Job Discussion Forums

[abufletcher]

I'm not really looking for a job at the moment as I'm a tenured professor at a Japanese university. But I'm curious. What are, at the moment, the best EFL jobs to be had in China? Let's define "best" as those with the best living and working conditons as well as savings potential.

Are the best jobs at the university level? Or are they corporate jobs? Which jobs would those of you already working in China consider "dream jobs?"

[Roger]

you don't suppose Chinese universities have positions for western "professors" - of what was your specialty anyway???

The jobs this country has are best reserved for dentists - the subject is normally called "Oral English".

If you are aiming for anything higher you should have a chance at an international school or university - but you will have to be sutiably qualified and be able to teach subjects other than that old dentist's fare!

[Midlothian Mapleheart]

Edited to remove offensive content.

Middy

[abufletcher]

What specifically are the salaries and perks of the "best of the best" China dream jobs? Specifically I'd be interested in details of corporate training and TEFL training (both for expats and locals).

I do have a Ph.D. (with publications), MA, and BA all in Applied Ling and more than 20 year's of university level EFL teaching experience (including more than 10 teaching content area EFL). But as I said this really isn't about ME finding a job. I'm just interested in how the China EFL market is developing relative to other world markets.

Or to look at in another way, what does the standard EFL professional with an MA in TESOL/Applied Ling and several years of university level teaching get for his or her background in China? In the Middle East, it can get you a job at a nice university earning anywhere from $2000-4000 a month plus housing, good free medical, and airfair. In Japan, (if you're lucky) it can get you a 2-3 year full-time contract job with a university which inlcudes some minor perks (free or subsidied housing, research budget, assorted incidental payments, etc.). About the same in Taiwan. In Latin America it'll get you the best of the jobs around but few of the jobs are well-paid by international standards (I was getting something like $600 a month at one of Mexico's best universities).

Finally, what are the prospects that in 5-10 years some of the "best" EFL jobs in the world will be in China?

[Midlothian Mapleheart]

Edited to remove offensive content.

Middy

[Mideatoo]

PRC Government is your best option and from far.
Aim as high as you can, and proceed slowly to the bottom… until someone offers you 500 Yuans for two periods.

[abufletcher]

[Midlothian Mapleheart]

Edited to remove offensive content.

Middy

[carken]

[latefordinner]

abufletcher:

[Midlothian Mapleheart]

Edited to remove offensive content.

Middy

[abufletcher]

Maybe it's just nostalgia for the days of my first overseas job when I was teaching Saudi military 30 hours a week and the only real plan each day was "somehow make it through to lunch."

Besides with the sort of students I have here in Japan that "Paillardes de poulet aux trois poivrons et au basilic" might as well be Lean Cuisine -- or MacDonald's. Pearls before swine, pearls before swine.

[abufletcher]

So that's it then? There are no particular EFL jobs in China that those of you already in-country wish you could get into?

If that's the case how about taking it down an notch. Can anyone describe a job that either they or someone they know has that's pretty good by China standards? Better students, smaller classes, better facilities, etc. Are there many people with TESOL MA's in China, if so where are they working? Mostly in language school? Mostly at universities?

[Roger]

Look, man, jobs are as good as you make them; there are few objective criteria to go by.
I had a very good job teaching in Hong Kong, but "good" in what way?
Pay was alright, and the academic goals were realistic; I knew my brief and had to deliver. It worked out. However, the downsides were considerable: some of the students were bratty (most were expat kids from dysfunctional households with two excessively greedy parents making excessively high incomes and ignoring the bad vibes when together).
The job was demanding because the exams were held in a different school, under a different teacher who didn't know my students, and it was externally moderated as well. To my relief all my students passed - which was not something I could take for granted.
In hindsight I can only say it was a stint of high pressure, a lot of tensions and no other mitigating circumstance than my pay. It wasn't worth living away from my own home and family on the mainland.

On the MAINLAND, one good job I had was in a KINDERGARTEN. For one year it was plain sailing; the kids asked at the end of week one (5 work days) "where is Mr..?" because I didn't teach on Saturdays. After a couple of months I enjoyed my job so much I actually was happy when Monday had arrived and it was time to report back to school.
My workload was very humane: 5 mornings from 9 to 11:30, plus one afternoon teaching all my colleagues.
My colleagues were very supportive in the first year; in the second year things didn't go that well: the school had treated me too well and jealousy had built up. I was even invited on a summer holiday trip to Hainan; we enjoyed it thoroughly. But when the new term commenced some of my colleagues took a decidedly unfriendly attitude towards me. I reckon they felt it was unfair I got so much more dough for so few hours (they put in whole days, after all), and also be treated to that holiday extravaganza.

My current employment is pretty good too: never had an upset in the last 1.5 years at this place (I signed my 3rd contract with them). But one thing does wear you down: FTs get their jobs late because students have to sign up, which may take up to one month. Thus we get one month of (paid!) holiday on top of the official holidays - not good for your self-esteem; also your skills may start to rust. And you cannot accept too many external obligations since you do not know your future timetable.

I also worked for a number of language mills, almost all of them hired me as a part-timer. I had one fulltime job with a training centre, and my working conditions changed a lot, and finally I lost my place because of a big mistake made by my boss.
The workload was never permanently fixed, the students I saw in my evening classes came, then disappeared and others came, then the original ones returned - there simply was no constancy. Pay was somewhat better than at a public school but as hinted before, my boss eventually slipped up big time (he had to pay a huge fine for dispatching me to an eastern province on my Guangdong visa), and the lesson I learnt was that no boss in China "makes any mistakes" - it's always YOU that make them.
Thus I served a number of TCs without accepting any long-term commitment. My impression is the majority of them treat neither you nor their paying clients with much respect.

[cj750]

the international schools pay more and you will work full days...have long vacations and usualy a bonus at the end of the contract..best I have fund (found)...but the need for a certificate stands in the way of even the most qualified ESL teacher...