What should me expectations be from teaching in China

[CANENGL]

Hi all. I am a Canadian with qualifications and would really like to know if it will be worth it to invest my time to land a job teaching in China. Please read over the following, and let me know what you think based on your expertise.

-Canadian

-Male

-36

-Non honours bachelors degree - English literature

-100 online TESOL certificate

-Middle Eastern ethnicity. Born in Mid East, studied in Canada from grade 7 to university. -Native English fluency with no foreign accent. Light skin colour but not white!!

-friendly and enthusiastic.

-Experience teaching ESL in the country I was born in, pre and post graduation...mostly adult teaching but some kids teaching too. Total of about 2-3 years experience full time.

I love teaching but I have not in about three years. I want to go back to it. I'm very interested in China, much more than the idea of going back to the MidEast to teach.

So, questions: will I have a hard time finding a teaching job in China? (I prefer middle school aged kids teaching and older, up to adult age)

What kind of salary and benefits should I expect?

[ChTTay]

On paper you're looking good and hit all of the requirements needed pretty much. You shouldn't have any problem getting an English teaching job in China.

I probably wouldn't mention "online" TEFL, just say it's a TEFL. They can look at the cert themselves or ask you directly if they want more information.

The main thing that could prevent you getting the top jobs is the fact you don't have a CELTA or Trinity TESOL. Places that will hire you with just a TEFL will likely hire you without one. It's useful to have that piece of TEFL paper anyway.

Your experience might help you there BUT it depends on each company. For instance, Wall Street English make it pretty clear you need a CELTA to be considered. It's hard to say overall.

Benefits and salary depend on the type of job and the location. You could look at public middle schools or high school, you could try for a University job (usually less hours, less pay but lots of time for other things), or private ESL companies/schools.

For salary, perhaps 8-16k but it depends on a lot of stuff. Also some schools might pay you less but give you an apartment or something.

[TheWind]

I agree a lot with what chTTay says.

In addition:

Employers are quick to judge on race, despite how educated & qualified you are. That being said, you probably won't have as many options as a white person.

I too prefer teaching teens & adults, but those opportunities are significantly less. Given that you're not White (often times an unspoken requirement) I wouldnt be too picky about jobs.

salary varies on location. I wouldn't take anything less than 8k. If you're working in Beijing or Shanghai then it can go as high as 20k

[gato]

Middle Eastern is close enough to White for China. Most Chinese won't be able to tell the difference. Just don't talk about your ethnicity on job interviews.

[艾墨本]

I agree with Gato, kind of. I'm mixed: middle eastern and eastern European white. The only time anyone has ever correctly guessed my middle eastern ancestry (Israeli) has been in China. However, a lot of Chinese people think I'm from Xinjiang, but even more people just consider me "white."