Job Discussion Forums

[fresha]

Hello All,

I have recently decided I want to teach in China for up to one year before continuing on with my grad school education and I need as much advice as I can get! Before I get started let me say I did post my resume on the job board and received a good amount of responses, but I am so overwhelmed at this point I haven't committed to anything.

I am a 26 y.o. Caucasian American female. I have a BA in Psych and Comm. Disorders, I had begun a doctoral program and after a year and a half I decided it wasn't what I wanted to do (GPA was 4.0). I have 9 months experience teaching university undergrads as a grad student and 5 months experience teaching English to orphanage children in Kenya. I do not have any certifications (TEFL, etc) nor will I be wiling to get one unless it is online, which sounds like a waste of time.

What I am wanting to know right now:
1. I definitely want to be around Shanghai. I don't know if my credentials will allow me to be in Shanghai, but I would like to be within an hour or two of the city by train. What cities should I look into? What can anyone tell me about Hangzhou?

2. What should I expect to get paid? I think I would prefer to work with kiddos, the younger the better, but I'm open to other things if I would be paid better.

3. What should I definitely expect in a contract? Airfare, apartment, health insurance, visa...?

4. I would really like to start a position in December, is this even possible?

5. How much time should I allot between accepting a position and actually being in China?

More questions to come! Thank you!

[johntpartee]

I'll get things started.

[Denim-Maniac]

^^^ disagree ... in part at least. That may be true for state employment, but is not likely to be true in the private / training centre sector. fresha - if you are just looking for an adventure for one year and want to work with young children, why dont you look at Disney? It isnt what Id want to do, but with no training, a preference for young children and ShangHai, it might not be a bad bet?

I have worked in training centres, and it is quite common for existing teachers to leave in December as many people want to be back home for Xmas. You can definitely find work in the private sector, and that is probably the best fit for you anyway considering you want young kids

[fresha]

[Denim-Maniac]

Because of the 3 C's - Cities, Cartoons and Kids. Actually, that's only two C's but you get my drift. I want the opposite to you, adults rather than kids, and Id hate to be in ShangHai, I prefer smaller places.

Apply for Disney anyway ... I cant imagine they have a strict requirement for two years experience.

[parnett]

I live near Hangzhou, and go into the city every weekend. I have been in many large cities in China- Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou, Wuhan etc. and they all seem to be the same- dirty and noisy with billions (so it seems) of people, cars and scooters everywhere.
Hangzhou is a bit better than the above. There seems to be more greenery covering up the filth. West Lake is somewhat scenic and surrounded by clubs, restaurants etc. The traffic problem doesn't seem to be quite as severe as in other large cities here. There are many teaching opportunities year round particularly in language schools which seem to be everywhere.

[dean_a_jones]

Agree that you probably want to look at private schools. Whereas state schools and universities slow down after December due to the holidays, the private places suddenly get busy as all the students are free and many take some kid of course during this time. Disney is an obvious choice if you want to work with kids, and the jobs I occasionally see posted seem to offer a decent salary, but you do hear things about costumes and songs that sound pretty awful (then again, I have no desire whatsoever to teach kids).

Shanghai is pretty expensive but doable if you can find one of these higher paying private school jobs and put in a lot of hours, though perhaps you don't want to be working that much. Hangzhou is quite nice, and Nanjing is also not too far from Shanghai by high speed train. I have only visited both cities on holiday, and while Chinese cities can all seem a bit similar I enjoyed the time I spent in both. As mentioned Hangzhou has a bit more greenery around the lake, so if biking or the outdoors is your thing you might enjoy that.

I would just start shooting off emails with your CV, stating when you would like to come over and seeing what you get back. Remember many of these chains are franchised, so while some seem to get badmouthed a lot it is often the case of which one you are working in and what your immediate superiors are like. Definitely try to get in touch with current/former teachers, see what you can find online and take both good and bad reviews with a pinch of salt.