Job Discussion Forums

[The_Big_White_Elephant]

Hi everyone,

I know this topic has probably been brought up before, but I was just wondering how strict is the requirement that you have two-years teaching experience before coming to China? Just looking at the job ads on Dave's, it seems the majority of them require two-years experience. I have also heard that two-years experience is legally required to get a work visa. Is this true? How do people get around this requirement?

I thought recent college graduates were one of the main demographics moving to China, surely most of them don't have two-years work experience. Can someone explain this?

I thought a bachelor's in any subject and a TEFL certificate were all that was needed to land a decent job.

Thanks!

[Toast]

[Bud Powell]

Toast nailed it.

[NoBillyNO]

[jimpellow]

"These days my province (Jiangsu) only accepts TEFL courses issued by some Chinese government authority."

I worked in Jiangsu for 5 years, but I know it is quite strict now. Can you elaborate on this? Does this mean that other internationally accredited and recognized TEFL courses are not recognized? If so what does the teacher do? Attend some crap course taught by Chinese with half the tuition fee going to the people who thought this up?

PS. Amazing how many of these FAO's fail to keep up with the changing regulations, and how often it is the teacher who pays the price for it. Kind warning to China newbies reading this. Don't just trust the school for knowing the current situation. Do your research to try to protect yourself best.

[The_Big_White_Elephant]

Thanks for the replies everyone!

So when they say "teaching experience", are they generally referring to employment, or does volunteering work too? Would, for example, serving in Peace Corps as an English teacher for two years satisfy this requirement?

[likwid_777]

From what I can tell, just try in some spots away from Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou (and similar "big smoke" Eastern cities). Once you get the Z Visa, after someone pulls some strings there, you would be fine. This is of course not iron clad, but indeed, once you have a Z Visa, it would be hard to disprove that you had the "proper" experience. Just apply, apply, apply, what do you have to lose by doing that?
BUT: Don't, under any circumstances teach on anything other than a Z-Visa. Tis my two cents.

[NoBillyNO]

[fat_chris]

[The_Big_White_Elephant]

Thanks for the replies everyone!

[thebroformerlyknownaschou]

[The_Big_White_Elephant]

Thanks thebroformerlyknownaschou, that was informative.

I have another question though. In your guys' experience, when a specific job ad says theyrequire two years teaching experience, how adamant are they about this rule? Is it common for schools to waive this requirement, even though their job ad says its required?How much importance should I place on the supposed minimum qualifications listed on specific job ads? I know schools will differ, but I mean in more general terms.

[Bud Powell]

They mean it, unless, of course, the school is desperate. If the school is desperate, you won't want to work there. The school is desperate for a reason.

I worked for one desperate state school. I didn't know that it was desperate. The recruiter put me in touch with the school, I was duped by the FTs who wanted another Ft and thus, fewer hours, and I showed up. The school and the administration itself was quite good. The FAO was something a conniving mother dog.

My two colleagues were worse. One represented herself as a PhD in European-Sino Relations. (!). The other guy couldn't decide what his specialty was. He went from being a self-professed degreed accountant to an English major. he was also a psychopath who managed to strong-arm students into bed. Tiny dancer had proclivities for lithe young Chinese beauties.

It turned out that Ms. Ph.D had some sort of community college-type degree in dance from Germany and was not a native English speaker.

Mr. English Teacher's education was never determined. When he got the boot, he kept talking about his need for another copy of transcripts. Form your own conclusion.

Why was the school desperate? The housing was absolute *beep*. There were no mattresses on the beds, and the refrigerators smelled like they might have been holding coolers for decomposed bodies. There was no way to cook one's food, and the cafeteria manager eventually made it clear that he wanted no roundeyes in his cafeteria. The nearest restaurant was a thirty minute walk away.

The computers were screwed up, and the IT department broke into FT's computers regularly. The computer labs (which we were required to use) were broken most of the time.

Had I done my homework, I'd have found out that the housing was absolute cr@p.

When i went through two of the FT's computers, I found past FT's resumes. One guy had a month of community college in the States, and another was an English-speaking Mufti from Egypt.

You don't want to work for a desperate institution.

There's another reason: your students may be better versed in the English language than you are and may be better educated than you are. I've seen the outcome of such situations. It wasn't pretty. One moron came in on a fake degree, but he was found out pretty fast. The other one was supposedly an unemployed lawyer from Australia. She sang songs in class because she had no idea of what to do. If she ever attended college, she gained no sense of classroom, and no idea of how to teach.

If you don't have the minimum requirements to teach in China, stay home. Really.

China is not the Land of Milk and Honey, and the Chinese aren't stupid. You'll be found out in a heartbeat.

I may have offended those those who have certificates instead of degrees. It is not intentional. You folks have what it takes to work in language schools. Your knowledge of how the language works probably exceeds that of the average English major. It's true.

In a Chinese university, however, one is expected to go beyond the mechanics of the language. One cannot fake either.

If you're desperate for a job, stay away from China. Please. Do 1.3 billion people a favor and stay home.

[thebroformerlyknownaschou]

[NoBillyNO]