22

I did 7 months at a rival of Monkey Tree's when I first arrived. Paid the rent and bills while I looked for a public school.[/quote]

Kowloon, I noticed you are now in a nice public school gig, so I guess leaving your previous school before the year was out didn't have much of an adverse effect?

This is both surprising and reassuring news about HK.

Very different from Korea where one's employer/sponsor of visa has to give a letter of release before it is possible to get legal work elsewhere. It was never really a problem for me as I had jobs I was happy with, but had I wanted to leave one early, it would have been a different matter.

[/quote]

Kowloon · Joined: 11 Jan 2016 Posts: 133

I had a notice period of two months at the language centre and the school I was going to were willing to wait for me for an extra month so I just submitted my notice and applied for a change of employer at immigration. This does require you producing the same documents you need when applying for your first job but there are generally less taxing than what Korea requires.

Another factor making it easier is that everything at HK Immi can be done in English. In saying all of that I did need a signed resignation letter from my current employer so they could have made life difficult had they wanted to.

In total I did 7 months in a language centre, then a year as a NET (but not on the EDB programme) in a local school, now I'm EDB PNET at a different school.

metopia · Joined: 20 Jul 2016 Posts: 22

Thanks for clarifying that, Kowloon. You seem pretty clued in to a lot of things I'm researching on HK right now.

In my experience, it certainly helps to make your departure easier if you appear to be upgrading and upgrading to a place that your current employer is not in competition with.

E.G. from a high school to a uni in Korea and I guess in your HK case, from a private to a public school.

At the moment, I'm just looking for a way to get my first job in HK at a place that won't mess me about, gives me a light workload and pays enough not to lead as one employer in Japan said 'a cheese and bread life'.

Jmbf · Joined: 29 Jun 2014 Posts: 663

nabeelanjum · Joined: 19 Dec 2016 Posts: 1

How does one approach these students (or their parents/schools). I'm really unfamiliar with the debate and public speaking circuits in Hong Kong, but I'm really interested in working as a coach (I've been a public speaker and debater for 10+ years, and a coach for more than 5 outside of HK)

Jmbf · Joined: 29 Jun 2014 Posts: 663

Finding students is a case of advertising yourself well. Some advice I would give you:

Think carefully about the design of your promotional materials - they should be distinctive yet clear (simple) designs (preferably in both English and Chinese)
Carefully choose an area to work in and target that area heavily
Promote yourself via all mediums (physical flyers, online ads, talking to people)
Be prepared to give it time (it won't happen quickly, it takes time to build up a decent student base)

After you have established your initial student base, if you are any good then word-of-mouth referrals will start to kick in.