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Q: How easy is it to get a (teaching) job in China?
and how easy is it going to get?
A bit of background info. Myself and several of my foreign friends in and around Dongguan have been getting increasingly desperate job offers from all kinds of schools around Guangdong province. From kindergartens to colleges ( and I only teach adults). SO how desperate has the situation gotten for Chinese schools by now and will this mean that our African and Philipino friends will be having an easier time getting a job in the future?
Your thoughts?
8 years 46 weeks ago in Business & Jobs - China
I think the question is how easy it for you to get up, do some research on jobs and feel out the process ? About teachers from Africa & Philippines, when I first came to Shenzhen in 2007 there were Filipino's everywhere, teachers maids, nanny's, IT's but now from 2013 -present 2015 I swear to god, I have only seen 1 Filipino house nanny (Burned their passport) I think that answers your question, no, native English teacher are in no way shape or form about to be replaced by none native English speakers. China wanted to clean out none native speakers and maids & nannys and they did, China wanted to clean out F-M or L visa teachers they did by 40%.Your post makes me laugh, you must be bored..
SwedKiwi1:
I am very bored as a matter of fact. But I enjoyed reading your answer.
Guangdong SAFEA requires English teacher must hold passport from one of the 'big 5', in order to grant WP.
That might be the reason for shortage of English teachers. Another thing might be Police enforcement of legal documentation for work, or no F visas allowed, so Non-natives, who were working in Guangdong are gone.
Jobs website adverts are on some 12 pages with around 25 adverts per page. That's some 300 teaching jobs posted daily. Some are repeaters, but I would say roughly some 150 - 200 adverts are new teaching job openings per day.
I'm convinced, China can't afford law stipulation 'only Native English teacher can get WP', because of 300M Chinese students of English language, but you never know what can happened.
In my experience, it's tough job to extend RP for Non-native English teacher in any coastal city in China.
Here in Kaifeng, I'm at the big Uni with some 20 other FTs from Ozz and USA in a housing Campus building. I'm not sure, if they all have RP. I'll know, if they'll leave in few months, like it happened last September.
icnif77:
All FTs from Ozz and USA are gone since last weekend. It looks, they all had 3 months F visas.
Hulk:
You shouldn't be teaching English. At least learn it yourself before teaching it. You're robbing people.
Iron_Monkey:
Not the first time I read you dropping this "300M Chinese students of English" figure, may I ask your source? I find it hard to believe 1 out of every 5 Chinese people are studying English.
icnif77:
http://www.economist.com/blogs/johnson/2011/09/english-china
Behind the eye-catching number that 300m people either are learning or have learned English in China is a depressing reality. Classes are extremely poor, the teachers themselves not fluent in English.
http://en.people.cn/200603/27/eng20060327_253675.html
More than 300 million Chinese people, or nearly a quarter of the country's population, have studied English either as a major course or as an elective subject, said a senior Chinese education official on Sunday in Shanghai.
There's more on Yahoo-gle.
it's clear that China has a strong preference for white teachers. the FT teaching requirement supports this bias. perhaps it reinforces the outdated Chinese narrative, that stuffy imperialists from the West are turning to China due to alleged hardship. And since the same imperialists qualify as "impotent possum", that makes the kids they teach more important by association.
The rules play their part in raising demand for FTs, but most of all it's what the customers want - that stuffy jobless imperialist turning to China out of desperation. A non-white teacher can teach English to kids and perhaps adults, but they don't give the gratification that a white teacher does.
I think there is a shortage of native speakers in China BUT the ESL industry can thank Putin for screwing both Russia and Ukraine up. Thousands of Russians and Ukrainians are apply for jobs teaching English in China.
icnif77:
The world's opinion is divided on 'Ukraine's conflict cause/starter':
''Was it 'Putin-ski' or was it 'Ms. Nuland' & 'Ketchup boy''.
OHedge-rs are convinced, it was the US duet, which started crisis with support of Ukrainian Neo-nazi movement.
I think the question is how easy it for you to get up, do some research on jobs and feel out the process ? About teachers from Africa & Philippines, when I first came to Shenzhen in 2007 there were Filipino's everywhere, teachers maids, nanny's, IT's but now from 2013 -present 2015 I swear to god, I have only seen 1 Filipino house nanny (Burned their passport) I think that answers your question, no, native English teacher are in no way shape or form about to be replaced by none native English speakers. China wanted to clean out none native speakers and maids & nannys and they did, China wanted to clean out F-M or L visa teachers they did by 40%.Your post makes me laugh, you must be bored..
SwedKiwi1:
I am very bored as a matter of fact. But I enjoyed reading your answer.
When you say native speakers, are you only thinking of countries like usa, England, Australia etc... ?Many African countries speak English as their first language as do many caribiean countries...
Hotwater:
Those other countries you mentioned might have English as their national language but their accents & use of local slang make them very difficult to understand at times. Plus as mentioned by others plenty of times before Chinese people & their government think that only white peoples from native speaking countries can teach English.
SwedKiwi1:
I would say native speakers according to the (questionable) Chinese definition of a native English speaker, aka UK, US, AUS, NZ, CAN.
CDiable:
@hotwater well I'm from London I have an accent as do people from all over the UK sometimes difficult to understand people from up north especially with a strong newcasltle accent.. And yes I use local slang when speaking with friends but wouldn't do that in the classroom.. There isn't much logic into to this hiring of foreign teachers.. I also have quite a few Russians and eastern euros in my school, nothing against them they're cool but again no logic into the recruitment process.
China changed the laws to just include the top first wolrd countries... It affected a friend of mine from Trinidad.. He was like how does a country go from native speaking English to non native speaking over night... Ridiculous...
RachelDiD:
The stupidest part is that I know plenty of Americans who are non-native speakers of English who have Z-visas. Some of them actually learned English in their late teens/early twenties, and actually have a lower level than my adult students. I can't imagine how someone who speaks English natively would feel, being denied a Z visa while they can get one relatively easily.
It is much easier than finding a real job back home.
I hear it is even getting easier now that the economy has stabilized back home and the Western countries are looking at China in a bad light now.
I suppose the question is how loosely you should define the term 'job'. For example, 'jobs' in China are abundant--they just end up being the types where there are no professional expectations of you, and you can have no professional expectations of your employer. So, if you would love to just goof off all day, and then find thousands of RMB missing from your paycheck at the end of the month--China is for you.
If you define a job as completing a well-defined service to the best of your abilities, gaining professional development, and expecting your employer to pay you on time, as agreed, not goof around with your paperwork, exc....yeah, good luck finding such an arrangement in China. You are much more likely to find that in the job market back in your home country.
