Finding work without a Bachelor's Degree (but some college)

[Steingletscher]

Though I just posted about enrolling directly in a Chinese university, I'm thinking about arriving in China in the beginning of the summer to start studying early (on my own and with friends/friends of friends) and work in a summer camp teaching/tutoring English. I don't want to be running a class. Any advice on how to find positions because all I can find are places that require bachelor's degrees? The same with finding jobs while I'm attending school (though I could probably easily find a tutoring job for the school I attend).

I'm new to all of this, so please excuse my naivety.

[Erbse]

You are not allowed to work in China without a Bachelors degree. There are a few exceptions however.... like language teacher.

Some people work in China illegally, it's not uncommon.

[kdavid]

You are not allowed to work in China without a Bachelors degree.

A lot, *a lot*, of schools get around this. In fact, I don't think it's a stretch in saying that *most* schools get around this.

The demand simply cannot keep up with the supply. If every school could only hire teachers with BAs, schools throughout the country would be horribly understaffed (more so than many already are).

You're more likely to land a job in a second-tier cities. Restrictions in first-tier/metropolitan cities are getting more and more stringent; not only in regards to requiring a BA, but also in requiring teaching experience.

I don't want to be running a class.

What do you have in mind, then? Any ESL job is going to require you to teach, which requires leading a class.

You may find some positions which are heavily led by Teaching Assistants (i.e. Chinese teachers).

[icebear]

The demand simply cannot keep up with the supply.

The supply (of qualified teachers) simply cannot keep up with the demand (for English classes).

Sorry to nitpick (I study economics).

What others have said is true - work can be found in schools. Less desirable positions, but feasible. You will always be at a disadvantage regarding contract negotiations and finding new work in general, however, so keep your expectations low.

Edited January 21, 2012 at 03:05 PM by icebear

[liuzhou]

You're more likely to land a job in a second-tier cities. Restrictions in first-tier/metropolitan cities are getting more and more stringent; not only in regards to requiring a BA, but also in requiring teaching experience.

Becoming more and more true in second and third cities.

And why shouldn't they be more stringent? Almost every other country requires teachers to be qualified. Can you imagine western countries rolling over with happiness if every "Chinese as a foreign language" teacher turned up with no qualifications? And taught illegally. But it's OK to do the same here?

Teaching in China without a bachelor's degree is illegal. Whether or not the local authorities enforce that law is another matter and can change any time.

Most schools which employ unqualified teachers will be unlikely to require you to get beyond "Hello. I'm fine. How are you?" They only want foreign faces to attract more gullible parents sign up to have their kids taught "Hello. I'm fine. How are you?" The interweb is full of stories of unqualified teachers spending most of their time advertising the school.

Teaching is a skilled profession. Not a just a simple way to fund your travel or study.

Unfortunately, many schools and many "teachers" haven't worked that out.

[anonymoose]

Teaching is a skilled profession. Not a just a simple way to fund your travel or study.

But the reality is that it is just a simple way to fund travel, study, or an idle life for many people. Those coming in with relevant skills are a minority, and those taking teaching as a profession are next to none.

[liuzhou]

But the reality is that it is just a simple way to fund travel, study, or an idle life for many people.

Which is precisely why the Chinese authorities are tightening up, demanding bachelor's degrees (possible to be raised to master's degrees in the near future) and experience.

Rightly, in my opinion.

[WestTexas]

The fact is though Liuzhou there are plenty of people here teaching without a bachelor's degree. Does someone really need a college education to entertain a room full of 4-year-olds in a way that vaguely involves the English language? Is someone who has a bachelor's degree going to do that better than someone without one? I think the answer is clearly no in both cases. Even in the environments for children where they take teaching more seriously, like in the elementary schools, what do they do? My friends who teach in elementary schools generally show the students some pictures, give them example sentences, correct their verb tense, etc. It's not rocket science.

Teaching qualifications are no guarantee a person is going to be a good teacher, either. In fact, the two worst teachers I've met here were experienced, certified teachers from the US, one of them with 7 years of experience and the other with over 10. They had trouble adapting to the school system here and generally just weren't very nice to the students, who they expected to behave exactly like their American classrooms. Both of them complained about the country and about our jobs incessantly. Fortunately they both left early.

As a further example, how many of you had at least one professor in college who had a PhD but was an absolutely awful teacher? I had several. The physics department was especially bad, because most of their professors were hired for research credentials rather than teaching ability. Even a PhD and years of experience teaching is no guarantee that a person is a skilled teacher.

As for "the Chinese authorities are tightening up", I don't really think this is happening to the extent you describe. I have heard of them becoming stricter in Guangdong province but that's it. Maybe in Shanghai as well. But I have met people in Beijing with no college working as English teachers. I knew plenty of people in Shenyang who were not college educated who were teaching English.

[liuzhou]

Does someone really need a college education to entertain a room full of 4-year-olds in a way that vaguely involves the English language?

Of course not, but the point is that the authorities, if not the private school operators, want people to teach not to entertain, and to do that you do need a college education.

Teaching younger kids is generally more difficult than teaching university level. This is why, in most countries, primary level teachers spend more time studying education than do teachers higher up the education system. For example, in the UK, primary teachers usually have three years of education study (BEd), secondary teachers usually only have one year post-graduate teacher training (PGCE) and tertiary level lecturers have none. By university or college level, students are expected to take more responsibility for their own learning, clearly impossible for 4 year olds..

Yes there are bad qualified teachers, but there are bad qualified people in any job. And yes, there are still many unqualified teachers in China, but it is changing (not only in Guangdong) and, I'm sure, will continue to change. China is the only major country which still tolerates unqualified teachers, despite it being against their own rules.

[greatballsoffire]

"Does someone really need a college education to entertain a room full of 4-year-olds in a way that vaguely involves the English language?"

The reason that a visa is issued is because you can offer something that a local worker isnt able to offer,for a teacher that could be experience in teaching the british or american curriculum or having a bachelor's degree in the chosen subject. If a local person has the skills needed for the job then a local person should get the job.

However this is a mute point as until china changes anyone with a white face will beable to get a teaching jobs. You can get a job in any city in China , not just the second tier ones. I know you can get a part time job as a English First foreign teacher in shanghai ,you dont need a degree as they won;t be able to issue you with a visa.

This should change but until it does you have a lot of options. Just remember to becareful and always keep control of your passport.

You can stay 3 month in china on a tourist visa ( you need to renew it thou)

[imron]

It may well be a moot point for now, but as Liuzhou pointed out, it is changing, and you can't blame the Chinese government for wanting to improve the standard of foreign teachers.

[liuzhou]

You can stay 3 month in china on a tourist visa

But you can't legally work on a tourist visa. If you want to be an illegal immigrant, then fine.

[Steingletscher]

One thing I have in mind is having a side-job tutoring while I'm attending school in China (as I said before, it probably wouldn't be hard to find a job at the university I would attend helping students with their English homework). Do you need a bachelor's degree to do this? or do Chinese universities have positions like they do in America?

But the problem of what I would do when I arrive early is still open. I was thinking of privately tutoring friends of friends of mine (and they would in turn tutor me in Mandarin) while I waited for school to start. Whether my study Visa would allow me to arrive early and do this is unknown at the moment.

[icebear]

Regarding arriving early, I think schools typically issue visas that start near your academic year; if you wanted to arrive significantly earlier it may involve a tourist visa and then a HK trip to convert.

Concerning tutoring while you are a student to arrange in-kind tutoring or some spending money, this isn't unusual, although obviously all under the table. Your best bet is using online advertisements or networking at English Corners to arrange one on one sessions, rather than going through some organization.

[Steingletscher]

Yeah, I need some way to earn money to pay off past student loans because there are no schools in China (outside of Hong Kong) that are certified by the U.S. Department of Education and thus I cannot defer my loan payments.

[icebear]

Not sure about now, but the going rate for private tutoring in Beijing starts at around 100 RMB per hour for teachers that are not marketing themselves well (i.e. this was the bottom rate). I had friends pulling from 200-800 per hour (higher rates where with a self designed class with a few rich kids, so that's extreme too...). Pretty easy way to pick up money, if you can handle that its sporadic.

[roddy]

Bearing in mind that you're looking for a summer camp job - basically, what few standards China's ESL sector has go out the window in the summer. All the regular teachers are off on holiday and the schools are desperately trying to scrabble people together to staff their money-spinning summer classes. Just apply for the jobs anyway - it might be nearer the summer before they get desperate enough, but someone somewhere will give you something.

[WestTexas]

Not sure about now, but the going rate for private tutoring in Beijing starts at around 100 RMB per hour for teachers that are not marketing themselves well

I think anyone who tries at all can get 150 per hour. 800 per hour, that person must be damn good.

[icebear]

800 was a special situation, as noted: very qualified/experienced teacher, who fell ass-backwards into a group of 4 rich kids whose parents were willing to pony up 200 each for a shared hour. He rode that gravy train for a year or two!

Definitely not typical, though, but even 150 (under the table) is a great wage for a part time college student.

[Steingletscher]

There has to be more jobs for native speakers then teaching in school, summer camps, or tutoring. What about finding work with English consulting companies in China? I know in Korea there are positions where native English speakers sit there listening to Korean businessmen attempt to read a loud in English and the job of the speaker is to correct their pronunciation. Probably within these companies are different positions, each with their own qualifications.