Job Discussion Forums

[Bramlow]

Hey folks,

For those that aren't familiar with my situation, you could summarize it as:

- Hoping to teach for 6 months in 2011
- Doing so primarily as a means to further Mandarin skills (following college courses, travel around China, and so on)
- Aware that teaching jobs for 6 months are hard to come by

I've barely started my search for contracts yet - indeed most aren't advertising them for 2nd half 2011 at this stage. However, I'm trying to thrash out all my options and work out contingency plans in the (fairly likely) event that teaching falls through.

At the moment, I do flexible work for an Internet company, which I can increase or decrease depending on my other commitments. This work enables me to be mobile, and, while I don't have permission yet, I'm almost certain I'd be given the OK should I choose to relocate to China for 6 months (they've allowed me to do 10-hour weeks for a few extra $$ while travelling China before).

My plan would be to:
- Get out to China and enrol in a Mandarin course
- Get a student visa to do this
- Rent an apartment with Internet access
- Do the Mandarin classes in the mornings, then perhaps 4 hours working at this job each day
- Spend the rest of my time out and about

Is this feasible, or vaguely legal? I'm not sure if I'd need to be applying for a work visa to do this, but even if I wanted to I wouldn't be able to get one: this company is not Chinese.

My hope is that the authorities would overlook things like this, so it could present a viable backup if I don't manage to get a teaching job. Does this make any sense or am I barking up the wrong tree here?

[LanGuTou]

You can do it this way:

As this internet company is not Chinese, you are not technically employed or working in China. Have the proceeds from that job paid into a personal account in your own country and then transfer what you need to a personal account in China. It would be very hard to trace as anything else but your own money being sent across here to fund your study and living costs. You would lose a bit on transfer costs but it seems a very low risk strategy.

Then just do the work from your computer terminal in China. I can virtually guarantee that there are many overseas IT professionals doing just this on a day to day basis in China. For example, web designers who are doing the work in China but being paid at some off-shore location.

As for the teaching, don't give up so easily. I have recently seen advertisements for four and six month teaching contracts. They do exist, just look a little more carefully. If you hang around until about February or March next year, you will find urgent vacancies for one semester placements at universities or public schools. There are always non-show FT's around that time.

[Bramlow]

Thanks LanGuTou, that was really helpful.

So by the sounds of it I could do this even on a tourist visa? I'll probably get the student one to study in any case, but I'm just throwing ideas around here.

Also, I wasn't planning to get a Chinese bank account at all. My own bank account allows free cash withdrawals worldwide, and would, I think, have branches in China. (It's HSBC...they're everywhere). I can also manage most of my finances with it online or via phone.

Not giving up on teaching just yet, but I'm trying to have contingencies in place if things don't work out!

[Zero]

[johntpartee]

You're not working for a Chinese company. You're not doing anything wrong.

[struelle]

This is actually a brilliant strategy and I'm learning lots of new things by reading this!

You'll need a work visa for a teaching job, but for this study route you could theoretically do it on an extended L or F visa -- if the X visa should prove too much of a hassle. Something to look into. I know they used to offer 6 month multiple entry L or F visas, and they changed the policy due to Beijing Olympics. They might have relaxed the rules since, but the EXPO could be making things difficult again. At any rate, look into it.

Best to go for a visa which is the most hassle-free to obtain and covers the time period you need. It would be a good idea to register at the local PSB office in case you need to extend that visa. The local PSB provides a slip of paper which you then take to the entry-exit bureau for any visa-related matters. The main thing is they want to know where you are staying.

As for banking, it's much easier to get currency into RMB from overseas than the other way around. In fact, most larger cities will accept overseas bank cards at most of the ATMs. If that doesn't work, you can always use an overseas credit card with a PIN number and do cash advances with your passport -- or try that in an ATM.

For housing, you'd need to pre-negotiate the terms of the contract ahead of time. Most agents want a year upfront, but this isn't set in stone. If you go in with a clear idea of how long you stay there and pay up the damage deposit, there shouldn't be a problem. The landlords tend to prefer year-long contracts as they don't want the house to remain empty for very long, so you may need to negotiate a bit on this, but it should work out.

One word of warning, however, don't sign a one-year contract and expect to bail out early with your deposit back. Where I worked last year, many teachers started rent in Sept and wanted out in June. But they couldn't get their cash deposit back, as the landlords said the contract wasn't up for another two months (after summer)

[Bramlow]

Thanks for your thoughts and advice, struelle. To be honest with you I'm becoming ever more tempted to go for this strategy instead of teaching. The housing issue aside, it does seem to avoid the hassles and issues with teaching - the area sems like a bit of a minefield right now. In addition, it may actually offer me more opportunities to develop my language skills.

Money-wise it would almost certainly be better. I'd be earning approx. $2500/month, which should leave me a fair amount even after accommodation and so on.

I'll have to think about this for a bit longer!

[Miles Smiles]

[Bramlow]

[struelle]

[Bramlow]

[aaronolafson28]

Bramlow, after reading your situation with the housing deposit requirement, I thought I would share with you a website that I found on another posting regarding short-term housing needs. Have you heard of www.tourboarding.com? It is a site for people who intend to visit China, whether for vacation, work, school, etc, I see it as an alternative to paying out unecessary large deposit $$ and longterm committments for rent. As I am about to graduate in Fall 2010, I am heading to China to search for a hotel graduate trainee program. I think I will use this service and connect with some of these hosts for networking and friendship opportunities.

Good luck,

Aaron

[Bramlow]

Hi Aaron, this looks really interesting. Thanks a lot for the link.