Job Discussion Forums

[Gerhard E. Jene]

Is it possible to start teaching with just a one week TEFOL certificate? Also, how easy is it to get into China with a one way ticket. I have heard of some schools not wanting to pay up for flight reimbursement and other things.
I am willing to go to a smaller city or town. All i want is to get it on paper in regards to getting a return ticket for working there. Even if it is only for one term to begin with and get some experience.

[SIH]

You'll have to pay for the air ticket yourself.
One way is ok but it depends on the airline. Some airlines will make you buy a two way ticket. Some won't.
You should have in your contract that the school will pay your airfare after 6 months one way and after a year the rest of the return ticket if needs be.
One week Tefl or what ever should be fine. Depends on your age and qualifications.
THe longer you stay with a school the better it is. Schools aren't usually willing to pay for someone to come to China for like 3 months just to teach.

[Gerhard E. Jene]

I have enough to pay for the ticket to China. But not enough to come home on. That is why i hope the school will be willing to help deal with the return ticket.
The certificate I have did not include much in the way of actual teaching hours. I got it through the Canadian Institute of English. The other minor problem is insufficient funds to tide me over until first pay. I am willing to sign a contract for a minimum of 6 months.
Maybe that way the airline will take a chance on giving me a 1 way ticket.

[tw]

[Calories]

Try to look for different deals. I ended up finding a round trip ticket with continental that was cheaper than a one way but, I just used it for one way.

[Shan-Shan]

You shouldn't worry about credentials. Pay is low, and conditions are not always on par with teaching in other countries. If Korean schools seem to rarely demand a TESL certificate, why should Chinese institutes?

[tw]

[Ariadne]

Another poster suggested that $250. USD would be enough to tide you over until the first paycheck. I disagree. Please try to have at least $500 and it would really be better to come with more. Some schools provide bed linens, some don't. Some schools give you free internet, at others the costs can be quite high.. I just paid almost 1500rmb for a year, since it was cheaper than on a per month basis. Visas/resident stickers, medicals, towels, fans, kitchen stuff, flight delays, deposits, teaching supplies, toiletries, the list goes on. I know that some folks can manage with one towel and an empty apartment, but I can't. You really need to have more than the absolute minimum in case you have to go to the hospital or there is some other emergency.

Some schools will give you an advance once you are at the school and teaching, but don't count on it.

.

[Steppenwolf]

I would not visit China without having sufficient funds to go back on my own! You should have money to tide you over difficult periods, and such periods do occur; don't bank on the locals to support you if you fall on hard times.

You can easily lose your job; if you terminate your contract prematurely you will at best get a prorated amount of your airfare. Airfare is due on completion of your job, and even so some FTs find themselves cheated out of it!

Believe me - I am saying this in your own interest: if you cannot spare U.S. 1000 on top of your flight expenses you might face pretty dire straits here!

[dracotei]

I used to work for the airlines, and as a general rule round trip should be cheaper than one way. Check with a travel agent, they have better rates than the airlines. They buy them ahead of time, bulk.

[Ariadne]

Re airlines and travel agents... In the US, individual travel agents no longer receive a commission on airline tickets, although there may be some airlines that still pay on international tickets. Most agencies now charge a fee to the customer. There are certainly companies that buy in bulk at special rates, but I'm never quite sure who they are. Expedia and Travelocity? I keep looking for the perfect fare to magically appear the same way my students hope to magically learn English. Just when I think I've found a super fare and try to buy it, seems like the line is always the same... that fare is no longer available. I'll keep trying.

.

[NathanRahl]

Don't go buying from travel agents, oh no, they are much too expensive. People think they have the best ticket prices, eh, wrong. the bst prices are found from buying directly from airfare consolidaters. I got a one way ticket to china for 824 dollars on just one weeks notice. I can look up the original name of the company if you like that I bought it online from. If you buy 6 to 8 weeks earlier you can shave off another 2 or 3 hundred dollars form that.

However, if you don't buy directly from a consolidator, like travel agents do, who then jack up the price, you won't get the best deal. They buy large groups of tickets at once, which the airlines sell for very little. They make their money by buying a crap load of tickets, basically, and getting big discounts. Let me know if you want that sight address, I'd have to look it up. As to the flight reimbursement, yeah, I got screwed there, place I am working for capped it at 7,000, which will pay for my ticket to get here, whoopi. Only good thing is, I can use a consolidator, return ticket will cost me around 550 bucks. I researched for weeks though, one of my skills, research . They also don't give an end of contract bonus, which also seems to be a dying trend. I think it is a good incentive, I guess it wasn't working well enough to keep people, go figure.

Also, most of the promises you see online to pay more are bogus tripe put up by recruiters. Be wary of any ad that say's, will pay all your airfare, I mean hey, they don't know how much your ticket cost, and some economy flights can cost thousands if you don't shop around. Someone said good schools buy your ticket, lol, never heard of it happening to anyone. Never talked to someone who had a school do it either. Maybe if you have worked for them before and are returning, they will trust you. A first timer though, not going to happen, the school would have to be fools. You could come to china with the ticket and just take a vacation.

No, they won't buy your ticket for you, and most won't pay after 6 months, almost all wait till the end of the year to give you anything for your ticket. Oh, and you will be able to know if they are going to screw you based upon how they have treated you to date, trust me on that one.

Anyhow, good hunting for airfare, and do come with as much money as you can, no telling when you'll get anymore.

As for it being hard to get into china on a one way, ticket sellers spread that rumor to scare you into buying a round trip ticket. It's bull, all airlines will pressure you to buy a rounp trip ticket, remember, ticket sales are down, but you don't have to too get into china. It's a misleading sales practice, but they are very vague.

"They might give you trouble if you get to china and don't have a return ticket."

I've heard this before, and like I said, it's bunk. Of course you'd be a real sucker to buy a ticket directly from the airline. One way is fine, just so long as your pasport and visa are in order. Later

[poopsicola]

Well, I've been doing everything wrong. Thank God for Nathan Rahl and his research. It's great to have really useful people on this forum, people you can rely on. Anyway, from now on I'm not using agents and I'm not using airlines. It's consolidators for me. I don't know any just now but I'm sure the info. will shortly be forthcoming.

[NathanRahl]

Heres that info I promised. The sight name seems obvious, sometimes those are the hardeas things to find, the ones right out in the open. Like I said, payed 824 for my ticket. The farther ahead of time you buy, the cheaper you can get it, up to a point. Not sure now about getting a ticket for 5 or 6 hundred, but 7 or 8 hundred is about right. Check them out, its www.asia.com and see what kind of deal you can get. Hope this helps, later.
Oh and no, Travelocity and expedia work for the airlines, sell tickets directly from them in fact. Yes they often sell tickets on sale, but again, on sale by the airlines. Basically, though your led o believe thorugh clever marketing these sights are somehow autonomous from the airlines, they are not. Air fare consolidaters are the way to go, use that word in your search for cheap plane tickets and a whole host of sights will pop up. Like I said though, out of my long searching, and the efforts of someone else, we both came to find this sight, and it was the best we found. Take care.

[WordUp]

I wouldn't go to China without at least $500 in pocket and enough for a return flight. Do you have a diploma? Alot of places care more about a diploma than the TEFL..

cheers