So you wanna teach in China.
Before I got through the whole process, the idea of getting all the right paperwork and finding a legitimate teaching job before arriving in China seemed next to impossible. Luckily, you have my hard won experience to draw on and it can make your transition to working in China easier.
THE PROCESS
*Take a deep breath
*Think really hard about what you want
*Search and find your perfect job
*Think some more
*Acquire the appropriate paperwork
*Buy a plane ticket
WHAT YOU WILL NEED:
*A bachelor's degree from an accredited college in any subject.
*Either two years of full-time (meaning not in college during this time) work experience in any field
OR
*A TEFL (Teaching English as a Second Language) Certificate from a recognized and legitimate source. TEFL in China is a TEFL program that takes just a week and is done in China for about 400 US Dollars. It is nationally recognized in China and is a safe bet. Other possible certificates are CELTA and TESOL. Having a teaching certificate will make your job possibilities broader, but it's, oddly, not necessary to land a teaching job for any subject in the good ol' PRC.
Something to remember before you go. It is China. It will be different in many ways, including odors, customs, diet, living expectations, interpersonal communication standards, easy of travel and weather. Accept these things and you will be fine.
WHAT TO CONSIDER WHILE JOB HUNTING
Location, Location, Location. This should be obvious, but I can't stress it enough. Look into where you want to go, have a list of 5 different areas you'd be interested in teaching in. Pick 2 top choices, and shoot for those, but having back ups makes it impossible to get stuck later. Do you want trees and ferns and sub tropical greenery? Do you want mountains? Plains? Snow? Beaches and oceans?
Weather. Much of China has extreme weather patterns, whether that means very hot or very cold, or very dry or very humid, VERY is the key word here. Figure out what you want and find where that is. As a rule, the North is drier, ranging from VERY dry in the winter to pretty humid in the summer. The South will be humid year round. The West has a higher elevation which may be something you should consider because there is such a thing as Altitude Sickness...and also it snows higher up, so if you don't like snow, don't go North or West. The East and South is where your coast and beaches are, meaning weather is more humid year round but also warmer year round as well. If you have questions about Beijing, or Chengdu I can give you resident info. I've also had short trips to Shenzhen and Hong Kong.
Money. Currently in 2011, the Chinese Yuan or Reminbi(RMB)is running about 6.5 RMB to 1 U.S. Dollar. You most likely won't get rich teaching in China, but there are some reasonably comfortable jobs available. If you're looking for more money, you'll want to be in or near a major city. The younger the students, the more money you'll make generally as well. College gigs are for those who want more flexibility, older students with a greater grasp of English, those who don't need a lot of money and who want some teaching prestige and experience to put on a resume. You could make as little as 3,000 RMB/month (US$ 460/month), or up to 18,000 RMB/month (US$ 2,750/month).
Perks. What perks are you looking for? Many, if not most, schools will be offering all or a combination of the following:
*reimbursement for your roundtrip airfare ticket from home (with a year long contract)
*paid winter (year long contract) and, sometimes, summer vacations (for contracts longer than one year)
*food stipends or provided meals at school
*free or very inexpensive, furnished housing on or near campus, AND/OR a living stipend
*health and travel insurance (require this!!)
*at least partial coverage of costs associated with getting your visa and paperwork
Teaching Hours. The hours required for a contract should be advertised and easily understandable. If you want specific teaching hours, go with a school. If you want flexibility, try out a training center, with the understanding that people will be wanting training nights and weekends, but that could leave you with lots of time to travel. Generally, teaching hours a week are set between 15-22 periods each week, with each period being about 45 minutes.
AND
ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS REQUIRE THAT THE SCHOOL PROVIDE YOU WITH A WORK Z-VISA. ALWAYS. This is not a perk. This is an absolute requirement that any legitimate school or training center will provide their teachers. If you don't have one, it is your problem and you could be heavily fined and then deported. If you have any doubts, or just want to make sure that the place you're looking at is legitimate, contact someone from SAFEA (the State Administration of Foreign Experts Affairs). They control who comes into the country to teach English and which schools are allowed to hire foreigners on Z visas. They are a great resource. You can also find jobs on their website that you know are legit.
WHERE TO LOOK
After you've figured out the province or region you'd like to be in you're ready to look for positions. My two favorite job hunting sites are:
This is one of the best resources. The job selection is sometimes limited, but they assign you someone as a liason between the school and you to help with negotiating, which is very helpful. As a legitimate business, they will make sure you find a legitimate position and save you some guesswork. Browse through their listings, and once you've found a few, e-mail the HR address provided on every listing. Introduce yourself, tell them which jobs interest you, and attach a copy of your resume, the information page of your passport, and a scan of your diploma. I've worked with them twice, and they are very professional and helpful.
This site has more than just China jobs listed, and isn't quite as well organized, but it is a respected and much used site, so you can be sure you'll find mostly legitimate job postings here.
**I would not recommend going through a company or agency that requires you to pay them to find you a job. The jobs are there and by asking the right questions, it is easy to find your perfect position. In my experience, either the agency will acquire you fake documents, will go around the actual protocol or will find you a very low paying job. In other cases, they may find you a perfectly normal paying job, but skim off the top and tell you a lower sum. In both of the places I've worked, teachers who were placed by an agency (whether a Western agency or one in China) got about HALF the normal salary that the teachers who found the jobs themselves made. As little as 2,000RMB a month for 22 teaching hours. RIP OFF. Take some time and do it yourself. You won't regret it.**
NEGOTIATE Once you're in contact with the school, negotiate. Do not be at all afraid to offend them. China's system has been based on negotiation for quite some time and they will only snicker at you if you accept their first offer, even the published contract offer in the ad for the position. Never e-mail them right off the bat with a higher salary number.After they sound interested in you and offer you a contract, this is when you start. Wait, let them see how great you are (playing up your experience doesn't hurt here), then ask and you shall receive. They will low ball you, then you can give them a mildly shocking high ball offer. Ask for what you want and see if they give it to you. Ask a couple times and you'll annoy them so much and bargain so hard it's likely they'll just cave. We replied to one school's ad whose published salary was 3,800RMB/month, and got it up to 7,800RMB/month**. And also, don't be afraid to pester them a bit for an answer if they're taking too long. China has a bureaucratic dependency problem, and the time lag is something they are used to. You are not and you can remind them that some people have things to do.
**A note about taxes: Try asking the school for a salary AFTER TAXES. For example, 'I'd like 9,000RMB/month after taxes!'. This means that after the government taxes out their taxes from your salary, you should have 9,000 left over. The school can figure out how much extra they are going to have to tack on to do that, but it makes your negotiation sound mild, even though before taxes they'd be paying you 9,800. Any salary 5,000RMB/month and higher is taxed in increasing amounts as the salary gets higher. Don't worry though, you should receive pay stubs that you can turn in for credit on your home country's taxes. If you have taxes questions about the US, e-mail me for more info!
NOW, after all this searching, planning, thinking and deciding you are ready to start the lovely process of getting all your visas and paperwork done. It's not as daunting as you may think. Click the Paperworks link at the top!
