Is TEFL certificate enough for teaching english in china?

[Ervinux]

I am european guy,non native speaker of english.I do not have a degree,but I am fluent in english and have a TEFL certificate.

So I would like to work as a teacher in smaller cities of China.Is it possible for me to find a teaching job there?

[ChTTay]

All the boxes you should aim to tick are, essentially, the following;

 

- Over 25

- Native speaker

- Degree

- 2 years teaching experience of some kind

- TEFL cert of any kind (some schools might have stricter, individual requirments like a Cambridge CELTA)

 

From what you've said in your post, you don't meet two of those requirements. Are you over 25 with two years experience teaching?

 

It won't be impossible for you to find 'a job' in China but it will be tough to find a good one and, perhaps more importantly, a fully legal job. Smaller cities do indeed find it harder to attract foreign teachers and thus, the requirements can be bent a bit more. However, if you aren't close to the requirements it gives them less to work with.

 

Of cours, there are all sorts of teachers from non-native countries working in China, including African countries and other asian ones - particularly the Phillipines. That said, I don't know what their visa status is or their salary/working conditions.

 

Short answer, yes you can probably get a job but it might not be very good.

[liuzhou]

 

 

I am european guy,non native speaker of english.I do not have a degree,but I am fluent in english and have a TEFL certificate.

So I would like to work as a teacher in smaller cities of China.Is it possible for me to find a teaching job there?

 

Not legally.

 

As has been said you need a degree to work legally. No legal school wants or is allowed to employ an unqualified non-native speaking teacher. 

 

You could probably find an illegal job. Is that really what you want?

[Ervinux]

Then what can i work legally?

[ChTTay]

It would be difficult to work legally as a teacher.

You would have to work in your home country to meet the requirements then come after.

Otherwise, for other jobs, it depends on what your skills are.

[Simon_CH]

Quite frankly teaching English would very likely be your only chance of working (semi-) legally in China. But it's only a question of time until the crackdown on unqualified teachers or schools that hire teachers without work Visas will extend to the provinces. So don't make any long-term plans of staying in China. 

 

Quite frankly I think the time where you could just move to China as a young foreigner to live and work there is really over. Cambodia's the new frontier I've heard, might want to check that out. 

[liuzhou]

 

Then what can i work legally?

 

I'm sorry, but unless you have some major skill you haven't mentioned, there are few opportunities.

 

Apart from teachers (who, as we have pointed out, need to be qualified), the majority of people able to work legally in China, work for joint ventures and are recruited in their homelands.

 

Of course if you have a few million dollars to invest, you will be welcomed. Sort of. Maybe.