Hello everybody, hope you guys have some sound advice for me.
I am Brazilian and next month I'll turn 27. I recently got my bachelor's degree in engineering and right now I'm deciding what to do with my life. The idea of working as an IT came up and I've been considering it ever since. During my graduation I did an exchange in China for 2 years, in which I studied Mandarin Chinese in the first year and engineering in the second one. My second year was at Zhejiang University, which is highly renowned in China. In my country, since I have an engineering degree I can pursuit a teaching license for math and physics that takes only 7 months, and during that time I might be able to find work as a assistant teacher at a local school (math, physics and english). My english is pretty decent (standard accent) and I intend to take the IELTS exam later this year as well as the HSK 6 for Mandarin.
My objective if viable is to teach at an IS in China, and as I have read in many posts here, it is the place to go if you are an inexperienced teacher. I don't mind starting at a lower tier IS and in the first years the work experience would be more important than salary. As for the visa, under the new rules for the Z type visa I can barely score over 60 points and that depends on some parameters.
So, under the following scenario:
Non-native english speaker
B.Sc in engineering
Math teaching license
2 years experience in China (at good universities)
High IELTS score
HSK 6
6 months teaching experience
Caucasian "western look" (can't ignore this when talking about East Asia)
1. Realistically speaking, what are my chances of landing an IT job in China in early 2019? I guess this is the most important question because if the chances are not high enough then it's just not worth it.
2. If an IS is interested, how hard will it be to obtain the work visa?
3. If I'm accepted by a lower tier IS, how hard will it be to move up after some years of teaching experience considering I'm not a native english speaker? Would I have perspective of growth or be stuck in the third tier forever? Are there certificates I could later go after that would help to improve my CV for a chance at better ISs?
4. Would my Brazilian teaching license be of any good? Enough for China?
I'd like to point out that this is not the only career option that I'm prospecting, but I find it to be an interesting, flexible, and rather comfortable lifestyle.
Let's see what you guys have to say.
Aspiring teacher looking for advice on teaching in China
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mrstranger
- Posts: 1
- Joined: Tue Mar 13, 2018 5:15 pm
Re: Aspiring teacher looking for advice on teaching in China
I'm going to start by giving you the warning I give to anyone who is thinking about teaching. Unless you are 100% certain it's something you want to do, then it's not the right career for you. You talk about the comfortable lifestyle, but your first two or three years (sometimes more) in teaching can be really frenetic as you try to get to grips with dealing with 20+ hormonal teenagers in a small room who may or may not be in a mood to cooperate, or, indeed, care about your subject.
Usually, most ISs look for a couple of years teaching experience. In China, I think they are moving towards requiring this as part of the Z visa process, so you may well fall down on this.
However, on the plus side, you aim to have a license for Maths and Physics, two shortage subjects. If I were you, I'd consider looking first to somewhere like the UK or the US for your initial experience - you could get your license in the US or the PGDE in the UK. The two years or so when you would be training do count as teaching experience so at that point you'd be in a better position to move.
Usually, most ISs look for a couple of years teaching experience. In China, I think they are moving towards requiring this as part of the Z visa process, so you may well fall down on this.
However, on the plus side, you aim to have a license for Maths and Physics, two shortage subjects. If I were you, I'd consider looking first to somewhere like the UK or the US for your initial experience - you could get your license in the US or the PGDE in the UK. The two years or so when you would be training do count as teaching experience so at that point you'd be in a better position to move.
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eion_padraig
- Posts: 408
- Joined: Sat Dec 11, 2010 8:18 pm
Re: Aspiring teacher looking for advice on teaching in China
@mrstranger,
China recently overhauled their rules for visas, so it may be an issue and it may not be. They seem to be asking for two years of experience to work in China as a teacher, though outside the tier 1 cities things may be more flexible.
1.) If you're willing to go to a third tier city, I'd say you'd have a good chance as long as they can get you a work visa in the area the school its located. There's been a lot of confusion about this even with HR people at different schools. You may even be able to work in places like BJ, SH, SZ, GZ, but those areas may be more strict about requirements.
2.) Hard to say. It's been a little under a year since the new rules came up, so schools should be in a better position to know if they'd be able to hire someone with your background.
3.) You should be able to move up in terms of quality of schools over time. For teaching at the high school level, getting IB teaching experience is very helpful and makes you more competitive. AP can also make you more competitive, but it seems that more IS are using IB curriculum than AP. I have a number of colleagues who are math teachers that are non-native English speakers.
China recently overhauled their rules for visas, so it may be an issue and it may not be. They seem to be asking for two years of experience to work in China as a teacher, though outside the tier 1 cities things may be more flexible.
1.) If you're willing to go to a third tier city, I'd say you'd have a good chance as long as they can get you a work visa in the area the school its located. There's been a lot of confusion about this even with HR people at different schools. You may even be able to work in places like BJ, SH, SZ, GZ, but those areas may be more strict about requirements.
2.) Hard to say. It's been a little under a year since the new rules came up, so schools should be in a better position to know if they'd be able to hire someone with your background.
3.) You should be able to move up in terms of quality of schools over time. For teaching at the high school level, getting IB teaching experience is very helpful and makes you more competitive. AP can also make you more competitive, but it seems that more IS are using IB curriculum than AP. I have a number of colleagues who are math teachers that are non-native English speakers.
Response
Short Answer:
Go to China and work as an Engineer. You have some language skills and have the technical skills, not seeing a downside.
Long Answer:
Do you know anything about the teaching thing. A lot of people base their predictions on teaching because they were once a student.
Many ISs will require you to be a native English Speaker, no amount of IELTS scoring will mitigate that, even if you "look" the part of a westerner.
I would first start by suggesting you start applying even without the DT/IT credential. It will give you an idea of what interest there is in you. You might get offers and you will get rejections but you will also get those ISs that like your resume but say you need a credential, and then you can consider your domestic credential or discuss the potential of an appointment if you pursue teach Now in a skills based program (though a credential is a credential, that said I know of no Brazilian IE programs outside of Brazil and a lot more AP/US NC programs).
In reply to your inquiries:
1) If you can get a visa in China you can get a job in China given your skill set in IE.
2) If you barely make the score for a visa you make the score for the visa, its binary, you either do or you dont.
3) The third tier is pretty big, 'floater' (top third tier ISs), you will however hit a ceiling that will be a significant challenge for you to push through as you try to transition from third too second tier and even more so if you try to transition to first tier.
Getting IB experience is typically the challenge point in transitioning from third to first tier as many second tier ISs are IB ISs. You could find yourself as an HOS of a third tier IS as reasonably as anyone else especially in the LCSA where your language skills will be beneficial.
4) A credential is a credential, but there will be leadership and ownership that are going to think your Brazilian credential isnt equivalent to a western credential. This is their prejudice, not a technical issue.
It can be a comfortable lifestyle, working 190 days/yr. An OSH package leaving a large portion of your salary as discretionary. Students are generally well resourced and motivated. It can be a comfortable and provide a nice lifestyle. It also can be everything that isnt that. Your working with people (children) that you cant fire and whose performance directly correlates to yours. There is a very flat hierarchy, and very little opportunity for advancement. You can be seen by your more fluent parents as 'the help'. In this aspect I would strongly concur with @expatscot. Your first few years can easily be little more than babysitting angsty teens.
You will need two years experience but this requirement is very soft. It requires nothing more than some type of document saying you have the two years experience and you can make such a letter yourself, and have a friend sign it. It does not need to be notarized or authenticated and it wont be investigated.
The PGDE is only available in Scotland thee isnt a current PGCE program in England.
Go to China and work as an Engineer. You have some language skills and have the technical skills, not seeing a downside.
Long Answer:
Do you know anything about the teaching thing. A lot of people base their predictions on teaching because they were once a student.
Many ISs will require you to be a native English Speaker, no amount of IELTS scoring will mitigate that, even if you "look" the part of a westerner.
I would first start by suggesting you start applying even without the DT/IT credential. It will give you an idea of what interest there is in you. You might get offers and you will get rejections but you will also get those ISs that like your resume but say you need a credential, and then you can consider your domestic credential or discuss the potential of an appointment if you pursue teach Now in a skills based program (though a credential is a credential, that said I know of no Brazilian IE programs outside of Brazil and a lot more AP/US NC programs).
In reply to your inquiries:
1) If you can get a visa in China you can get a job in China given your skill set in IE.
2) If you barely make the score for a visa you make the score for the visa, its binary, you either do or you dont.
3) The third tier is pretty big, 'floater' (top third tier ISs), you will however hit a ceiling that will be a significant challenge for you to push through as you try to transition from third too second tier and even more so if you try to transition to first tier.
Getting IB experience is typically the challenge point in transitioning from third to first tier as many second tier ISs are IB ISs. You could find yourself as an HOS of a third tier IS as reasonably as anyone else especially in the LCSA where your language skills will be beneficial.
4) A credential is a credential, but there will be leadership and ownership that are going to think your Brazilian credential isnt equivalent to a western credential. This is their prejudice, not a technical issue.
It can be a comfortable lifestyle, working 190 days/yr. An OSH package leaving a large portion of your salary as discretionary. Students are generally well resourced and motivated. It can be a comfortable and provide a nice lifestyle. It also can be everything that isnt that. Your working with people (children) that you cant fire and whose performance directly correlates to yours. There is a very flat hierarchy, and very little opportunity for advancement. You can be seen by your more fluent parents as 'the help'. In this aspect I would strongly concur with @expatscot. Your first few years can easily be little more than babysitting angsty teens.
You will need two years experience but this requirement is very soft. It requires nothing more than some type of document saying you have the two years experience and you can make such a letter yourself, and have a friend sign it. It does not need to be notarized or authenticated and it wont be investigated.
The PGDE is only available in Scotland thee isnt a current PGCE program in England.