Where to find jobs in China?

Most schools in China have websites and have at least one page (cleverly!) in English that is the teacher-recruiting page so you can search the Internet. Schools also advertise in newspapers, which also have classified web page sections. I would be very careful and even avoid at all costs an agent because these agents get a certain amount per each teacher they send. They try to tell you the very minimum so there is always something you may be missing. Of course not all agents are no good but I would think twice about going after a job posting of agents.

Important tip: Research the school well. Apply directly rather than indirectly through an agent. There are a lot of schools out there both private and pubic and I will explain both on this website.

Visa, tickets, apartment, contract

After you send a CV to a school basically if you are from an English speaking country you are hired. I am not quite sure how that works for immigrants but beware of the blond image thinking. Once your CV is accepted then all you need to do is get is an L visa and a ticket. A Chinese L visa is a tourist visa and is good for three months the school promises you that they will change the L visa to a Z (working) visa when you arrive in China.

I would recommend getting a return ticket because if you do not speak Chinese it will be difficult and very expensive to get a one-way ticket from China. Try to find out when the major holidays are so that you can plan a trip back. There are major holidays in January – February for Chinese lunar new year about a month, a week off for May day, August for the mid autumn festival plus public school summer vacation.

As some English teachers have said, the reason for schools asking you to get an L visa to come to China first is so that they can see you and refuse you if they like. It does happen! That is why I suggest getting a return ticket just in case.

So you come to China with an L visa, what next?

The school changes the L visa to a Z visa. In theory or so I heard the only legal way of doing this is go to Hong Kong but depending on where you are it maybe very expensive to get there and when you get there you will need to stay about a week.

The other way is going to the local immigration office, which will require Chinese ability, and I am not sure how this works but according to an agent I had they used all kinds of black market contacts, stating that this is the way things work in China. It is true.

The contract

The school will rarely show you the contract before you arrive in China. I am not sure what they are afraid of anyway.

The contract may be one of two types a standard government contract drawn up by the State Bureau of Foreign Experts or a contract drawn up by the school or a combination of the two. The standard government contract does not really tell you much. The only things a school contract may tell you is whether or not you have a free apartment, whether or not gas, water, electricity is paid for, apartment furnishings like TV, telephone, bed etc, information about salary, working hours, holidays and your return ticket reimbursement. It may or may not say anything about health insurance so you need to ask about this before you go.

Health exams are mandatory for all foreign experts in China and these are usually done in country and you may want to find out who pays for it.

Salaries, usually between 3000 to 4000 RMB/month are standard for a 16-hour workweek for an undergraduate holder with TEFL certificate at a university. This is only a guide and salaries vary from one city to the next and province-to-province and school-to-school.

Part-time work

Some teachers work part-time and do very well but there are no benefits at all. Schools will use part time teachers as a way of cutting their administrative costs down and relieving themselves of the responsibilities of having to deal with visas and apartments, etc.

There are always exceptions but as a general rule the following salaries can be applied to part-time work:

150 - 200RMB/hour in big cities like Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Guangzhou.

100 - 150RMB/hour in medium sized cities like Qingdao, Tianjing.

50 - 80RMB/hour in rural areas (towns, villages) like Guangxi, Yunnan.

When negotiating a salary you need to try to determine how much the other Chinese teachers are being paid and aim higher because despite the image you are there as a cultural ambassador a foreign language expert.

Once again this is only meant to be a guide to help people to go and teach in China.

I hope that you found this to be useful and look forward to your comments and thoughts about teaching in Asia.

Ben Morrill

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Disclaimer: This was only meant to be a guide. I am in no way affliated with any school or recruiting agency so please do not send resumes to me. I do however, look forward to listening to peoples comments about this or teaching in China or anywhere. Please post your comments in the public forum. Thanks and good luck with classes!

What to do next? How do I find a job?

First of all, I do not recruit teachers. Please do not send me you CVs. I only give advice on working and living in Asia. For starters you could search the following key words in the search box to the right. ESL jobs, Teaching overseas etc.

When you find a job that interests you, research the school throughly before sending too much of your personal details, like CV. If after researching an inquiry and you still unsure you could ask me and I may be able to help. In the mean time, good luck and happy teaching!