Job Discussion Forums

william wallace · Joined: 14 May 2003 Posts: 2869 Location: in between

I'm hoping to get the opinion of non-China oldbies. I have taught here in Beijing for over 14 years; broken up by 2 months in Thailand and 6 in Manila.
Prior to that 2 years in Canada and 6 months in Scotland.
Here's the question:
When I finally leave this..this...China, will it be a serious blemish on my resume ?

Gringo Greg · Posted: Wed Jul 02, 2008 12:41 pm Post subject:

I don't think so. I think China has an allure and I think it could be seen as a positive on your resume. I think if it was Thailand on your resume then you'd had problems, but I think China is positive.

parrothead · Joined: 02 Nov 2003 Posts: 342 Location: Japan

Pardon me, but why would "China" or "Thailand" be damaging to a resume? Wouldn't your qualifications, the kind of job you had and your duties within it be more important? Why would teaching in China or Thailand be less appealing than other countries?

Justin Trullinger · Posted: Wed Jul 02, 2008 4:19 pm Post subject:

I'll second that- I have a colleague now who spent 5 years in Thailand. He was well qualified, and taught two years in language schools there, 3 in a university. That looks great on a resume.

Maybe if you were unqualified and with untraceable employment in Thailand, that would look bad, but then, that looks bad anywhere, regardless of country.

best,
justin

johnslat · Posted: Thu Jul 03, 2008 2:20 am Post subject:

Dear parrothead,
I think that some countries sometimes get (unjustifiably, in my opinion) a dodgy reputation for the EFL teachers they hire. I've heard some EFLers jokingly say that all you need to teach in China is pass the "mirror test" (i.e. they hold a mirror in front of your mouth, and if it fogs up, you're hired.)
I've heard (to my surprise) similar comments about Saudi Arabia, a country I worked in for nineteen years. And I know that 99.9% of the colleagues I worked with there were highly professional dedicated and hard-working teachers.
So, like most stereotypes/generalizations, while there might be a small grain of truth within, most of the nasty comments are based solely on ignorance.
Regards,
John

parrothead · Joined: 02 Nov 2003 Posts: 342 Location: Japan

sidjameson · Joined: 11 Jan 2004 Posts: 629 Location: osaka

Why did you spend 14 years in China? China does have a rep for employing losers and I do think that some people will ask themselves if not you my opening question.
Fluency in Chinese, university level teaching will compensate for that, but 14 years in some tiny little language mill. Well, some will look down on it for sure.

Marcoregano · Joined: 19 May 2003 Posts: 872 Location: Hong Kong