Job Discussion Forums

[JCDC]

Hi everyone,

I�ve been trying for sometime now to secure a job in Hong kong with little success. I taught in Taiwan for 2 years, Japan for a year, and Spain for 3 years where I just returned back to from taiwan back in january.

If you have any info you can pass along regarding the best way to find a job there as well as what teaching there is like compared to other places I�ve mentioned, I would be very grateful.

Thanks,

John

[Joachim]

Check out www.classifiedpost.com and go to the education section. This is the recruitment section of the South China Morning Post and where most jobs are advertised.

If you are not already in Hong Kong, you'll need to travel here for an interview. There is a huge expat population and schools tend to only hire people they have met face to face, that's why only local advertising.

Standards are also high, what qualifications do you have?. Your experiece should stand you in good stead though. Good luck!

[Champion...the wonderdog]

If you're looking for a NET position in HK, then either go to www.emb.gov.hk for information about the scheme or if you're an existing NET, then you can look at the NESTA website www.nesta.com.hk or if you're a NESTA member then you can join the Egroup and get a comprehensive list of jobs.

[Rock Lee]

Is it possible to get a teaching job in Hong Kong without any teaching experience??? I plan on teaching there next year.... i am about to graduate college w/ a bachelor's in business finance, going to get a TESL certificate, and also i can speak cantonese fluently... what are my chances without teaching experience??

[Bubba]

JCDC unless you work for ESF which (despite the grousing of the staff) actually pays better than language centres, you're better off staying in Taiwan or Japan. Even ESF has its problems as you'll read about here.

Hong Kong is loud noisy, and dirty, full of rude, pushy people and it is EXPENSIVE. Unless you live in a roach motel (I mean real roaches too!) and never go out, expect to save less than you did.

Language centres will pay from 17,500 to 20,000 and work you to the bone. Maybe you want to get privates to supplement, but I dunno how you'd find time. Expect days to run from 9.30-9.30 and you'll probably end up doing some weekend stuff too. You'll get sent to public schools with terrible kids. You'll have to visit students at home. You'll have to do adult classes of severely mixed ability. Basically they'll teach anyone who asks.

Many language schools are dodgy. They don't always pay on time, some don't pay at all. One (cough) reputable school in Causeway Bay pays its staff 2-6 weeks late every month and is perpetually 4-12 months behind on MPF contributions. Of course they never forget to dock your pay - they just forget to pay into the scheme and match it. One teacher was getting docked for 11 months and they didn't even register him in the scheme. This is one of the (ahem) better schools.

You'll be cheated on things like transport pay as well and many schools. Some are known to just hire teachers of the banana boat, use them for three months and skip out on their last 2 paychecks. People often get fed up and leave.

You will also get no respect. HK people and the Expat community are obsessed with money. You'll be surrounded by wealth and ostentatiousness and constantly feel reminded that you're just an 'English teacher'.

Moreover the pay is going down because the quality is going down. There was a big stink about how poor the level of English was at schools a year or two ago. Suddenly all these playcentres and crap sprouted up with underpaid young foreigners working at them whose only qualification was a big nose and white skin. The dearth of amateurs has lowered the reputation of the pool and because of them you'll get no respect.

Think carefully, my friend...