Job Discussion Forums

The bear · Joined: 16 Aug 2015 Posts: 483

This question, "will teaching in China be useful later" depends on 1) what you actually did in China, 2) how you sell the experience, and 3) what you intend to do.

1)

In China it's possible for the word "teacher" to mean anything from fully qualified professional to dosser who entertains. Obviously both require different skill sets and, I say this honestly, both serve a purpose and can be useful. If the market wasn't after the latter then the job wouldn't exist. Anyway, the point is the latter type of job won't be in demand "back home". So be aware of that.

2) That said, landing a job is about selling yourself. What you did and what you can do. Living in China may have enabled you to...learn a language, problem solve, continually adapt and challenge yourself, think outside the box...a whole host of the cookie cutter buzzwords prevalent in today's job market.

3) Great, you moved across the word to teach English. Now you want to go home and be a software engineer. See the mismatch? Not saying it's impossible to do this, just being in China doesn't necessarily help, most of the time it can hinder things.