Job Discussion Forums

[Qaaolchoura]

I've been trying to find a job in Turkey, and have really been considering any country that pays half decently except China and Korea. I'm still avoiding Korea (too many horror stories), but I've heard good things about working in China. Plus as I understand it, it's pretty easy to get a job in China.

I've had three objections to living in China, and I'm wondering how much I should worry.

1. I've heard some schools are awful, and it can be hard to tell from abroad. Applying from abroad, with basically minimal qualifications (which I hear Chinese employers don't even care about), what are the chances I get a decent job? What are the chances I get stuck with an awful one?

2. How long does it take to get a work visa, and how many employers go through the trouble? I heard from a friend who worked in China illegally that most Americans work on expired tourist visas or student visas because the schools can't be bothered to get work visas. This friend had a co-worker thrown in jail over visa issues. He got out, but still...

3. China censors the entire internet. I've had several people, none of whom have been to China, tell me that there are ways to get around it. These people generally have experience circumventing the sort of firewalls their employers use, which is pretty damn easy. Can the Great Firewall of China actually be circumvented?

Thanks,
~Q

[DixieCat]

[SahanRiddhi]

[Qaaolchoura]

[vikeologist]

With regard to the OP's 3 objections
1. I suspect that there are bad schools in just about every country. Make sure that you do your research, think through what questions you want to ask employers (and and what you would expect them to ask you) and ensure that you have quite a bit of money before you come, so that you have some elbow room if it goes bad. Why not search for schools with good reviews and apply to them first?

2. generally speaking it seems that employers want a degree, and some kind of teaching qualification, though most Chinese government offices wouldn't be able to tell the difference between Cambridge University and Kellogg's. Many parts of China insist on this. The good ones will also want you to have the ability to teach. Being good looking is also a good qualification. Although I'm sure that you will be able to get a job with only a US passport and a lack of any obvious gross physical deformities, you may find the odds stacked against you in finding a good job.

3. As to the Internet being censored; yes, some social networking sites and video sites are, eg facebook and Youtube. News sites aren't censored, although it is possible that they are blocked for a short time if the Chinese government is really unhappy with what they say. You can still use foreign search engines. There is censorship, but I've never felt it necessary to use a VPN. I use a proxy to access some foreign blog sites which are blocked. The key thing is that uncensored internet access is not a right here.

One final point; China is a very different country. Some love it, some hate it, but why not come? Probably the worst that can happen (as long as you don't manage to get yourself arrested here) is that you will end up a couple of thousand dollars worse off, and odds are you'll be able to save a reasonable amount of money in your time here, but if you don't have that couple of thousand dollars to spare at the moment, then proceed with caution.

[SahanRiddhi]

[DixieCat]

[Qaaolchoura]

Lamentations, what exactly was the purpose of your post?

Any rate, thanks to those of you who tried to be helpful. I'd still welcome more responses.

My reasons for initially avoiding China exactly the things I am asking about. I heard it's a great place to work, and unlike Korea, I don't personally know anyone who worked in China who had a bad experience, (though admittedly, most of the people I know who worked in China aren't teachers). I've been to China, I liked it there but it's obviously a very different place to live than to visit. I was looking at working in China as recently as May, but as I researched it, I heard horror stories on here about bad companies and visa difficulties

And my biggest concern was always the firewall. The friend who worked there illegally was there over the Beijing Olympics. He claimed that most English-language sites were uncensored but I've heard that China loosened restrictions for the benefit of foreigners during the Olympics, and has since considerably tightened them. I have a Chinese friend who told me that even English-language sites were still censored, but then she mentioned YouTube (incidentally, she communicates with her friends back in China via Facebook, so I suspect it's not censored), and so far as I know, she mostly visits Chinese sites. I don't know any foreigner who has been in China since the Olympics.

Again, thanks to most of you,
~Q

[DixieCat]