Job Discussion Forums

[dialectic]

hi completely broke due to my huge student loans and maxed credit cards


BA psyc --crim diploma--1.5 years experience volunteering with kids 10-18

How much should i save to come to china--guess ill take two jobs at Mcdonalds?

what are some nicer , quiter areas to work that pay ok ?


What tesl is recognized in asia ?---im drop dead broke from my lloans and lack of income?

Im half chinese will they take me?

do they pay for roundtrip tickets ? is it a scamm or whats the deal ? any tips ?

[sojourner]

Dialectic,

Generally speaking, the air ticket business is not a scam. In my current job, a few days after I started, I was given 4000 RMB, and will be given another 4000 just before my (10 month) contract expires. In my previous job, I was refunded the exact amount of the cost of getting to China - that, also, was done within a few days of my arriving at the college. However, that college changed the procedures a couple of months after I arrived - because a particular teacher did "a runner" a few days after he had r'd his airfare money, the college then decided that no reimbursement for the forward journey would be made until one had worked for a complete term. Thus, each school or college has its own policy. I suppose that if you can't afford to get to China, the institution may pay for your ticket before leaving home, if you ask. (I think that for many Sth Korean hagwan jobs, one is provided with the actual ticket before leaving home, rather than being reimbursed upon arrival).

You mentioned that you are "dead broke". Working in China will not make you wealthy ! With a Bachelor's degree, the MOST that a first year teacher at a college would earn would be between 4 and 4.5 K RMB, for 16 hours pw. Of course, you could always do some private tuturing, for about 100 per hour. I consider that working at a college or uni is much better than being at a private language school (refer to some of my previous postings on the matter). However, some language schools may pay you in excess of 5 k per month - but you'd probably have to work for around 20 hours pw, with split shifts. If you are "dead broke", wouldn't it be easier to remain back in your home country and get a 2nd job in order to pay off your debts, before coming here ?

How much cash to bring with you ? There is currently a thread on this very subject ! Whenever I travel o'seas, I ensure that there is between $15-20 K in my a/c, that I can access via Cirrus. With the promise of a job, you should have at least $1k, as it could be a month before you receive your first salary payment. Also, you would need some cash for emergencies.

It's possible to get a job in China without a TESOL certificate. Many private language schools provide new teachers with some training; but a lot of what you'll learn would only be applicable for the chain that you are working for. A possible exception would be the training provided by the Bolland School - I have heard that it is quite comprehensive, where you'll learn many skills that would be applicable to other teaching situations.

If you get a job in a college or uni, little training, if any, will be provided. However, some of your colleagues will probably give you a few hints. It's a good idea to do some relevant reading before coming over, eg books by Jeremy Harmer and Jim Scrivenor. Ideally, you should undergo some suitable training (eg CELTA or Trinity), but this mightn't be possible, in your case. Anyway, come on over - you'll survive !

BTW, did you see my response to your posting, at the General Asia Forum ?

Peter

[dajiang]

you could try Japan or something too.
That would be better money-wise I reckon.

If you've got no idea about China I wouldn't recommend coming here for teaching. First hop over, travel around a bit, see what you're up against, and decide for yourself what 'a nice, quiet area to work' is.

[tradinup]

I would not recommend doing two McJobs for a year or two to pay off loans before you travel. That is two years of your life wasted. Your skills as a graduate are needed in a professional capacity such as teaching.

Student loans are normal but if you have significant credit card debt, you could claim bankruptcy before you leave to rid yourself of the CC debt. If you really have nothing it is an option. Your credit will suck for 7 years, after which it is completely forgotten and erased from your credit files. Regarding the student loans, you should be able to talk with them about not paying it until you actually find a job. They are surprisingly flexible.

You could make enough in Japan to support yourself there and send home enough to make the loan payment. In China I think it might be possible too! Depends on the employer. Get a job offer and everything in place before you leave, beg your parents for a plane ticket (or save it), and do it!

[dialectic]

boy im in a tough situation

psych grad with 30 owing 5 years after graduating

no experience in my field and im losing interest due to low wages and a few other things --

zero savings

been out of work for a year without any savings or income

My choices are to work mcdonalds for the next 5 years then go bankrupt and hope they discharge my loans(very unlikely that the courts would ever discharge a single person)

Also, I cant go back to school since student loans wont give me a loan to do other course that would get me work

My other option is to save enough to leave and teach- problem is im half chinese and poor, with no teaching experience.

I would like to have a pro job, that could lead to a career and teaching english is way better than mcdonalds

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--dont let your friends take psychology

[tradinup]

I don't think you've really done much research into or else you would know it's not that hard to find work, especially where the demand is so great like China. Some employers might discriminate against you, but others won't. The main thing they want is a native english speaker.

Why would you even consider working at somewhere awful for 5 years of your life, it's like, sadistic. You have unsecured debt, which means they can't really do anything to you to get it. Do you think you're going to go to jail or something if you don't pay? Work the job you want to, in the country you want to, and pay back whatever you can each month.

Lastly, what is with the excuses about your major? You're already more educated than most ESL teachers. The "poor me" attitude won't get you anywhere.

[dialectic]

sound advice

and your right do the things you love to do now !

i got a pardon for a criminal record in 2003(my record is clear )

I hope this wont be prob ?

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Just checked airfare one way from seattle is 695 to shanghai

all i got to do is work a couple of months

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thanks for the info guys really appreciate it

[tradinup]

Good luck. While working you should try to get a job offer from where you are, you can certainly be hired sight unseen.

[dialectic]

thanks again

Ill have to read alot more and do alot of research so i dont run into probs over there

[Roger]

You are the exact study case to corroborate my point in a thread on the GENERAL DISCUSSION FORUM on "2500 dollars..."

My opinion is that people going to work abroad should have a totally clean slate!

I don't know if getting credit card debts deleted and being declared a bankruptcy case is the norm over there; to me this stinks. I would not offer a job to someone with such a record!

[deezy]

Oh dear Roger, you wouldn't give me a job then! I and my husband owe heaps to credit cards, both in Australia and England, due to a couple of disasters! (both got very sick, couldn't work, etc).

Gradually paying them off. My husband's been bankrupt once, and it's not fun...(due to three years of medical expenses for his first wife who died). If you are bankrupt you cannot leave the country (well, not Australia, anyway), you cannot have a car worth more than $3000, and for the whole of his bankruptcy he relied on my support. He's now successfully working but it was a traumatic time.

Aren't you being a tad judgemental?

[tradinup]

Some employers care about your credit history and others do not.

My personal opinion is that it should not be relevant. You could have problems like deezy mentioned, or you could be a poor money manager, but I do not see why someone with a bad credit record could not meet or exceed their job expectations. It is not like the OP is looking to be a mutual fund manager -- he wants to teach english.

[kev7161]

If I were an employer (in China or anywhere else) and I read these postings by dialectic, I would be very hesitant about giving him a job. Just from reading what he has to say gives me pause.

A Psych graduate 5 years ago and he is in major debt? I'm not saying that having a degree insures a fine paying job somewhere, but it seems to me that maybe he has squandered the last 5 years of his life, perhaps going from job to job, spending money as fast as he earned it.

An expunged criminal record? Hmmmm, okay. Still raises my hackles though.

[justcolleen]

Woah. Hold on.

A bankruptcy will stay on your credit record for 10 years.

If you're earning $750US per month in China, the fine folks who wield the power over your student loans will work something out.

Have you considered South Korea?

Colleen

[dialectic]

"Just reading this tells me he has a certain lack of direction"

How can i have a direction: i had a criminal record and wasnt allowed to become a probation officer
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want to know why im going over

simple but long:

I went to school 94-99 but had a criminal record till 2003 and couldnt find work

i Applied for a pardon in 2001 and got it in sept 2003

but during 94-2004 i couldnt even get a job, volunteer, get experience, workstudy nothing

I looked for a job everyday and attended job finding courses and programs --10 programs from up to 3 months long and i kept a record of over a 1000 jobs without success.


this is why i couldnt pay off my loans or anything---how when they dont let you work anywere ?

Now that i got a pardon i have look for work for a year and got nothing--i have had zero income and savings.

So im completely devasted and my life is ruined --i have lost everything for what smoking a joint in public

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The reason i want to go teach is because I want to start a new life and to have opps to gain a career and do somethng i think i might love its been in the back of my mind for a long time.

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I dont know if i wil have to declare bankruptcy but do you think i can get a good job within the next 5 years and pay off 30k in loans ---i would have to make over 15 bucks ---and it doesnt look like it----right now all the jobs are for minimum wage doing stuff i dont love

will they even let me go in my field---there are lots of vulnerable people---highly unlikely

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Right now im considering all my options Im thinking korea or china because they pay airfare

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oh and i know it wont solve my problems

but it will be culturally enriching, it pays some bills, and it provide me alot of pro skills that could lead to better work

--and this is something i cant gain working at mcdonalds, doing security, or warehouse work those are completely dead end