Job Discussion Forums

[mdevo]

Hi to all!

I'm new to Dave's Esl Cafe, but from what I see its a great place!
I'm a 25 year old Primary teacherwith a Bachelor of Education Degree from Ireland. Myself and two other teachers are planning to travelling for a year beginning in July. We would like to work short term for up to 2/3 months in China, Korea or Japan.
We all have a great interest in teaching English and have worked for 5 years teaching children between the ages of 4 and 13.
We really dont mind where we work but would like to know where is best for such contracts? Or is it at all possible? We would not be arriving in any of the countries until mid March and we would be around until mid/end of July.
Thanking you in advance!
mdevo

[mister tom]

hi mdevo, and welcome

i have not been here long myself and i too am coming from ireland - the current plan is to get a years contract for the next semester somewhere in china and the prospects are looking good

i will probably end up in a university where the hours and conditions are good

for a short term contract you will probably need to go for the private schools which are a bit more risky but if you research well and make sure you're clued up you should be ok

the usual advice here as you have probably already discovered, is to trawl through all the posts in the relevant forums on this site

once you've done that people are more than happy to answer informed questions as they arise

best of luck

hth

tom

[Glenski]

I'd say seriously reconsider, especially for Japan.

You're not going to recoup your setup costs in Japan in just 2-3 months.

If you could stay a year (typical contract length), you'd be ideally suited for international schools.

You could use your Irish nationality to get a working holiday visa, which would enable you to start work anywhere immediately, instead of waiting the 4-8 weeks to process a work visa.

The most often cited employer (and usually the ONLY one) in Japan who offers that short-term work with visa sponsorship is Westgate Corporation.

[denise]

There are also short-term summer programs--I did one in China. But of course, they limit you to working only in the summer. Check the jobs board here.

d

[naturegirl321]

I think that summer or winter camps would be best for you.

[dharma86]

[naturegirl321]

[Glenski]

dharm,
Just to confirm, my remarks about the WHV were meant only for Japan. I know practically nothing about China. Sorry for the confusion when I wrote "anywhere".

[dharma86]

Hey that's ok

i've gathered from alot of places that it is better to secure a work visa before entering a new job in China.

[livinginkorea]

Loads of Irish on this board! Great to see! China seems like the place everybody wants to go to these days. I would definitely try for universities especially if you majored in some form of education/English etc. You won't get as much as Korea or Japan but you won't be spending as much either on living expenses.

Go n-�iri an t-�dh leat,

Slan.

[nickpellatt]

This may or may not be worth looking at. http://www.bucklandgroup.net/sub/cultural.htm

Its a volunteer program that runs from between 2 weeks and 1 year according to the site and can be done at 2 of the more famous tourist places in China.

[mdevo]

Thanks for all your replies- they've been very helpful! I'll post this questions on the China board as well but while we're on the topic.......

Since we'll be travelling around for at least 7 months before we start thinking of working would it be okay toapply for a visa while we're travelling or should we get one before we leave? I've tried to get information on visas already but find it all very confusing!

Thanks again.

[Glenski]

Not a working holiday visa. You need to be in your home country to apply for that.

And, as for Japan, you can apply for a work visa after you arrive, but processing may take 4-8 weeks.