Job Discussion Forums

Tiger Beer · Joined: 08 Feb 2003 Posts: 778 Location: Hong Kong

I have a MA TESOL and have taught at universities in both Japan & Korea.

I've heard HK has low-paying university jobs? Is it true? Is it better to be in Macau or the mainland China cities surrounding HK instead?

Which would pay better or have more opportunities? Any helpful advice? Question

El Macho · Joined: 30 Jan 2006 Posts: 200

I'm curious to know about this, too. I'm in the middle of my MA in ELT. While I'll probably return to mainland China to teach after completing my degree, I am very much interested in teaching in Hong Kong. I turned down the NET scheme to read for my MLitt.

forest1979 · Joined: 10 Jun 2007 Posts: 507 Location: SE Asia

If you hold a MA and work as an instructor in Hong Kong then you won't be rich but you certainly won't be poor. You will earn much more than being in the Mainland. However a MA alone will not necessarily open doors. Most instructors in unis have serious years of experience behind them, most too with conference speaking and a publication record too. Without these on your CV you won't be as competitive as you might think. Remember, HK is a small place with a small number of institutions. Some of those institutions are research orientated - and based in the world's top 50 unis according to The Times - so staff at either the instructor or professor level go through a rigorous selection process and need to have much more than just a degree in hand.

As for Macau, basically a salary will be similar in the higher ed sector as what gets offered in HK but there are less institutions there. In other words job seekers have stiff competition for the small number of jobs, like in HK, that do become available.