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Q: Can I get a job if I'm a non-native speaker with a BA degree from England?
Hello, I'm from Cyprus, and I have a BA in English Language and Linguistics in the UK and have a TESOL certificate.I worked as an English teacher in China in the past but left during the pandemic. I have the AMI 3-6 Assistant Certificate, and I'm currently working as a Montessori Assistant in Spain.I'm looking for a similar role in China, but the schools and recruiters either don't get back to me or tell me that it's not possible to get a working visa. Please let me know whether it's possible or know any schools and recruiters that could help. Thanks! :)
1 year 29 weeks ago in Visa & Legalities - China
Yes, you can get legal ET job by the Chinese Labor law.
Problem is, most Chinese managers and recruiters don't know, they can obtain Working permit for a non-native English passport holder, teacher with BA completed in a native English country.
I'd suggest, you mention possibility of legal employment for non-native English teacher with degree completed in a native English country at the first interview.
It's a tough time in China at your example, IMO.
Most recruiters and hiring managers in China know only "ET must hold a native English passport ..", so your job application get dismissed right there.
The other thing is, never stop sending your CV to the job offers doesn't matter if no replies. At my time in China (pre-2017), I'd send CVs to every offer posted daily.
I've even disregarded advert's requirement 'native English passport holder', and ... I got a reply or two in a month time.
Take the last paragraph as a rule!
Good luck!
icnif77:
I'm reading your post, again ...
You said, you have studied ...
You must hold BA (or higher) degree completed in a native English country to qualify for the legal ET work in China while holding a non-native English passport.
"AMI 3-6 Assistant Certificate" won't cut it ... nowhere in the world, not only in China!
Furthermore, you are saying that you have legally worked in China pre-Cofid ...
That's an impossibility, if you don't hold a BA ...!
That's the reason most likely, recruiters are replying, they cannot get WP for you!
Yes, you can get legal ET job by the Chinese Labor law.
Problem is, most Chinese managers and recruiters don't know, they can obtain Working permit for a non-native English passport holder, teacher with BA completed in a native English country.
I'd suggest, you mention possibility of legal employment for non-native English teacher with degree completed in a native English country at the first interview.
It's a tough time in China at your example, IMO.
Most recruiters and hiring managers in China know only "ET must hold a native English passport ..", so your job application get dismissed right there.
The other thing is, never stop sending your CV to the job offers doesn't matter if no replies. At my time in China (pre-2017), I'd send CVs to every offer posted daily.
I've even disregarded advert's requirement 'native English passport holder', and ... I got a reply or two in a month time.
Take the last paragraph as a rule!
Good luck!
icnif77:
I'm reading your post, again ...
You said, you have studied ...
You must hold BA (or higher) degree completed in a native English country to qualify for the legal ET work in China while holding a non-native English passport.
"AMI 3-6 Assistant Certificate" won't cut it ... nowhere in the world, not only in China!
Furthermore, you are saying that you have legally worked in China pre-Cofid ...
That's an impossibility, if you don't hold a BA ...!
That's the reason most likely, recruiters are replying, they cannot get WP for you!
if, as you claim, you worked in China in the past, surely you would know how the Chinese deal with job applications?
not responding is usual - people who have worked in China know this as being normal.
there are so many one-off posters now, many asking questions that could be easily answered by using a search engine.
icnif77:
OP's handle is often used Cypriot name. There are lawyers, money managers, UNI's professors and more using the same name ..., he he.
I'd say, you are certainly onto sumtin' ... here.
salaries in China are rubbish. But then you would know that as you claim you have worked in China - "I worked as an English teacher in China in the past "
it would not be worth your time applying for jobs in China.
As well as that, Chinese are prejudiced against non-native speakers and may ask you to fake being a native speaker.
you should try other countries - you will be treated better.
good luck
icnif77:
I don't understand this part:
" ... Chinese are prejudiced against non-native speakers and may ask you to fake being a native speaker."
How can you fake of being a native English speaker?
You mean, School would ask you to tell students you are from a native English country ...?
If 'yes', I've never experienced such a request in 8-years of working in China. I was entirely free at stating of my origin to students ... and it usually started like this:
Students: "Where do you come from?"
Me: "I come from my mom. You?" ... and then everybody burst into laugh.
It was a nice ice breaker, but at the end, students knew my origin country and all my previous connections to the native English countries ...
Blondie_:
i worked in a school where i was told to say I was American as this was the teacher type (accent) the parents wanted.
some employers will lie about where their foreign employees are from.
this is China
icnif77:
I've never liked Training mills in China and I've worked only at one, the first one at ET Tangshan and never again.
I disliked owner's bossing-me-around and I certainly wouldn't take that!
... and on the other hand, I have to bring all documents for the Z visa certified ...
F*cuK China, whatever I'm concerned!
Blondie_:
i refused to comply to this, telling the owner that the parents could probably not tell where i was from.
i dlsliked the level of dishonesty the Chinese would regularly employ to deceive customers..
icnif77:
That's a part of the face culture, i.e. It's better when I screw you before you screw me, he he.
This was the reason, I got familiar with the Foreign Expert Bureau early at my start in China and I call them for help at nearly every job I had in China.
... and if I wouldn't receive their assistance, I'd exit China per short notice,
The funniest was the call to FEB in Guiyang at the last school in Bijie, Guizhou, I had a contract with, where School's Board demanded I must punish, discipline the kids ...
I recognized School's angle early on 'cause if I would comply, parents could/would file a complaint, and School would have a lawful reason to terminate the contract.
... and all that happened in the first two months of the contract.
However, being a lawyer by heart, I completed the contract and exited China for good missing only return flight refund, which not even FEB could get it for me..
And on the other side of the coinage, I had students applauded at my entry to the classroom at that privately run Public High school ..., i.e. I left China after 8-years with quite decorous memories ...
elenaioannou95:
I worked at a training centre in Hangzhou for two years (2019-2021). I was earning a high salary and was happy there. I had a chill job, and I never had to pretend to be a native English speaker. I'm working in Europe now, and I'm definitely not treated better. Living in China is not for everyone, but it also depends on your mindset and your way of life :)
icnif77:
@OP: Just curious, under what kind of a visa did you work in Hangzhou?
You could also contact your past employer and inquire about present ins-and-outs of China. At least, that's what I would do first.
I've worked in Lin'an, city some 40km out of Hangzhou, year 2010 -11.
if you worked in China already, why are you even asking this question?
"Can I get a job if I'm a non-native speaker with a BA degree from England?"
anyone who has worked in China knows the answer to this question.
I am working in Europe now and i am not pressured to lie, to change student grades (becasue they are 'connected'), I am not being sexually harassed on a daily basis as i was in China,
Basically i don't like being treated like shit, and my contract is respected.
Good luck !!
elenaioannou95:
Obviously, because the policies keep changing. Good luck to you as well.
