Job Discussion Forums

[hoshi]

I've been looking around on the forums here for a few weeks trying to figure out which country I should focus on in my job search. It seems like my best choices are either here or that other country that requires a separate registration.

There are some things that I think I'd really like about China:
1) Better chance of teaching adults/university
2) I'd like to learn Mandarin and Chinese martial arts

The things I think I would like about the other country:
1) Better air quality
2) More money

Since it's obvious that China isn't at the top of the pay scale for FTs, I was just curious how you guys decided to live here. Thanks in advance!

[johntpartee]

The "pay scale" argument is misleading; purchasing POWER is the key. Cost of living (away from the tourist destinations) is way low.

[JamesD]

[Zero]

[johntpartee]

[daCabbie]

How did you decide on China?

I came here and visited on a tourist visa. Then I went home and decided I wanted to go back.

In the end its better than Albania (another place I taught).

Air quality, purchase power, salary, fringe benifits, work hours, local headaches, etc... are all relative. China is a BIG place if you don't like one city find another. I have been here 4+ years and I am still finding places I like and don't like.

You can find places as desolate as N. Korea or as populated as Singapore all within the borders of China. It really has something for almost everyone. China is not a monoculture/society.

[clownshow]

I will be arriving in January as part of a new program developed by my employing university so I can avoid full retirement. Government cuts of up to 70% next year may well encourage more professionals to seek employment in overseas markets as well as Universities seeking to expand on foreign markets due to visa restrictions in their home countries and reduced budget considerations.

[bradley]

I decided on mainland China after teaching in Japan for about four years, Taiwan for one, and Thailand for one. There's less discrimination against older teachers here, and by older I mean even over 30 in Japan. I enjoyed teaching in Thailand but as a previous post mentioned the purchasing power here is good, even in an expensive city like Shenzhen. And perhaps I was just lucky. I got a good uni gig right off the bat.

[JamesD]

Just to keep it on topic from the OP.

Was teaching in Korea, came over with a friend for CNY and stayed with her family in a tiny tiny tiny TINY Korean village up north, had the best night's sleep of my life on a kang and said the heck with SK. One week vacation turned into a major relocation.

(Did I mention this village was tiny? Only internal combustion engine in town was a shared 3-wheeler.)

[The Great Wall of Whiner]

[The Great Wall of Whiner]

[west2east]

I earn around 1/3 as much as I did back home. I enjoy a far higher standard of living. Back home I could eat out two or three times a month. Here it's two or three times a week.

Cost of living here is waaaaaay cheaper than back home. Teachers I know that have worked in S Korea say that whilst nothing is as clean, shiny or functional as in SK, the standard of living for ESL teachers is close.

[nickpellatt]

I had been doing some volunteer community work in Africa, which included helping out in a charity school. I didnt really want my adventure to end, so did a very quick google search on volunteer teaching in China, and booked a 3 month trip after about 3 minutes of research.

That was to a small town/city in Hainan. I was enjoying it there so much I secured a paid position there before my volunteer stint ended. That turned into an 18 month job in a public college teaching students aged between 16 - 22.

I then spent 18 months at home topping up my qualifications, and returned to China in December last year for another 6 month stint, this time in a private language college teaching adults.

Back home in the UK again now studying Chinese language with the Open University and planning on a return to China at the back end of next summer.

I enjoy China because of so many things ... the low working hours, generally undemanding and friendly students, low cost of living vs salary, dating scene, the randomness of daily life, an interest in the language etc.

Ill just make a point about the low cost of living Vs salary. Im not just an English teacher in China ... Im one in the UK too. Jobs in the UK normally start at around 100 RMB per hour, and dont include any other benefits like housing/travel allowance etc. Even the lower paid jobs in China offer a far better standard of living when compared to many EFL jobs back in the UK, with much harder and more demanding workloads and where living costs are much much higher.

[Guerciotti]

Hell, how did I get here?
I WAS going to South Korea. China was second on my list. After finally securing a position in S. Korea, I was told that my FBI CRC was too old. I'm from Arizona, I must get the FBI CRC. The recruiter told me 'no problem, get it from your state in no time.' I said 'No, I'm from AZ, I must go through the FBI and wait 3 months.' AZ does not issue a CRC for any visa purposes.
Soon thereafter, my brother said a friend of his is teaching English in China and loves it.
I got fingerprints (again, third time) and sent them to the FBI again. Meanwhile I checked out China.
I landed in China about five weeks later. My fresh new CRC arrived about 5 weeks after that. Same CRC, ie nothing on it.
I was sick of waiting. Finding a position in S. Korea was frustrating.
Apparently I'm too old, and I'm the wrong gender for S. Korea, so here I am.
That's my story and I'm sticking too it.

[hoshi]

Wow! Thanks for all the great replies!

Yes, I definitely have to agree that the lower hours sounds appealing. I could probably find an internship that leads to a job where I have almost no time or energy for anything else here in the US, but that's not really what I'm looking for out of life.