Job Discussion Forums

[maxwell999]

Hi, I have an unrelated degree, 2 years pre Celta experience and 6 months Post celta. Is it worth trying to get a good job teaching adults here or going somewhere else like the mainland or Taiwan?

Thanks nick

[Marcoregano]

Hi Nick. I reckon, given your quals and experience, you might struggle to find a 'good' job teaching adults in the current climate. You'd probably find work, but not necessarily 'good'. In 'standard of living' terms, with your quals and exp, you might do better in Taiwan.

[maxwell999]

Thanks for the information, I really appreciate it.

[Yes Sir I Can Bogey]

Nick, if a CELTA makes one a qualified ESL instructor (and it is a big 'if') your two years pre-course experience won't count � or even be recognised � by most if not all employers here in HK; only post-qualification experience counts, at least in terms of pay!

There are very, very few 'good' jobs teaching adult-level ESL in HK. With your qualifications and experience a university post would be out of the question, as will most likely the vast majority of technical training colleges and institutions of vocational learning.

One of the reasons that there is not much good adult ESL/EFL work in HK is as, officially at least, English is one of three languages of the territory (the other two being Cantonese and Mandarin). There are countless 'private training centres' however, including some 'glam centres', but pay is poor, workload heavy, and hours highly unsociable. At Wall Street English, for example (with the current downturn their name is somewhat unfortunate), ESLers do a six-day week of six-hour days! For their 36 (!) contact hours a week they get a whopping HK$18,000. That is each month, not per week. The 'housing allowance' which NETs get in addition to their basic salary is HK$13,000, so that should give you some comparative measure.

If I were you, I would try some of the agencies that place bods in schools for the odd day, week, or month, and who can sometimes give contracts for one year. I don't think the money would be all too exciting, though, maybe around HK$20,000. People on this forum differ on how much is 'needed' to live in HK, but I personally would say that, for a single person, anything less than HK$30,000 a month simply does not make it in any way worthwhile.

Good luck!

[munchkin]

I am looking to relocate to HK from Korea. ESL teaching in Moscow, Russia; South Korea and six yrs of sub teaching in America together with teaching one yr chem labs as a TA at a university in the states and another college for a semester of chem labs.

Any suggestions as to where to look for a job with the sciences and English teaching. I am also writing a book ..a crime fiction novel ..which will probably be published next year...