Job Discussion Forums

[Grinjin]

[LarssonCrew]

There are many people I know who finish at the end of June and start at the end of August, so they have two months paid over the summer, and also get 6 weeks for winter. Several of those days will be the 3 day mini holidays, so are almost useless. You'll get a week at Golden week, two or three days at new years, May holiday, Dragon boat, etc.

[yurii]

[Non Sequitur]

[MsHoffman]

I am also very geographically limited, and like you I ran out of places quickly. I flipped on my VPN and did a google search on the province name + type of school. Found a bunch of schools, hunted for their HR email addresses (used google translate a fair amount), and then contacted them directly.

Interestingly, the one school with a nice English web site and *no* email address was my top choice. Since I had no way to contact them, I asked a recruiter to do it for me. She had no trouble doing this.

So don't rely on job ads alone - find the schools and then ask them about jobs. Right now is peak season! Almost all schools are hiring. So keep trying, and yes like everyone else, hard pass on the preschool, unless you really really really adore preschool age children. Because that (or LOTS of RMB), would be the only reason to sign this contract.

Also, when you contact schools directly, keep your English extremely simple. Limit yourself to the Present Simple and Present Progressive tenses. Use very very basic vocabulary. And keep emails as short as possible.

Last thing: If you find a school you like, tell them you heard about the school while outside China. It's *kind of* true but more importantly they will flip over the fact that someone outside of China knows about them.

Good luck!

[Non Sequitur]

And keep emails as short as possible.

..and sentences
Other start points for geographically-focused teachers is the Wikipedia entry for the city of interest.
On the side bar there will likely be an 'Education' tab. This should bring up the principal tertiaries in town. Some will have a web page link, but it is likely that you'll have to Google for that.
Once you have a website look for 'international' or similar pages and if you are lucky there will be an email address.
I concur that this is the hiring season.

[Grinjin]

Thanks, those are some good tips, especially asking a recruiter to contact a specific school for you and keeping emails short and simple.

I didn't rely on ads, and I tried to avoid recruiters. It was a lot of work searching, but I contacted all the schools I could directly.

I sent full cover letters, which may have been a mistake; but I wrote them so that someone could get the most important information from the first short paragraph and then just look at my resume if they were interested. Hopefully the length didn't turn people away...

I don't think I have any illusions about what type of school this is. Yes, it's an "international" school with a pinch of salt. But for the experience, I figure even that is better than just another language school. Could be a good first step towards certification and working in higher tier international schools.

The pay is much more than a university but much less than a top tier international school. In the end, they made every change I requested to the contract, so it seems like a decent opportunity without too much risk.

[Non Sequitur]

Good luck.
Of course replying to an ad means the school is in hiring mode.
Cold calling is second best but worth doing as it ups your activity rate.
As a former recruiter, I know that the best thing a job seeker can do is keep applying.
My Mantra - A B A = Always Be Applying.

[MsHoffman]

By the way, before I contacted any schools or sent out my resume, I did a lot of searches on this forum for threads containing useful advice about resumes and cover letters. Completely changed my resume (no lies, just re-written for my new Chinese audience), and changed the way I wrote cover letters. Now they are just short emails. Even if the advertisement asks for a "cover letter", I send a short email. Works fine every time.

The advice I read on here worked great (do a search on the word "resume" for the China forum), and I really believe it's why I get so many job offers and positive responses. Yay Dave's ESL Cafe!

Honestly, I think a long cover letter is a big mistake.

The one thing I get asked constantly by employers (university teaching), is do I have the skills to teach low-level students? I say yes, of course I do, but my resume and short emails (I haven't used formal cover letters and I've never been asked for one), are what employers usually reference as "proof" that I know how to talk to a low-level student.

I also alter my English a lot when I communicate with schools. Often they can monologue in decent English for days on end but they can't understand what I'm staying if I speak in my normal vocabulary and speech patterns.

If I were you I would read all the great advice on here, and try re-applying to schools that did not respond to you. No cover letter, just a short email with your resume and recent photo attached. The photo is essential, even if they don't ask for it.

They won't toss out your resume just because you sent it before, especially if you've changed it. If you're really paranoid about this send it from a different email address, get a QQ Mail one if you can, you will need it in China anyway.

Also don't avoid recruiters! They are helpful and necessary for many teaching jobs. You just have to remember that they can be a little time consuming sometimes. Of course Always Be Applying, in every way possible.

If you do take the contract - my preschool teacher friends seem to be always working but they just love kids. And that's so important, because if the parents think that you don't think their kids are awesome, your preschool teaching career will suck. Most of the successful preschool teachers here have excellent relationships with the parents.

Okay, that's all I know... good luck

[Kalkstein]

[LarssonCrew]

Do you mean they don't hire them without a lot of teaching post qualification?

[Kalkstein]

[OhBudPowellWhereArtThou]

[quote="Kalkstein"]

[Elicit]

BrE versus AmE.

I take him to mean primary / elementary and secondary / high rather than higher education.

[Non Sequitur]

I will be teaching at a *real* international school in the fall (the second in ten years) with no certification, just a BA an MA and an MFA and fifteen years experience in the class room. In the U.S, there are no certifications for university and college instructors.

Yeah, but you're the Bud.