Job Discussion Forums

[ebparsa]

Hello all,

I just wanted to run something with you guys and see what you think of the recruiter I am dealing with.

First of all, let me tell you about myself:
I am a Canadian citizen with two years of teaching experience and I have been teaching for the past year in Thailand. I believe I now have enough experience under my belt to move to China.
I also hold a TEFL certificate obtained last year in Thailand.

Here is the tricky part though: I hold a Master's degree in Applied Linguistics. Basically I am a Translator / Interpreter. I went to a university in Brussels, Belgium.
I forwarded my documents to a recruiter in China. After consulting (at least she pretended she did) with her colleague, she came back claiming that my degree is going to be a problem, as I have not studied in an English-speaking country in spite of being a native speaker.
As such, they won't be able to secure me a work visa for either a university or a school. She did mention though that she can still place me in a language school and get me my expected salary.

Is she telling me the truth about the work visa or she trying to push me to work for language schools that are less attractive to teachers?

Your thoughts are greatly appreciated?

[nomad soul]

[ebparsa]

Both in Belgium

[The bear]

[ebparsa]

Exactly and for the same reason, I don't trust her. I am scoping the market right now but also hoping someone here has been in a similar situation or knows someone who has been.

[currentaffairs]

I don't know the Chinese scene but some universities do ask for degrees from anglophone countries. You might need to just keep trying and you will get in somewhere.

[jimpellow]

95% of Chinese schools want a little white face they can prop up in front of the students and wear a Santa Claus costume come Christmas. I highly doubt that this has anything to do with the type of employer. This requirement is at a governmental level, and from what I have read, you are likely screwed.

Even if you were accepted, getting the required chops becomes a nightmare if the degree is from outside of your own country. Further, there was a poster sometime back, on here or another board, who got rejected for obtaining his degree outside of his home country as they still considered it fake even after the chops - lol.

"As such, they won't be able to secure me a work visa for either a university or a school. She did mention though that she can still place me in a language school and get me my expected salary. "
-I am thinking that this path is not offering a work visa.

Best of luck. Like I always say, there is an entire world of ESL opportunities out there awaiting you. Don't get so caught up in the challenge of getting to China that you forget this.

[happeningthang]

We encounter this all the time - and what the recruiter says is true. If your degree is not from a native English speaking nation - then it is not recognised by the Foreign Experts office and you can't get a working visa.

Really - the qualification is supposed to be the same for training centres and language schools - but they are tougher on schools proper and unis.

Technically you shouldn't be able to get a work visa for a language school either - but there is always a work around and plenty of people seem to do so without the native speaking degree.

[ebparsa]

"We encounter this all the time"
Who is we? Do you work for a recruiting agency by any chance?

[OhBudPowellWhereArtThou]

[happeningthang]

There are lots of Russians, Ukranians, Pakistanis, Mexicans around recently filling the gap that the recent spate of regulations has created, but most don't have the Foreign Experts Certificate or resident permit.

I've met a lot of these non-native speakers who are working merrily in training centres on travel, business or student visas - as well as native speakers who don't have degrees, but are not having any trouble getting work.

All good and well for them - but it's not as secure an existence as some might prefer. Immigration can come by anytime and you're on the way home and typically your work options are subpar. The native speakers without degrees seem to be less prone to this than non-native speakers - but my guess is that these practices are being 'overlooked' by authorities since employers just can't find native speakers able to qualify for the FEC like they used to.

One potential loophole I heard of was that some non native speakers could qualify for a FEC , but as experts in teaching their own (not English) language. Haven't heard of anyone actually doing that though. It's currently a lot easier to just rock up and join a WeChat group.

[happeningthang]

Also, some provinces are a lot looser with the requirements for 'qualified' ESL English Teachers than others. From what I'm told - the less prosperous a province or town the less stringent are the hiring practices.

If the rules and criteria for English Teachers were strictly applied in every circumstance - then the industry would collapse into even grosser inequity with only the richest provinces and biggest cities having native speakers.

[The bear]