Job Discussion Forums

[spongedaniels]

Hello all,

First off thanks for your responses to my previous question. You've all helped a lot, and I hope you can be equally as helpful for this one .

I'm asking primarily if you guys (and gals) know whether it would be difficult to find a teaching job in China in person--ie not online, but just winging it and trying to find a job after flying there. This website had been incredibly helpful, but unfortunately I'm not having much luck getting any offers online. I think (though not completely certain) that it's because I'm of Filipino descent. I'm not going to get into the politics (or perhaps economics) of bias against Asian teachers in China, but I understand the reality that it's probably more difficult for us to find teaching jobs than it might be for our Caucasian counterparts (unfortunately).

I'm not going to give up however because, despite all the rejections/non-responses after emailing my photo with my resumes, I really do think I have plenty to offer. And I still really want to go to China! I'm a native English speaker and have just graduated from a top university in the U.S--I don't say this to show off but merely to vent my wish that I can prove to employers my potential as a good teacher, without being removed from consideration outright because I'm not white (unfortunate but true).

So, with all that said, I'm planning on taking out a small loan and just flying to China, all else be damned, and hope I can find a job once I get there. And I guess this is where you guys come in. Based on your experience, how possible would it be for me to just find a teaching job once I get there? I'm not being picky at all--just want to make enough to survive while I try to learn Mandarin. Additionally, do you know which city I should try to visit first?

Thanks in advance. I really appreciate your help. I'd love to say that I'm adventurous and could just fly there when I wish, but I'm terrified by the possibility of not finding anything and having to go back empty-handed (and with a loan under my name!).

Thanks again

[Voldermort]

I would never encourage anybody to just turn up here and start looking for work. But in your situation it is probably the best course of action. You should think to come end of August early September, this is when most schools will start becoming a little desprate for a teacher.

You should take into account however than most schools who are going to hire you are not going to be of a good quality. All the best jobs have now been taken, leaving only those schools which most of us would rather avoid given the choice.

You can try going to a big city, but these places will be expensive and over run with foreigners. Try to aim for a mid sized city like Changchun, Chengdu (the provincial capitals). These cities will have a number of language schools who would hire you.

Be warned, most schools would try to hire you illegaly i.e. work on a business visa. You salary will be lower than most, I guess somewhere in the 2500 to 3500 range. You would probably also work longer and harder than most other FT's.

The best advice I can offer is for you to first contact as many agencies as possible. Although usually avoided, there are some good ones out there who would help you.

[NateM]

May I ask why in particular you want to go to China. I feel that if you're willing to take out a loan to go and search for jobs, China might not make the best economical sense, because the amount you are likely to earn is not going to make up for what you are going to spend, although I would say that being here in person should increase your chances of getting a job. Is there any particular reason why you are set on China, and another place such as Taiwan, Korea, or Japan wouldn't work for you? Furthermore, what are you hoping to gain out of this experience? Are you interested primarily in teaching? Are you looking to start a life here? Do you just want to study Chinese? These are a couple of things that you'll want to consider before making the leap to taking out a loan so you can come over here to teach.

[SheZook]

I wouldn't be taking out a loan to come here either. If you can't afford the airfare now, then you probably won't be able to afford it (repay the loan) later. Unless you are really lucky, your first job here in China is NOT going to pay very much. Also, if you DO come here and happen to find work and your employer is at all dodgy (as many are), then you won't have the necessary paperwork required to send money home to meet your loan repayments anyway. There are still some ways to get money home without the paperwork but they can be a bit of hassle sometimes. The key factor of course, would be having a Chinese friend who is prepared to pull a bit of a swifty with the bank and get your money changed for you. I would suggest you save money for the airfare - that way you can come here and enjoy yourself, whatever happens, without the gloom of a loan hanging over your head.

Good luck with whatever you decide!

[spongedaniels]

Thanks for your responses!

The primary reason why I'm going is to study Mandarin. It was something I really wanted to do but never had a chance to as an undergraduate, and being a recent graduate with relatively little responsibilities (compared to where I'd imagine myself ten, twenty years from now) I figured if I were to go to China and study at some point in my life it'd be now.

I was considering teaching as a means of supporting myself while there, but got caught into two snags: 1) I didn't realize how difficult it would be to get a job, and 2) I've been searching through these forums and I've heard much advice against doing what I plan on, simply because the teachers here who posted about learning Mandarin say that they rarely had time to study because of their workload. What do you guys think?

That's primarily why I was thinking of just taking out a loan, and I'm setting myself up with the mental framework that it's just an additional year/semester of school to justify the costs . Oh, and another thing--how much would you guys considering necessary spending per month? Just for the essentials (I'm can be pretty thrifty when needed).

I know that's a lot of questions, but if you could help me with any I'd very much appreciate it. Thanks again!

[no_exit]

I also wouldn't really take out a loan to come here. Will you have to start paying it back right away? Even minimum payments are a lot when you're getting paid in RMB. Couldn't you work for a few months, and save up some cash?

That said, in your case you will probably have more luck with employers if they can see you in person and verify for themselves that you're a native (near-native?) speaker. Teachers of Asian descent have a tougher time here, but it is by no means impossible to find a job (there are several schools here hiring who accept Asian looking teachers at the moment , none of which you would ever find through an internet search, by the way), and you will, in all likelyhood, find work eventually. I worry though, that if you come on such a limited budget, will you have the funding needed to wait out the job search? Will you be able to travel to several cities and scope out the job scene in each? What sort of timeframe are you going to give yourself? If you haven't found a job, by say, early September at the very latest, your chances are going to drop significantly, and what then?

Think long and hard before coming over here with barely enough money to get by. I moved over here with several thousand US in savings, and even that wasn't really enough in hindsight. Be careful, or else you could wind up in a really tough situation.

And by the way, with a job that is not overly demanding in the hours department, you should have plenty of time to study Chinese. If you're teaching between 12-20 hours a week that's still half a normal work-week back home. You just need self discipline.

[Roger]

You are not Europid but Asian and you want to study Mandarin while teaching here; I see no particularly great hurdles for you to overcome - but your finances are your own concern!

You can do it though one of the downsides to it might be that every time you land a job they will want you to take care of the visa on your own (illegally). I am not claiming this is automatic - but be prepared for it!

I have just been to a place that is teeming with international folks; in one guesthouse I saw a sign "Foreigners wanted to accompany students on a trip to Beijing" The advert promised no pay but it promised the prospective takers a period of holidays with fun, accommodation and travelling outlays being taken care of.

I know you can also find a more permanent, paid position here, no matter your ethnicity.

[NateM]

If you want to come here to learn mandarin, finding a job isn't the answer. Even the most ardent English teachers who want to learn typically don't learn as much as someone who comes here to study for a much shorter time. The reasons for this are that it is very difficult to maintain a strenuous study schedule when you also have to prepare teaching lessons, teach, grade, etc, and when everyone around you speaks English or wants to speak it with you. Furthermore, the language hurdle you need to get over in the beginning is rather high, and I think a lot of teachers kind of give up on it once they realize how high it is. If you are seriously considering taking out a loan to come here and look for work, why not take out a slightly larger loan and come here to study full time for 6 months or so? The cost of study, and the cost of living here are relatively cheap, and you will probably learn more Mandarin in those 6 months of full time study than you would in 2+ years of teaching English or studying back home. You could probably also pick up some tutoring jobs on the side to earn yourself a bit of bread money while you are there, as well. Just something you might want to consider.

Edit: Whoops, looks like I skipped over your last post, and you are already considering this. I would say this would probably be a better way to spend your money if you really are set on taking out a loan. As to expense costs, I'm studying here for the summer and am probably spending a total of around $2500, including plane tickets, tuition, etc. However, I'm being pretty thrifty here. I would imagine that for a year you could probably get by on 6 or 7 thousand if you really wanted to, although you probably wouldn't be living it up too much.

[TEAM_PAPUA]

[Horizontal Hero]

I think that if you want to learn spoken Chinese, coming to China is a great idea. My Chinese rally improved, even though I did no formal study. But you have to be keen to get out there and mix with those Chinese folks. Having a Chinese girlfriend (your a guy?) helps a lot. But you have to INSIST on speaking Chinese as much as possible. Otherwise they will just use you as a free English lesson. Then either formally enroll in school to learn reading, writing etc., or have informal lessons with a Chinese tutor. The is no reason why your work commitments should take up more than 40 hours a week, and many ESL jobs have way less than that.

Have you thought of Taiwan? They speak excellent Mandarin there, and the pay is generally much better. I paid off a US$6000 debt in a year there, earning only NT40 000 - a scummy wage by Taiwan ESL teaching standards. You should earn at least 50 000 for your first job there. Check out the Taiwan board. Many Taiwan ESLers later graduate to the more impoverished climes of the mainland after doing a stint in TW. But not all.