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[jimbotronic]

Hello everyone. I am new here, and have, for the past month or so, been looking into coming to China to teach. I have had my sights set on a university based on what I have read, but I have come across some problems that I need some advice on.

First of all, I just graduated from college here in the US, and am 22. I managed to put in some teaching experience on my resume, but the schools I contact either say they want someone with more experience, that I am too young for a visa, or they aren't hiring until the fall. I would rather be in a bigger city so there might be some other foreigners and some western "comforts," at least to start.

So my questions are: should I set my sights lower and settle for a more isolated uni just to start, and try to do a one semester contract? Or am I too late for spring hiring anyway?

Also, my emails to some unis just go completely unanswered. My response rate is like 1 in 6. I've been doing the old "find places on wikipedia and go to the education section" thing, but I'm just striking out. Even the recruiters I run into say I am too young.

Anyway, any help or advice would be appreciated. I apologize if this has been asked before, I like to think I'm good at googling but sometimes I just want to ask myself

[ericthered]

Hello, jimbotronic, nice to have you on board. Whether or not you are too young, that is up to you to decide. Don't ever use recruiters. They are evil. Yes, you are too early for Uni jobs. The universities will not even start looking until April/May. What you should do is upload a CV on all the teaching in China websites you can find. Then do some research. Read about China, geography, culture, climate. Figure out what you would like to experience/do/achieve whilst in China and which area provides the best opportunities to do so. Then look at which universities are to be found in those areas. Always contact the universities directly, never use a recruiter.
Happy hunting 

[Just Like Mr Benn]

I think your timing is just about right, and if you keep going you may get a job somewhere, but your post has identified all the things that are against you.

Most jobs start in September.
Some provinces won't give visas to someone your age
You didn't say that you had a teaching qualification. Often places are looking for that plus the experience.
It would be your first job in China. (You may not like it here).
You don't have a Masters.

You have a lot of things going agsinst you, so I suggest that you try to find a reason why a Uni should hire you. To be honest, the above things are pretty much a list of what various people and Unis are looking for. Maybe for Unis you need to address at least one of them; put some things in your covering letter that suggest that you have knowledge of and passion for ESL teaching.

My advice; either get a good teaching qualification (would suggest you'll be a good teacher) or come to China and work for a good language mill, (would give you some experience of teaching and of China). The trouble with language mills would be that the contract would be for a year, which would leave you still looking for February openings in a years time.

You don't need to tick all the boxes to get a job here, but at least one would be a bonus. I'm not being nasty. Your p[ost is well written, and if your CV / covering letter made it to me I'd notice that, but unfortunately our Uni gets a lot of applications these days, and your profile is exactly the kind that my boss doesn't forward on to me.

That doesn't mean you won't get a job if you keep trying, but I think it may be difficult and your choices may be limited. There are bad Uni jobs, and improving your choices would be a good idea.

Edit: and yes, Ereicthered is right. Using a recruiter would probably move your chances of a bad experience from a possibility to a strong possibility.

Further edit: One possibility is if you can lecture in something in addition to ESL. For instance, are you fluent in a second language that you could give classes in? Is your degree in a subject that a Uni delivers? You'd probably still need a Masters to get any respect, but you can always try it.

[Mr Nobody]

I don't think you need a Master's as a general rule, but some kind of TEFL etc is a requirement, especially for a Uni. They (uni, public security, visa office, etc) simply can't (aren't supposed to) give a visa without one. It is not so much a matter of won't but can't. Other places can get (scam) visas without one, though, but usually these will be less reputable places. The less quals and experience, more likely the place that will take you is ... questionable, giving you less quality and a worse experience in return.

Experience can make up for not having a Master's degree for teaching at a uni, pretty easily in fact, but I understand it should be at least two years as a standard. Unis are generally more strict about requirements than language schools or other schools, partly because they are generally better to work for, and partly because they are scrutinized more closely, too.

The age thing is an issue. TO put it into perspective, Uni students are often a year older to enter, and degrees are longer than in the west. Therefore you might be teaching students older than yourself. Graduates from the Uni I work at are often 24 or 25 ready to enter in to a Master's program. While age probably isn't an issue with schools especially primary schools, it can be for a Uni. And it's how you look, too. Looking old for your age would be better than looking young. Looking like a teacher is more important than qualifications, or for that matter, ability, to many places.

Make your applications pretty simple and fairly short, not comprehensive. Attract attention but in a professional way. Since the person reading it is reading in a foreign language they have a TLDR attitude. Goes in the too hard basket. Plus, they ignore a lot until they need to, right before term, then they panic because they don't have a teacher. Forward planning isn't big here. If you go in person at the right time of year, they are much more accepting and they are more likely to listen to your negotiations, but you aren't here so that makes it harder. Good for later jobs.

Saying all that, this is China, and rules are made to be ... sorry, rules aren't made, they are sort of vague imaginings, unless some asshole wants them to be. Then opinions have the force of law.


PS, you could try a College as a compromise.

[jimbotronic]

Thanks for the feedback. It's very helpful. I should have mentioned that I do have a TEFL, just a simple 100 hour certificate whose pdf I like to throw in my emails for good measure. I have never uploaded my CV anyplace but I suppose it couldn't hurt!

I guess my other question would be if I decide to start at a language mill or high school or something, should I still contact the schools directly? Respond to some ads (while avoiding recruiters)? I've really only been looking at unis so this would be a new avenue for me

[fullricebowl]

I came to China to teach at a Uni right after I graduated from college with no teaching degree- and my experience as a lab assistant and doing programs with the NPS seemed to give me enough experience. But... I don't think that's enough to get a job in a major city as your first teaching gig. Like ETR said, you can post your resume (I think I posted one on http://www.chinatefl.com/ back in the day) and you'll hear back from a bunch of Unis that are really desperate for foreign teachers (because they are located in the backwaters of Xinjiang and Inner Mongolia). Once you have some real experience in classroom, it's much easier to move to a better job.

I guess, personally, I'm a fan of really getting your feet wet before climbing out to the bigger cities. It's an experience, and anyone can put up with anything for 6 months, right? My first job was in a little town an hour or so from Hangzhou- western things were accessible on the weekend if you wanted, but I was still in a "small" town.

[The Local Dialect]

There are laws, not consistently enforced, that say you need to be 23 to get a work visa/residence permit. You will probably find that the remote the place, the more willing they will be to bend the rules.

I don't think there is anything about you that makes you absolutely unqualifiable in China. The big thing is the degree. Next is either experience, or some sort of TEFL, preferably both.

I would stay away from Beijing and Shanghai. You probably won't find a desirable job in those cities. You'd end up working for EF or somesuch, and you'd probably have a nicer time in a backwater to be honest. That said, I am not one of those people who thinks you *have* to work at a uni, that it is a uni or nothing. I teach high school and really enjoy it. Others love teaching kids. It might actually be better for you, as a younger person, to teach students with more of an age gap. My first job was teaching uni when I was your age and they put me to work teaching a class of teachers who had two year degrees already and were going for 4 year degrees. Some of them were a good 20 years older than me, and even in my regular classes of Freshmen and sophomores, I only had a couple of years on them and that made it hard for them to take me seriously. So you might consider a younger crowd that is going to look up to you a bit more and be less inclined to view you as a peer.

The others are right too, once you have a bit of experience, lots of opportunities will open up to you. You might have to lower your expectations a bit for that first job, first school, but after that you should have a lot to choose from.

[jimbotronic]

I appreciate everyone being so receptive. I have uploaded my resume to a couple sites. Still contacting directly.

It sounds like I just need to find something to start and the rest will fall into place over time as I get more experience, which makes sense. And to me, having never ventured out of the US, anyplace will be as equally unforgiving as the next place, so I might as well jump in the deep end.. and try to sync up with the normal hiring schedule if I can. I will probably be back later for more questions......

[murica]

I'm in the same boat as you jimbotronic, except I'm 23. I was applying in Chengdu and kept getting told that I needed to have graduated 2 years ago or more, and that I need experience  , so I've widened the net a little bit and am still widening it.
I think we're still in the market for University jobs, although it's probably getting pretty late; that might actually be a good thing because the schools that are still looking would probably be more willing to go for a 6 month/ 1 semester contract. Summer might be a bummer then, though, if you work at a Uni (although class goes until late June/early July, so only for a couple months).
The language mills do work better if you contact them directly, but there seems to be relatively little connection between mills in different cities. This has probably been said, but I think they're like McDonald's franchises. They don't seem to be too friendly toward you asking to be referred to another one, from what I've experienced.
Anyway, keep fighting the good fight! 

[MK]

Yes, they are mostly independently run franchises with vague links to a head office somewhere.  Most language mills would have absolutely nothing to gain from referring a teacher to a different school in a different city. 

And another point, it's not below some schools, chains, or recruiters to dangle a first tier city in front of you only to 'unfortunately' have to transfer you to a less desirable location at the last minute.