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LUWahoo
Joined: 25 Feb 2015
Posts: 13
Location: United States
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 Posted: Thu Feb 26, 2015 10:49 pm Post subject: Breaking into the China game, any/all advice appreciated |
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Before getting into questions and whatnot, a little about myself and my (soon to be) qualifications:
I'm finishing up studies in Farmvegas to get a B.S. in Social Studies Secondary Education this Fall
(Not interested in teaching history in the 'States or trying about the International circuit until at least 5+ years of teaching English abroad)
I then plan to take CELTA in the Winter/early Spring
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The University route looks promising, the biggest question mark for me is how/where to get a foot in the door? Wherever that may be I'm going to be looking for ~7 and 14-20 hrs... (Is that about right for intro-Uni?)
I'm willing to work hard and establish a reputation in ____ (Jiangsu? Shadong? Guangdong? Shanghai?)... I need to do some serious research on different provinces/cities; any personal preferences or advice from experienced TEFLrs?
My primary question targeted for the Uni-experienced posters out is.. how and where did you get your first university job/do you have any advice for doing so?
Thank you for taking the time to read!
-LUW
Last edited by LUWahoo on Mon Mar 02, 2015 9:45 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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Non Sequitur
Joined: 23 May 2010
Posts: 4724
Location: China
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| Posted: Fri Feb 27, 2015 2:13 am Post subject: |
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If you are intent on a teaching career in China, you are better to complete home registration and then aim for the international school market.
Going into a Chinese U with what you have now condemns you to the same FT grind that people with no teaching quals endure. |
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water rat
Joined: 30 Aug 2014
Posts: 1098
Location: North Antarctica
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| Posted: Fri Feb 27, 2015 2:26 am Post subject: |
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| But what's Farmvegas? Some sort of agricultural college among the casinos? You will be well prepared for English corners. The Chinese are keen on farming... and gambling. |
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maxand
Joined: 04 Jan 2012
Posts: 318
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| Posted: Fri Feb 27, 2015 2:45 am Post subject: |
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| water rat wrote: |
| But what's Farmvegas? Some sort of agricultural college among the casinos? You will be well prepared for English corners. The Chinese are keen on farming... and gambling. |
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=farmvegas  |
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LUWahoo
Joined: 25 Feb 2015
Posts: 13
Location: United States
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| Posted: Fri Feb 27, 2015 3:03 am Post subject: |
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| water rat wrote: |
| But what's Farmvegas? Some sort of agricultural college among the casinos? You will be well prepared for English corners. The Chinese are keen on farming... and gambling. |
Very small University in South-Central Virginia |
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LUWahoo
Joined: 25 Feb 2015
Posts: 13
Location: United States
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| Posted: Fri Feb 27, 2015 3:14 am Post subject: |
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| Non Sequitur wrote: |
If you are intent on a teaching career in China, you are better to complete home registration and then aim for the international school market.
Going into a Chinese U with what you have now condemns you to the same FT grind that people with no teaching quals endure. |
What do you mean by completing home registration? |
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direshark
Joined: 12 Apr 2014
Posts: 90
Location: Qingdao, China
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| Posted: Fri Feb 27, 2015 1:48 pm Post subject: |
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Getting into the university world in China is not hard. Your first university just might not be top tier, since those typically want two years of experience in university teaching in China.
There's a classifieds site called EChinaCities.com which is certainly worth a look if you know the city you want to work in. There are a couple other sites around here, I'm sure the other posters know them.
If you want to go beyond the recruiters (most adverts on ECC are from recruiters) the hack method appears to be straight up emailing the Foreign Affairs Officers directly at the universities you want to work at. You can also apply directly to the universities: go to the websites of the universities you want to work at, find their English webpage, and follow the breadcrumbs to the English Teacher advertisement. I went with a recruiter but I had a solid response rate with this method last April. |
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LUWahoo
Joined: 25 Feb 2015
Posts: 13
Location: United States
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| Posted: Fri Feb 27, 2015 4:37 pm Post subject: |
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| direshark wrote: |
Getting into the university world in China is not hard. Your first university just might not be top tier, since those typically want two years of experience in university teaching in China.
There's a classifieds site called EChinaCities.com which is certainly worth a look if you know the city you want to work in. There are a couple other sites around here, I'm sure the other posters know them.
If you want to go beyond the recruiters (most adverts on ECC are from recruiters) the hack method appears to be straight up emailing the Foreign Affairs Officers directly at the universities you want to work at. You can also apply directly to the universities: go to the websites of the universities you want to work at, find their English webpage, and follow the breadcrumbs to the English Teacher advertisement. I went with a recruiter but I had a solid response rate with this method last April. |
Did you use just the one recruiter? |
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Non Sequitur
Joined: 23 May 2010
Posts: 4724
Location: China
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| Posted: Sun Mar 01, 2015 11:22 pm Post subject: |
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| LUWahoo wrote: |
| Non Sequitur wrote: |
If you are intent on a teaching career in China, you are better to complete home registration and then aim for the international school market.
Going into a Chinese U with what you have now condemns you to the same FT grind that people with no teaching quals endure. |
What do you mean by completing home registration? |
Registration as a teacher in your home country/state/province.
You seem to be on an education study pathway from the OP. |
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LUWahoo
Joined: 25 Feb 2015
Posts: 13
Location: United States
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| Posted: Mon Mar 02, 2015 9:41 pm Post subject: |
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| Non Sequitur wrote: |
| LUWahoo wrote: |
| Non Sequitur wrote: |
If you are intent on a teaching career in China, you are better to complete home registration and then aim for the international school market.
Going into a Chinese U with what you have now condemns you to the same FT grind that people with no teaching quals endure. |
What do you mean by completing home registration? |
Registration as a teacher in your home country/state/province.
You seem to be on an education study pathway from the OP. |
I've done some smarting up. Getting a decent tier 2 to get my foot in the door until I can find something better (long term hopefully Germany) is the 'international plan' for the moment.
Shanghai, Shenzhen, Suzhou, Qingdao, Hangzhou, and Kunming are the tentative Chinese cities I'm looking at for the moment. Still need to do a lot of research on all of them. |
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Non Sequitur
Joined: 23 May 2010
Posts: 4724
Location: China
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| Posted: Mon Mar 02, 2015 9:57 pm Post subject: |
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My advice is don't overanalyse.
Get an offer (say for 1 Sept start) and then do the analysis of location and conditions.
That said, an International School further on, won't be as impressed by a year or two as an ESL teacher in China as they would be by a licensed teacher with subject classroom experience. |
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LUWahoo
Joined: 25 Feb 2015
Posts: 13
Location: United States
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| Posted: Mon Mar 02, 2015 10:16 pm Post subject: |
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| Non Sequitur wrote: |
My advice is don't overanalyse.
Get an offer (say for 1 Sept start) and then do the analysis of location and conditions.
That said, an International School further on, won't be as impressed by a year or two as an ESL teacher in China as they would be by a licensed teacher with subject classroom experience. |
Yeah, don't think I'll be going the ESL route. Either get a job here in the 'States or a foot in IT and trying to work my way up the circuit. |
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Non Sequitur
Joined: 23 May 2010
Posts: 4724
Location: China
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| Posted: Tue Mar 03, 2015 12:16 am Post subject: |
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Sounds like a plan.
Best
NS |
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