Job Discussion Forums

[sickmachine]

I'm currently living in America and the economy is still terrible. It is to the point where I'm thinking about just going to China to teach English. I have noticed a number of preschools and kindergartens on the China job board that are willing to hire English teachers without college degrees, certificates and teaching experience. I currently don't have a college degree or a certificate and I was wondering if there are any companies where I could tutor people one-on-one or at least work as an assistant English teacher without a college degree or certificate? I currently don't have enough money to continue college to get my degree and that goes back to the economy situation here I'm trying to get away from. I have a few Chinese friends that tell me I can find a teaching job without a degree or experience easily, but should I really take their word for it? I really want to go to China. Please help.

Also, do some of these companies help pay for your flight to China? Would that be what an airfare stipend is?

[The Ever-changing Cleric]

finding good work in china in your situation (no qualifications) is going to be difficult (but not impossible). at the very least it's going to take some time. a couple of questions you can ask yourself first:

are you thinking of coming to china with a genuine interest in teaching, or are you just trying to escape a bad situation at home?

do you have enough money in the bank to tide you over for a few months in china till you do (possibly) find a job? and enough to get you back home if the job you do find goes pear shaped and you want to get out quickly and re-establish yourself back home again? something in the neighbourhood of $5000-8000? (many schools will reimburse your airfare but they won't do it till AFTER the contract is completed).

[sickmachine]

Well I will answer those questions now:

I originally had planned to teach English in Japan, but I found it to be too expensive to live there and I currently do not have a college degree(which they are more strict on there than China). I then kept reading articles about people finding teaching jobs in China without degrees or experience and even some Chinese people I know online mentioned it before. Is it really going to be difficult for me? I thought it would be easy, but maybe I'm mistaken.
I would rather just get my BA degree and then go, but I can't afford it and I can't get a student loan because California is broke. I feel like I'm stuck in a rut I can't get out of. So to be honest, I'm going to China for a clean slate, but I'm actually interested in China(which is why I chose it over other places).

P.S. If I had about 4 months tutoring experience in Japan would that make it easier for me to find work tutoring for a company in China?

[SnoopBot]

You can do it, at least when I was there in 2008. I am back in the USA now. You often must settle for a more isolated city and one of the lower paying positions. The top positions and places to teach require a MAEd in TESOL and teaching experience + quals.

Just be careful, when you don't have a degree or experience some of the Chinese institutions will try to short-change you on your contract conditions. They know you have less opportunities to do a runner and find a better school.

With this in mind review all contract issues carefully. 90% of those "No degree, No experience, No Nothing, advertisements are operated by fly-by-night outfits.

[Seuss930]

China - no degree - no problem
if-that is-you don't care what city you work in.
private lessons - no degree - no problem
just set them up - don't tell the school (many many teachers have a couple of tutors to supplement the income)

you may have to hunt, but there are many schools that will set you up without a degree

I was the foreign manager at an English school for 2-1/2 years
Many of the teachers we hired didn't have degrees

MOD EDIT

[sharpe88]

Sure, you can do it , and get away with it.

But since it'll mean you won't have a legit work visa, you can also get caught and kicked out of the country on short notice.

[Seuss930]

many schools have enough relationship to get you a visa without a degree

I would never work without a visa

None of the teachers at my previous schools worked without a visa
and many didn't have degrees

depends on the school

[sickmachine]

@Seusse88 You mentioned you were a foreign manager? How easy are jobs like this to get? What qualifications do you need? I would much rather be a foreign manager any day over an English teacher. Which company did you work for and which city? I would appreciate any information on this.

@Snoopbot What are some good examples of isolated cities where I could find work more easily? A friend of mine is actually helping me create a convincing college degree and TEFL certificate, so I'm not too to worried about not being qualified(irony). I'm sure having at least fakes of these things will make it possible for me to work for a legit company just about anywhere. Any advice?

[Seuss930]

most foreign manager jobs can be had just by sticking around
they used to be easy to get, especially if you are not picky where you live
some people like it, some hate it, depends on you boss and your personality (money is more but so are your hours)

they just offered it to me after i had been around a year
no special thing needed

as for a fake degree, i know (not heard of but have seen with my own eyes) places where the franchisee will get one made for you if you don't have one - i have seen a franchisee at one school make TEFL's for ALL his teachers, even the ones with a degree because he thought it looked better to the parents (he didn't even ask the teachers)

there was one guy fresh outta high school (1 and he was told to tell all the parents he was twenty three years old and just looked young because they had made him a degree

Now know this, this is not COMMON practice, but it isn't uncommon if you catch my drift

also, for things like these, you (probably) need to stick to the common, fast growing, chain schools - its sometimes hard for them to meet their growing demand so they get desperate sometimes

[Mr. Kalgukshi]

Promoting and/or discussing fake degrees can get you banned here. The common sense thing to do is to avoid such discussions and bring them to the Mod Team's attention.