Getting your first teaching job in China.

There are many different ways to get your first job.  Once you have been there for six or twelve months, you will be aware of the system, but until then it can be a bit of a minefield.


If you Google 'teaching ESL in China', you will come up with dozens of sites to choose from.  One of the most widely used is Dave Sperling's site.  He has jobs for all over the world and it is kept right up to date.  He also has a special job board just for China.  There are jobs advertised for every kind of teacher from kindergarten to top universities.


The first thing you need to decide is what age do you want to teach?  If you love kids, then go for the younger ones.  If you are a bit past young ones, then go for high schools with students aged 15 to 18 or universities.  You  will know what is best for you.  Once you have decided this, then look for jobs within your preferred aged.  If  you have been a teacher in your home country, you know what you want.  If not, then be aware that the younger children are usually in what by western standards are large classes, 40 to 60 children, and many of them have become very spoiled.  Chinese people are often noisy when they are relaxed, and Chinese children are very noisy in break times, so be prepared for that.


There are four main ways to get your job.


1.   Apply to a school through a link on a website.  You will deal directly with the school and eventually sign a contract between the two parties. The person you deal with will probably  have pretty good English.   I will talk about contracts later.


2.  Apply through an agent.  You may get a reply to a query from an agent but you won't know this.  There are many independent agents out there.  They make their money by saving the school the hassle of dealing directly with the teacher.  They will send you the contract and act as a middle man between both parties.  For their efforts, the school will pay them, generally equal to one months pay for the teacher they find.  So if your job will pay you 6,000 RMB that's what the agent will get.  It's very good money for them, often for very little work.  However, although there are some good agents out there, there are some real crooks too.  Avoid an agent by the name of Frank  Zhang from Shanghai.   Be very aware that what the agent offers you, may not be what you actually get at the school.  My advice is, once you are settled on a school, ask for the email address of one or two foreign teachers who work at that school.  Email them and ask for their opinion of the school.  If everything is above board, they will oblige.  If not, they will beat about the bush.  In that case, think carefully.


3.  You may know someone who is already teaching there, and they can recommend a school.  Assuming you trust your contact, then this can be fairly fail safe.  Even so, study the contract carefully.


4.  If you are just gaining your TESOL qualifications now, your school will possibly have contacts with schools they recommend.  This is also a pretty safe bet.  But they may be limited to the schools or cities you could choose from.


Also keep in mind that the Chinese mind set is not to think too far ahead.  Forward planning is not big.  If the Director of  Studies you are dealing with is not Chinese they are usually better organised.  But the Chinese bosses often leave things to the last minute.  If you need to do something next week, then we will think about it next week.  So, sometimes they advertise for teachers, starting yesterday.  Don't fret over it, this is one of the things you need to adjust to.  If you need the school to get you a visa by the 30th, you'll probably get it on the 29th or 30th.


When you first start looking for a job you will be totally bamboozled by the possibilities.  In the end, to get my first job, I decided what age group I wanted to teach and approximately what part of the country, then I applied for many jobs.  I got tons of replies, saying, yes we want you, come here, come now, we love you, blah blah blah.  To cut the hassle down, I just started asking for them to send me a contract to look over.  I would email a school, get a reply and immediately ask for a contract.  Once I had seen the contracts I could sort out those obviously unsuitable, and concentrate on 2 or 3 that really appealed, and worked from there.


I am not an agent, but I do have a few contacts.  If you want some help, just ask.

Thinking of going to China to teach?

The idea of going to China to teach came like a bolt out of the blue.  I didn't really even know you could do it, until a friend of mine talked to me about it.  She was thinking of doing a TESOL course to get a qualification, but instead I got the bug, encouraged my husband, and we both got fully accredited TESOL qualifications, applied for a job and got it without any problem.  We really knew very little about the country, so it was all totally new, and really nothing prepares you for the huge cultural changes you encounter when you go.
If you are thinking of going, or even just thinking of getting some qualifications, come on board, put up a post and maybe I can be of help to you.


If you have been overseas teaching, and you have some encouragement, information, tips or other experiences you would like to share, then come on board.


Over the next few weeks I will build this into a blog with much of the information you will  need, such things as travel in China, accommodation in a school or separate, shopping, visa's, getting a job, using recruitment agencies, personal safety in China etc.  It will give you a good overview of teaching life.  I will also include links that might be useful for you.  If you have any queries, come on board and I will try and help you out.


If you want the experience of a lifetime, give it a go.


China Chris.