Job Discussion Forums

[Prokofiev]

Greetings,

Earlier this year I was deliberating between going to China or Korea, to be an English teacher. Although I was more interested in Chinese culture and their language, I ended up going to Korea due to a higher earning potential. It is my second month here, and I am able to save roughly $2,250 USD a month (living an extremely frugal lifestyle, mind you).

The money aint so shabby, but I work 50 hours a week. (32 Class Hours) The work is fairly exhausting - especially the afternoon classes, where the kids (aged 8-10) are unrelentingly disrespectful and loud. In addition, the city where I live is unusually bland, to say the least.

After four months of being here, I realized that I enjoy teaching, however I feel that teaching adults would be more rewarding and enjoyable. Furthermore I am attracted to the lower hours that are offered by Chinese universities - which would give me free time to pursue learning Mandarin, business ventures, or teaching privates for extra cash.

I have a Business degree, and not much teaching experience aside from my current job. I am contemplating getting an online TESOL certificate (not sure if it's worth it).

If I leave here in September, would I be able to find a University job in China with my limited credentials? I am more interested in living in the southern mandarin speaking cities with less pollution.

Many thanks for your input.

[7969]

Your best chance to land a university job in China means you should have started looking yesterday. Hiring season has already started and most universities have either rehired people already there or have been looking for new people for about a month already. Start looking now and you could find something. Keep waiting and the pickings will be pretty slim in another few weeks.

[Gamecock]

With less than 2 years experience teaching, it will be a little difficult to land a university gig in China. You don't say how old you are, but if you are a young guy, your age could also be against you. I would play up your business degree.

7969 is right that hiring season has already started, BUT actually I think your best shot at a uni job will be in September as the semester begins and all the schools that won't take a second look at your resume now will be desperate for warm bodies when they haven't filled their positions. This will probably mean bailing on your Korean job in a rather unethical way.

[time to teach]

With a BS in business and only a few months of teaching experience you might be able get a university teaching job in China, but you may also have to take a less desirable gig in terms of location or pay.

Keep in mind that teaching uni students has its challenges regarding classroom management, as opposed to teaching adults at language school or corporate classes where there are different challenges.

A TESOL course is almost always worth it if you plan to teach ESL as a career, but stay away from online courses, they lack the key component, teaching practice with real students in actual classrooms.

If you're serious about finding a uni gig in China, comb as many ESL job sites as you can, and check with recruiters too like Angelina's Cafe, who post a lot of jobs that are less competitive in terms of pay and location, but might be a good entry level job for someone like you.

No one can say for sure if you can find a good uni job your first time around, just remember that it's getting more and more competitive here for jobs in terms of training and experience.

But it's China, and there are certainly folks finding teaching work here with BS degrees and less than one year of experience.

[Miajiayou]

Without the experience, it might be hard to get a GREAT uni job. But, you seem to equate teaching uni students with teaching adults, which is... not true. My students have a lot of qualities we associate with children, except they don't have the natural cuteness defense of children. If a child cries, it doesn't really get to me - "oh, its poor wittle brain is overwhelmed, but look how cute!" When my uni students cry like babies because I take their cell phones away, it is frustrating in a very unique way. Like, they're adult enough to have cell phones and to decide that my class isn't worth their time, but they're not adult enough to simply deal with the consequences in a way that doesn't involve slobbery hyperventilation? Ugh.

If I were you, I would ultimately plan for a job at a language training center that focuses on adults who work in business. This may mean you need to spend a couple of years at a lower tier university to get the required experience. Depending on how much you hate Korea, it may be worth it to stay there for a bit if your alternative is teaching 20 periods a week to unmotivated, immature uni students for 5k/mo.

If you didn't notice, this post is heavily biased, so don't just take my word for it...

[rogerwilco]

I do not often see my Uni students cry, but they often whine, complain, and pout.
The few times I have seen them cry it has been about g/f or b/f issues, and not about the class.

The students may be 18 to 22 years old, but most of them seem equal to about 14 or 15 year olds in the West.

[bythebookie]

Why not get into business with your business degree back home?

[shenyanggerry]

Go for it! University jobs are not high paying but when you factor in the hours taught, the apartment and the airfare their per hour figure is high. Most of my colleagues did privates or had language mill jobs outside the university. With experience and a proven track record, they were making a decent buck.

[bradley]

There are so many universities in China and many are desperate for a teacher. Just apply to as many as you can. And after a year then you can try to get a better job. Just get your foot in the door, but don't expect a high salary.

[Prokofiev]

Thanks for the replies,

I can guarantee that no sane university student could be as annoying as a bunch of spoiled grade 2'ers.

I guess I can try sending my resume out and see what happens. Is it harder to find work in the warmer, less polluted southern cities such as Xiamen?

A question I'm currently not sure about is whether or not an ONILINE tesol is worth the $200-$300 I suppose with well under a year of teaching experience I would need the real (in-person) certification to have any chance?

[CJD]

you don't need to be qualified to teach at a university in china. it's easy to find a typical uni job, 10-16 hours a week, little lesson preparation, 4,000rmb a month. i like these jobs because you have free time to travel and study and do private tutoring.

PM me and i can give you the contact info of the guy at my school who hires foreign teachers. we're all leaving this year (not because the job is bad..) and i doubt they've already found new teachers

the school is in Yantai. not a big city, but not really small either. very little air pollution

[nevdale]

[The Great Wall of Whiner]

Ask them how many foreigners are in town, what are they like, etc.

Google the town, look for blogs, etc. from them.

Good luck.