Job Discussion Forums

[chaz47]

Hi, I haven't posted on the Hong Kong board in a long long time but have thought about working there for the past 3 years.

I was most recently employed at a university in Busan, South Korea but there was a new uni president who took over a couple years ago and he decided to "clean house" and opted to not renew the contracts of our EFL department. They wanted MAs and had to wash out the old BAs who had been entrenched for several years. By and large they were fairly successful, they filled 7 of the 9 slots with MAs. But, I digress, the long and the short is that the university situation in Korea has gotten VERY competitive with the recent economic downturn.

So, at the end of that contract I went back to the US to perhaps pursue an online MA in TESOL or do some writing. Now, 4 months into my unemployment/sabbatical, I find myself bored to tears and sick of the US. The TESOL programs I want to get into don't seem to accept fresh enrollments until March and my writing enthusiasm is nil.

I want to go abroad again, especially before I eat too far into my savings from the 4 years I worked in Korea.

Ideally I would want to find a university position in Hong Kong but I'm pretty sure that my qualifications are too low. With that in mind I would be happy with an adult school. I want to begin to learn test prep for IELTS, TOEFL, etc.

I'm willing to fly over and look for work. Is this necessary advisable? What documents should I have prepared? Are their immigration policies as backwards/draconian as Korea's?

What sort of salary/wages should I expect?

Is private teaching illegal in Hong Kong?

I have a BA or a BS (my diploma says BFA but the university's system says I have a BS now). A 120 hour TESOL certification backed by the University of Anaheim and 3 other universities in English-speaking nations. And, I have 4.5 years of experience, 2 at university, 1 at an adult private school, 1 at a public middle school and 1/2 a year at a children's private school.

Thanks hugely in advance for your advice.

[kowlooner]

Surprised nobody's jumped in yet on this.

You're right in that your qualifications are probably on the low side for university work in HK, but there are also quasi-universities to look into (IVE etc) though the comments on this forum about the VTC are generally not very positive, but who knows.

If you work for an adult language program, the salaries could be anywhere from $12-$20k (very top end, realistically, at least for starters). Maybe somebody out there could confirm, but didn't Wall Street pay something like $18k for starters?

Can't say whether it's a good idea to come over and look for work since technically you're not supposed to. But a face to face interview is always better than not. On the other hand, better to do the homework and see if you can line up interviews first as well as find out about each company's policies towards visa sponsorship.

Private teaching. If you're on a legit visa, should be no problem.

[dandan]

[kowlooner]

Sorry for my mistake. It does appear that Dandan is right. I'm not sure if it's that clear-cut though. The IMMD website has the following comment, BUT it is in reference to quitting and then changing jobs or doing p/t work: