Job Discussion Forums

[kungfupanda]

A little about myself first. I'm 23 years old and I don't have much experience teaching except for some volunteer work I did as an assistant language teacher for a few months and also some tutoring. I'm white and a native English speaker from USA. I also have a BA degree and TEFL certificate

So far the only offers I have been getting are ones from these language training schools. It probably doesn't help that I've been focused on teaching in Shanghai since my girlfriend lives there. I received offers from DD Dragon, Expertise Education and Shane English School. However, all of these jobs will make me work evenings and weekends. DD Dragon sounds especially awful, no sick days allowed and only one holiday on a full year contract.

My question is, how do I find a school where I can work Monday through Friday without much teaching experience? I've heard of many stories of people getting public school and university jobs without any experience so how do they do it? Is it just luck?

I would appreciate any advice.

[Zero]

Supply of teachers is quite high in China compared to elsewhere. For a university job you probably need to try the provinces. Plenty of potential girlfriends there. Shanghai girls will chew you up and spit you out anyway.

[kungfupanda]

[kev7161]

I work in the international department (primary) in my school. Every year the program expands and every year we have to hire new teachers. Ideally, we'd like to find teachers with a degree in elementary education and a bit of experience to join our ranks, but that's not always possible (esp. with each year's expansion). However, GENERALLY SPEAKING, one can notice the difference in quality of teachers when one compares a teacher with the aforementioned credentials and one without. IN GENERAL, lessons are planned and executed more thoroughly and in depth, classroom management skills are more evident, and the teachers seem to be able to use the provided curriculum more easily while also being creative enough in their lessons beyond the curriculum. Granted, there have been some teachers that have come along that didn't have the credentials we look for and have blossomed and maintained good classrooms (a couple are still here to this day), so that's why my comments should be taken as GENERALIZATIONS due to the fact that we've also had a good handful of teachers that, well, were less than stellar!

[sojourner]

Kungfupanda,

You asked about jobs "close to Shanghai". How close ?

You might want to consider looking for jobs in places such as Hangzhou and Ningbo ( both in Zhejiang Province) - however, there appears to be considerable competion for jobs in those two places. (Hangzhou, incidently, is about 2 hours away, by bus, from Shanghai).Two other places to consider would be Suzhou and Nanjing (both in Jiangsu Province). By fast train, Suzhou is about 1 hour away from Shanghai and Nanjing is about 2 hours.

It would be easier getting a job in a small town rather than in a large city.Check out some of my recent posts where I discussed doing google searches for towns/unis/faculties.

I'm currently teaching at a uni in a small town, about five hours by bus from Shanghai. At most unis, the teaching workload is often quite light - most FTs would probably have at least a 3-day long weekend. In my own case, I have 5-day long weekends - I finish my teaching week at 11.10am on Wednesday, and resume teaching at 2pm on the following Monday - thus, plenty of time to head off to Shanghai, if I wish ! Avoid language schools at all costs - you might get paid considerably more than at a uni, but you'll have to really work hard for your money !

Peter

[Non Sequitur]

The job that gets you to China is not necessarily the job that keeps you in China.
Go the language school route is my suggestion making sure you get P/Residence and a not too onerous break clause.
Once on the ground get around the unis and vocational colleges and talk to their international depts.
You'll get offers to start in spring I'm sure.
I had a rotten first gig in 2004. After one semester walked around 3 local uinversities and got offers from 2 of them. An associate degree and an ESL cert plus 6m experience is all I had - plus of course my PR.

[Zero]

Yes, I meant to type Shanghai. Sorry. Hangzhou and Suzhou were mentioned. You also can try Wuxi and Changzhou. They are in the one-hour to one-and-a-half-hour range from Shanghai by train. Closer than Nanjing.

[la dolce vita]

i've only been here for one year, i had experience of teaching in korea before i came here, at the moment i'm at a language school, but i get the impression that the way to go is teach private classes. and a (respectable) language school is a very useful way to find your feet and get a bit of stability while you are starting out in china

[thessy]