Job Discussion Forums

[chengdu4me]

Hello everyone....lots of good info here. All of which can create some confusion. The more I read about something bad, then, I read something good about the same school/agent/recruiter.

So, I ask for some straight advice from those "on the ground" in Chengdu!

Here is my situation and the parameters I have to work with.

My fiancee lives in Chengdu. I am planning on moving there within a window of September 2009 - February 2010. Whenever I arrive in Chengdu, we will get married very soon after my arrival. This all depends on how soon I can liquidate all my assets here in the U.S. Given the state of the economy, I am generously giving myself a year to get this accomplished.

I am currently 55. I have a MBA. I intend to complete a TEFL course this summer at the local university. Perhaps some advice on this subject as well. The course is offered by Oxford Seminars. Any input on the quality of this organization and the value of their course offering?

Anyway, advice on how to secure a contract, what the going pay rate is in Chengdu, any special considerations that should be included in a contract that might be special circumstance within Chengdu, good schools, bad schools, good placement agencies, bad placement agencies, any and all advice, help, suggestions, cautions....would all be greatly appreciated! How soon should I be looking for a contract given the time frame I am moving?

oh yea, knowing full well that nothing in this world is free....beer is on me when I get there for all those who are willing to help! HAHA You can find my email address in my profile if you would prefer to respond that way.

Thanks!

[Sonnibarger]

Oxford is good for what it is... a piece of paper... Thats all MOST schools will want to see..

[chengdu4me]

sonnibarger.....nice name...I grew up with those boys!

A piece of paper..well, I am a bit quirky...when I spend time and money on something, I like to get something out of it.....like maybe learn something. Do you have any recommendations for a TEFL course that I I might actually learn something rather than just negative comments?

[eddy-cool]

...getting married in Chengdu?

May I ask: Do you know your future wife yet?

How did you meet?

How long do you intend living in Chengdu?

[chengdu4me]

Yes! My fiancee lives in Chengdu....unfortunately she is a real estate agent....not a good time for her career right now.

We met as most do..over the internet.I have made 9 trips to Chengdu over the past few years.

I intend to make Chengdu my permanent home with her. I am still a ways from retirement, so I need an income for the next four years, at least.

[Ramblin' Man]

[Itsme]

The lack of a TESOL or (insert your certificate here) is not a significant barrier to entry in the teaching market. A lack of a college diploma, however, is.
Since you have an MBA you will probably find private mills banging down your door as the "Wall Street English" type of institutions would love to be able to boast about having someone with your qualifications. The TESOLS are mostly for the public elementary schools as I am guessing that these programs try and instill in their trainees a sort of flexibility in teaching style that is appropriate to this type of environment.

I would give much greater weight to your MBA than to any teaching certificate you might get in a few weeks.

[brsmith15]

I agree with Itsme. I have an MBA but never got a tesl cert or anything like it. You might try teaching business subjects. I taught accounting for a number of years before being forced into retirement at 69. State unis have a mandatory retirement for men at 65 but my boss lied a tad.

[chengdu4me]

Here's the thing. If I am going to go to a foreign country and teach, I would like to do a proper job of it. I have spent my career in private industry/banking/retail. Although I did have the responsibility for corporate IS training, I have never taught children or teenagers. I don't know, but I would think I would have a greater sense of satisfaction teaching younger students. Perhaps this is naive thinking. Since I have never done it, I really have no idea.

But it seems like you are all saying, lead with the multiple Masters Degrees and then let the TELF just float in behind as icing on the cake?

I think I see where that would be logical given the time it takes to get one vs. the other.

Anyone in Chengdu that can give me some advice on good schools vs. bad schools, recruiters, agencies, etc?

[vikuk]

[chengdu4me]

As I stated in the OP, I am moving there permanently. So, I am hoping to be teaching for the full five years the law allows. I doubt in that short time that I am going to become the world's greatest teacher, but if I am going to put effort into something, it is going to be done right.

I'm not a pushover, but neither a bully. I can usually go with the flow as long as the flow is pulling, not pushing.

This is something new for me. As I said, I've never done this before so I do have some apprehension about it. From some of the comments I read here, I am thinking that perhaps just being a retired person might be less frustrating, but as long as my wife works everyday, then I feel I should do the same, even though I don't really have to. I think I will have a happier wife with this plan.

Now, how does one get in direct contact with schools without having to go through the sharks (as I have read here, that would be Sunny's, EF, etc)?

Can anyone give me a recommendation of a good placement agency or a good recruiter that works with the schools in Chengdu?

[YAMARI]

If I was you I would take a university position and then build up some privates over the 5 years.

[Beyond1984]

"My fiancee lives in Chengdu." -chengdu4me

One bit of advice from another laowai who has "drunk the kool-aid" and is going native:

Unless there are family ties (ageing decrepit parents, for example) that keep your fiancee in Chengdu, I recommend that you remain open to the idea of working anywhere in China. She can join you wherever you can be most advantageously employed.

You could fly to Chengdu, buy your wedding license, report for work anywhere, your bride in tow, and have your wedding feast back in Chengdu whenever convenient.

Despite our age difference - I'm 192; she's a plump spring chicken - I will be buying a wedding license on what for me and my cute Chinese gf is an auspicious day: 9-9-9.

But if you are a believer in the Tetractys of the Decad, by which Pythagoras swore his most binding oaths, you may prefer to wait until 10-10-10.

-HDT

"How does it become a man to behave toward this American government today? I answer that he cannot without disgrace be associated with it."
-Henry David Thoreau, "On the Duty of Civil Disobedience," 1849

[bradley]

I agree. I'd apply for a university position.

[chengdu4me]