Job Discussion Forums

[zoeroller]

Hi,
I'm a TEFL certified teacher looking for a job in China, hopefully in a cool city. I don't have real classroom teaching experience, and I want to find a 6 month contract. I was offered a position with a school that has some pretty bad reviews on this site, but the location is not bad. I've looked up a lot of the schools that accept teachers without much experience for less than a year, and most of them have bad reviews too.

My question is: can I expect anything better considering my experience and time restrictions? It looks like all the great jobs want people with 1-2 years teaching experience. Do all teachers have to make it through a contract at a lower quality school when they're starting out? And finally, do you think spending a semester at a school like that is worth it? Can you still enjoy China if your job is less than ideal? I really want to live in China, but I don't know if I should take this job or not. I'm afraid if I hold out for something better, I'll get stuck without a job at all.

Any advice is greatly appreciated. Thank you!

[The Great Wall of Whiner]

Better than what?

We can't compare if we don't really know what you were offered, or where.

[thessy]

I would take a gander that the extreme majority of teachers who come here do not have two years of formal classroom teaching experience. I'll also admit that my first position was at a decent uni and I came in without any formal teaching experience at all. Look at the adverts closely as some ask for two years of work experience rather than two years of teaching experience. Also think long and hard about your past experiences. Did your job duties ever include training new employees? Did you ever do any tutoring while in school? Have you taught your mother's Pomeranian how to sit and roll over? Do you chat with any non-native English speakers online and give them a hand with their English once in a blue moon? This is all teaching experience. Use whatever you have at your disposal.

The requirements posted in the ads are often what the schools want and not what they will actually get. While exceptions exist, actual classroom teachers with multiple years of experience rarely get the sudden urge to journey to China to teach EFL at 10-25% of the pay they made in their home countries. Usually the only folks in China who actually have 2+ years of formal classroom teaching experience are the people who have been in China 2+ years doing it.

[west2east]

I would suggest you apply to all the schools that appeal to you. Take a balanced view on schools with apparent bad reviews. Often the review is a result of a teacher with an issue and not the school. Best bet is to try to contact teachers at the school (any school worth its salt will arrange this for you between job offer and you accepting it).

I would urge you to consider teaching for a minimum of one year. Living in China takes many months to fully adjust to and in my experience, teachers tend not to flourish until after the first semester. If this is a once in a life time experience you are seeking, make it really worth it.

Good luck.

[Mister Al]

The problem that inexperienced teachers face here is that it is the official policy/rule that to get a Foreign Expert Certificate (required for legal employment) you need to be educated to at least degree level and have at least two years relevant working experience for the job you are applying for or offered. Clearly some provinces aren't as strict when enforcing the rule and usually that will mean the employer has a 'relationship' with whoever is responsible for granting the FECs. But the official policy definitely limits the options for people in the OP's position.

[choudoufu]

howdy, i've just started this year. zero classroom teaching experience.
have tutored chinese students during my chinese study time, did some
training of field engineers in a past life. got me an online tefl certificate.

i had a number of job offers, despite lack of experience. chose the
school with the best location/climate/hours/conditions to make my
first job enjoyable. pay here in yunnan is about half what i was offered
at one of the top-100 schools in a less-desirable (for me, at least) area.

experience won't be your limiting factor, except in those provinces that
actually require two years experience. even then, some schools have
the contacts to get you accepted.

my advice is to pass on the school with poor reviews - unless you can
speak with a current teacher who can confirm that the situation has
changed for the better. if your job sucks, your life here will suck.

"I was offered a position with a school that has some pretty bad
reviews on this site, but the location is not bad."

alcatraz has a lovely view....

[Niederbom]

A lot of smallish universities will hire inexperienced teachers with a TEFL certificate. A lot of places in Dalian were willing to hire me, and Dalian's a lovely city. Your best bet might be Kunming or somewhere else in Yunnan province. I think the uni hiring requirements are even more relaxed there than elsewhere. I have at least two friends who got uni jobs there without even a degree, and one was from the Netherlands (not a native speaker).


If you're still in your country, you have even more options, since most of them can only process your visa when while you're still in your country of residence.

I would highly recommend against working for a language mill unless you are able to actually visit the place prior to signing the contract, as I did for my first job. Even if you are allowed to speak with an FT, there's no guarantee that the conversation is authentic, especially when it's done via email. Most of those places suck ass, and there's no reason in their right mind would work there if they knew the real situation. Shared apartments? Curfews? 30 hours per week for peanuts? Last minute schedule changes and no holidays? Common! You should enjoy life while you're here. This isn't the Army Infantry.

TIP: Many of the schools that say they require experience really don't. Apply anyway.

[MisterButtkins]