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Q: Transitioning to SE Asia: Does experience in China help career-wise?
I'm planning to move away from China in a few months and hope to find English teaching work in SE Asia instead (haven't decided on destination yet but Thailand or Cambodia are high on the list).I have a TEFL qualification so finding a job shouldn't be a problem. I just want to know if having work experience in China helps to secure higher paying teaching jobs?
12 years 45 weeks ago in Teaching & Learning - China
Only having experience as a teacher will help, not directly having experience in China. If you are able to speak a decent standard of mandarin then you could offer schools a dual service of English & Chinese classes. This might help them recruit more students.
Apart from that experience anywhere count's pretty much the same.
My actual interview with my boss in Vietnam:
Him: "says you worked in china"
Me: "yes, that's right"
Him: "why would you go there?"
Me: "my partner was very enthusiastic about the idea at the time."
Him "hmmmmmm.... you only did half a contract, that's not good."
Me.... (shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit)
I decided to be honest and gave him a full account of the reasons we bailed.
I still got the job. I'd say being a native speaker with experience will get you over the line into the better jobs, but the China factor probably won't be an active aid over, say, experience in Japan or Europe.
Emphasise your control over your classroom and real life application of theoretical knowledge, and remember that appearances are SUPER important across SE Asia. And never say the words 'oral (snicker) English" outside of China. Good luck.
