Job Discussion Forums

[Vigawla]

So to try and explain my situation a little.
I've been looking to Volunteer TEFL in China for months now. Living in Australia at the moment, and have finally saved enough, $5000 odd, to pay for the volunteer program and get a TEFL Cert. I've wanted to because I feel the need for a change of lifestyle, to improve my Mandarin and because it could be a possible career for me, hopefully moving onto Vietnam (my cultural background)/Japan in the future.
I have spoken to a family friend who has worked TEFL in China for 4 years and works with a company, that I do not know the name of, that hires foreign teachers for schools around China. As far as I know. She told me that instead of paying to volunteer, I should get a job instead that she can arrange for me, and said that schools are hiring to start teaching at the end of February.

So with no ties to keep me in Australia, I'm ready to make the jump. I've graduated with a degree in International Studies and am 22 years old. I do not as of yet have a TEFL cert, but my friend said that the school can teach me for the first month how to conduct classes etc. I won't be payed for the 1st month. I'm still waiting for her email with all the exact details but I need a lot of information as I might be moving overseas for a long time soon.

So in shorter snippets;

- Can I apply for a year long TEFL Work Visa in China without having a TEFl Cert? On the basis I can, how long does the application take to process? What do I need to know?

- What is a Chinese School's stance on hiring foreigners without TEFL Certs?

- If say, I need to be back in Aus for a wedding in November, do I need to book my flight/Visa to come back/expire for November? Can I leave China early before my scheduled departure? (Is School even still on then?)

- What are the recommended/terms of contract? I understand the pay/accomadation(or none) etc differs.

- And excluding details that my friend will provide me about the company, hiring, contracts; what else do I need to know about hypothetically moving to China and TEFL in about 6 weeks?

Thanks.

[nickpellatt]

I think all of your questions are better directed at your friend. She will be in a far better position to answer your queries than the people on Daves.

You dont need a TEFL cert for a visa. There are discussions on needing one to actually be able to teach, but thats another topic. The letter of the law is that you need two years post degree work experience to get an official working visa, but there are people in some jobs, in some locations, who manage to get round this.

There arent really hard and fast rules in China as exist in some other countries, so assuming the family friend is a good friend, and to be trusted, most of your queries need to go to her really.

I would 'assume' she has a fairly solid knowledge of China and teaching as she has been there for several years, and the family tie 'should' mean she will try to do right by you. Ultimately it also requires a leap of faith, but because of this connection, your leap should be smaller than most.

She is right about the working rather than volunteering though. Paying to volunteer isnt always a good move (done that myself!) so working might be a better bet if everything in the job works out. It might be worth reconsidering her offer, depending upon your likes/dislikes. For example, if her offer is in the colder regions teaching kindergarten, and you like warm climates and working with teenagers, it might be wise to pass.

[Vigawla]

I've been informed the recruitment agency is with Aston Recruitment. Does anyone have any experience with them?

[nickpellatt]

Aston is the name of a chain of schools in China, could that be the same people?

There is a search function which should allow you to look for threads referring to Aston, but Ill say the same as I said before really. The opinion of your family friend should be of greater value to you than random members of an internet forum, many of whom may have an opinion, but by the same token, may have no actual experience of the school or location you mention.

[mozzar]

Don't pay to teach! You do a job and get paid for it.

[LanGuTou]

I really think you should consider not volunteering for anything in China. There are just too many people here that would not give a second thought to abusing or exploiting such an offer. The more you give, the more they will want.

You would be better using some of the $5000 to obtain the TEFL training outside China. You only need enough for your flight and a bit left in the bank for security to make a go of it as a FT in China. You can get a teaching job with just a degree - literally any degree at that! The TEFL certification may mean you have a better selection of jobs to go at and can command a slightly better salary. But it is certainly not essential.

A greater setback may be your ethnicity. You say that Vietnam is your "cultural background". I assume by that you have an East Asian appearance. In China, white is more important than qualifications, skills and experience, I regret to say. However, there are plenty of exceptions to that statement.

As for returning to Australia for a wedding, there are plenty of schools that could accommodate a one off situation like that. You may have to rearrange or make up classes but I am sure it can be done.

[7969]

Noone should ever pay to volunteer. I worked as a volunteer for an organization in another country 10 years ago when it was a true volunteer organization (it was esl related). they provided room and board for you and in turn you provided a couple of hours a day of lessons.

it became popular and more and more people offered to come, so what happened? the leader of the organization decided to make some cash off of the program and started charging people for the pleasure of volunteering. At that moment, i stopped recommending it to anyone who contacted me and i told them why.

anyone who pays for the chance to work as a volunteer is being cheated. Don't do it.

[Vigawla]

@French, thanks for listing the names of some search engines. In return;

Hotdog
Tiramisu
Chicken Salad

...and many more. Your welcome.

Yep this is the same Aston that's a chain of schools in China. I know my friend would be the best person to talk to but this is a big move for me, and as anyone would, I'll try to take in as much information as possible.

Yep I'm very much of East Asian appearance, hopefully this doesn't have too much of a negative factor.
And yeah I now understand how much of a waste of time and money volunteering would have been considering what I'm aiming for.

@LanGuTou, with my International Studies, is it enough for the Chinese government to grant me a Z Visa though? Would the School explain that I am to be trained in TEFL?
I understand that without a TEFL Cert, I would not be in my best state possible to teach English, but I'm more than willing to take a TEFL Course over in China, or here now if I'm able to finish it within 3-4 weeks. I understand Aston has it's own TEFL course but not sure if I can take it here in Australia yet.

[LanGuTou]

The law regarding granting work visas in China is very vague and often open to interpretation from various bodies. Basically, providing you have a degree certificate, most schools can obtain the invitation letter that you need. Sometimes, not even a degree certificate is needed. On other occasions, you are expected to provide TEFL certification and/or two years' teaching experience. Broadly speaking, as long as you have a degree certificate in any discipline, you can find paid teaching jobs in many locations in China and get the appropriate visa.

There is another possibility that you may want to look at. Internships are becoming more and more popular in China. I have no idea what your future career aspirations are but, if they lie outside TESL, you may be better looking for an internship at a company or organization in that field. You will have a wonderful opportunity to hone your mandarin skills in an applied situation and gain valuable experience to enhance your CV. Some of these internships are unpaid but some offer small bursaries and/or accommodation. Maybe this would open greater opportunities than being a voluntary teacher.

[Vigawla]

That's good to know regarding the Z Visa's. I assume though that with the less training and experience one has had that they'd probably be paid less. I'm not too fussed about that.
Assuming teaching starts in March and I'm going to fly over to China for it in say, 2 weeks before hand, I've got 4 and a bit weeks to get a contract and obtain a Visa. Is there any way to get a Work Visa application processed quicker than normal? I've heard anywhere up to 6 weeks is the norm to obtain one.

Do you have any more information regarding the internships? What would the position entail and for what company?

[LanGuTou]

As to the point regarding pay, China is hit and miss. Usually, having a TEFL Certificate will result in you getting a slightly higher salary in public schools and universities or sometimes considerably more in private schools and institutes. But please note that this is not always the case. You might get a higher salary at one school with no TEFL than you would at another school with a TEFL. You just have to play the market and shop around a bit. However, with a TEFL certificate you will undoubtedly receive more job offers.

'Z' visas should not take six weeks to arrange. One a school accepts your application, they can usually get the invitation letter in about five or six days. Add four or five days for delivery by EMS and maybe four days at the embassy in your own country and you should be looking at just over two weeks. Be careful though! It will soon be Chinese New Year/Spring Festival and that may well result in some delays. But you should still have plenty of time between the end of the Spring Festival festivities and the start of the semester in March.

As to the question related to internships. There are several companies located in China that specialize in finding people internships. They charge a fee for their service but arrange the accommodation, the placement and the visa as well as looking after your interests in China. Sometimes you can find internships advertised by companies directly. A good place to look is:

http://jobs.echinacities.com/

Internships are useful if you want to gain valuable on the job training and experience in a particular vocation. This would largely depend on how you see your career developing after leaving China.

[igorG]

[DosEquisX]

Nah, TEFL doesn't get a pay boost in China. It might make you look more appealing to some unis though. A cheesy online one is good enough for most of them.