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Hi everyone,
So I kind of mentioned this in my last thread, but I’m a Chinese-Canadian who was born in Jinan, Shandong, moved to Toronto @ age 4 and would like to teach English in Chengdu. I’ve heard bad stories over the internet how non-white looking people are discriminated against when applying for English-teaching jobs in China. Less pay, less opportunity and will get an earful from Chinese parents who enrolled their kids in the school. From your experience, is this true (particularly in Chengdu)? Do you know any Chinese “foreigners” returning to teach English in their home country?
I’ve heard the same story – and it’s not just for returning Chinese diaspora but for Africans and people of colour in general – many Chinese parents prefer the ‘white face’ teachers, regardless of their actual qualification or ability. That doesn’t mean you can’t get work, just as you said, maybe less opportunity and more challenge in doing so. I think some people on the forum here have first-hand experience, but if you look Chinese and teach English, the bad stories are true.
Let me chime in as an ABC in Chengdu. I did not come to Chengdu specifically looking for teaching jobs, but I began teaching TOEFL prep and an intro to American culture class (of my own design) at a university. I was making the standard foreigner wage at the time.
There were schools that were interested in hiring me when I contacted them over the phone, but then flat out denied me when I came in person due to my non-white appearance (METEN). I’ve gotten approached by more schools to enroll as a student than to work as a teacher (LOL). So the rumors are somewhat true. There are schools that don’t care for the actual quality of the teachers as much as their appearance. I will name Golden Apple kindergarten as another. I imagine most other “glorified daycare” jobs are the same.
But I’d like to bring up a point that isn’t mentioned much. There are certain advantages that the Chinese face has, at least in my experience, when it comes to finding teaching gigs. The guanxi game plays a bigger role and it was really easy for me to find a lot of private in-home jobs. I had a few classes with 2-5 students with very friendly families that were constantly inviting me to nice dinners, home cooked meals, private drivers, vacation offers and some small gifts. They would tell their friends about me and soon I had a waiting list of families that wanted me to do classes for their kids.
I much prefer these private classes to the big training schools. The hours are flexible, the atmosphere is relaxed, there’s less bullshit, the kids want to learn and their parents are right there to make sure they’re behaved.
I’m not sure if my experience is completely related to me looking Chinese, but I think it certainly helped.
Let me chime in as an ABC in Chengdu. I did not come to Chengdu specifically looking for teaching jobs, but I began teaching TOEFL prep and an intro to American culture class (of my own design) at a university. I was making the standard foreigner wage at the time. There were schools that were interested in hiring me when I contacted them over the phone, but then flat out denied me when I came in person due to my non-white appearance (METEN). I’ve gotten approached by more schools to enroll as a student than to work as a teacher (LOL). So the rumors are somewhat true. There are schools that don’t care for the actual quality of the teachers as much as their appearance. I will name Golden Apple kindergarten as another. I imagine most other “glorified daycare” jobs are the same. But I’d like to bring up a point that isn’t mentioned much. There are certain advantages that the Chinese face has, at least in my experience, when it comes to finding teaching gigs. The guanxi game plays a bigger role and it was really easy for me to find a lot of private in-home jobs. I had a few classes with 2-5 students with very friendly families that were constantly inviting me to nice dinners, home cooked meals, private drivers, vacation offers and some small gifts. They would tell their friends about me and soon I had a waiting list of families that wanted me to do classes for their kids. I much prefer these private classes to the big training schools. The hours are flexible, the atmosphere is relaxed, there’s less bullshit, the kids want to learn and their parents are right there to make sure they’re behaved. I’m not sure if my experience is completely related to me looking Chinese, but I think it certainly helped.
Hi Chris,
Thank you so much for the detailed answer – it really helped. I actually prefer older students (high school/University/adults) as I don’t really want to babysit a bunch of younger kids. May I ask how you got a job at the University? How would I apply to Universities in general (I’m relatively flexible in terms of which area of China I work)? Email? The TOEFL thing sounds like something to my interest too actually, as well as the private tutoring. You’ve basically worked all my dream teaching jobs so far haha.
What hurts me (at least in my opinion) more is that I’m not even technically an ABC/CBC. It says on my (Canadian) passport, born: Jinan, China. I have no issues with pronunciation though as I’ve lived in Toronto for 15+ years since I was 4.
Also, do you speak fluent Mandarin? I speak pretty good Mandarin, just with a bit of a combination of a Jinanese/English accent. I can read pretty well too (maybe I should look for some translator jobs). But I feel like I should lie initially and pretend I don’t know any Mandarin to prospective employers to make myself seem more “foreign” haha.
Thanks again,
– Lawrence
I got the university job through some guanxi with a professor there, though it shouldn’t be difficult finding a similar position by just asking around. Most of the teachers there are Chinese nationals with English degrees. There are a good number of universities that are looking for English speaking teachers for specific subjects (math, sciences etc). I believe Sichuan University is looking. Email might be ok, but Weixin, QQ, Phone are still more commonly used.
I think that since you are legally a foreign national, they are more likely to pay you foreigner wages. I wouldn’t accept less, if I were you. Teachers are still in pretty high demand.
At the time that I arrived in China, my Chinese was not fluent and I couldn’t read.
I got the university job through some guanxi with a professor there, though it shouldn’t be difficult finding a similar position by just asking around. Most of the teachers there are Chinese nationals with English degrees. There are a good number of universities that are looking for English speaking teachers for specific subjects (math, sciences etc). I believe Sichuan University is looking. Email might be ok, but Weixin, QQ, Phone are still more commonly used. I think that since you are legally a foreign national, they are more likely to pay you foreigner wages. I wouldn’t accept less, if I were you. Teachers are still in pretty high demand. At the time that I arrived in China, my Chinese was not fluent and I couldn’t read.
How would one “ask around” though? Do you mean fly to Chengdu and do it? Because I would prefer to get a job so I’m safe, then go there. I have QQ but not weixin (yet) – how do I find/contact these institutions on there??? Sorry for so many questions
There is an issue with getting a job sorted out while you’re still overseas, namely you’ll have to sign a contract up front and wont know what you’re getting into. Things can change upon arrival, can get f’d essentially – it’s a risk as well…
There is an issue with getting a job sorted out while you’re still overseas, namely you’ll have to sign a contract up front and wont know what you’re getting into. Things can change upon arrival, can get f’d essentially – it’s a risk as well…
That’s true but what if I fly to Chengdu and can’t find a satisfactory job? A flight from China to Canada is not cheap. Also, I’m relatively flexible about what area I want to go to. At the top of my list is Chengdu, followed by Hangzhou, Suzhou, Nanjing, Yangzhou etc. So I don’t know if it’s a good idea to just fly around and ask – a lot of $$$ spent around just looking when I’m only looking to stay for maybe 2 years.
Does anyone else have any opinions/input on this issue? Whether it’s better to get a job overseas or fly to the location and find one? Much appreciated guys.
I’m with Rick on this one. It’s a much bigger risk to agree to a deal without being there to really scope out the conditions and then being bound to a contract for a job where you’re getting screwed.
Also keep in mind that Chinese people treat contracts as very “flexible”. I would advise you to do more research on the locations and decide where you want to live the most, line up some prospects, then just take a leap of faith and head over. You should be able to find a satisfactory job in any of those cities, but the quality of living (and cost of living) will differ between each one.
I’m one of those people who secured a contract/visa before moving. It wasn’t the best job, but with a little diligence and common sense you can avoid becoming a horror story. Some common advice (for uni jobs) you’ll hear on ESL forums is to narrow down the places you’re interested in, and then head to the city’s wiki page. They tend to list most of the major universities in the city. From there you can jump to the uni website and look for contact people in the Foreign Language Dept and start blasting emails. It’s not the most efficient way obviously, but it’s a start if you’re not in a position to apply in person.
Otherwise there are plenty of ESL oriented job sites out there for you to reply to ads directly. They’ve faded from memory a bit, but try Dave’s ESL, abroadchina, seriousteacher, echinacities. Like Chris said, do your research and you’ll be fine.
There were schools that were interested in hiring me when I contacted them over the phone, but then flat out denied me when I came in person due to my non-white appearance (METEN). I’ve gotten approached by more schools to enroll as a student than to work as a teacher (LOL). So the rumors are somewhat true. There are schools that don’t care for the actual quality of the teachers as much as their appearance. I will name Golden Apple kindergarten as another. I imagine most other “glorified daycare” jobs are the same.
I agree with a lot of what you say Chris, but I wanted to take exception to you mentioning Golden Apple in this way. We currently employ teachers of Chinese and Asian ethnicity that are passport holders from native English speaking countries, they are on the same benefits packages as everyone else. We do not discriminate based on appearance, we only hire teachers from native English speaking countries because we cannot legally get a visa for other nationalities, this is not us it is a government policy. You are entitled to your opinion but I am taking the opportunity to defend ourselves, because it is not true that we discriminate.
I agree with a lot of what you say Chris, but I wanted to take exception to you mentioning Golden Apple in this way. We currently employ teachers of Chinese and Asian ethnicity that are passport holders from native English speaking countries, they are on the same benefits packages as everyone else. We do not discriminate based on appearance, we only hire teachers from native English speaking countries because we cannot legally get a visa for other nationalities, this is not us it is a government policy. You are entitled to your opinion but I am taking the opportunity to defend ourselves, because it is not true that we discriminate.
If this is true, it’s good to know. I’ve never tried to get a job at Golden Apple myself, so I wasn’t trying to claim that they discriminate. I only wanted to point out that from my 3+ years in Chengdu, I know that they have hired teachers that I, personally, would not consider qualified to teach (non-native English speakers of questionable moral fiber). I’m sure the demand for white-faced teachers is still high.
Some common advice (for uni jobs) you’ll hear on ESL forums is to narrow down the places you’re interested in, and then head to the city’s wiki page. They tend to list most of the major universities in the city. From there you can jump to the uni website and look for contact people in the Foreign Language Dept and start blasting emails. It’s not the most efficient way obviously, but it’s a start if you’re not in a position to apply in person.
This is good advice, although I came over on a student’s visa and then transferred after a semester to a work visa at a university. But I was also certain that I wanted to live in Chengdu, and that I wanted a uni job, so it was pretty easy to narrow my search.
I’d suggest figuring out what you want out of a place to live first. If you want a large & established expat community, cosmopolitan lifestyle etc. then I’d suggest Beijing/Shanghai. Hangzhou, Suzhou, Yangzhou & Nanjing are like smaller cities with smallish expat communities, but they’re both close enough to Shanghai that they can almost feel suburban. That being said none of those cities expat communities are as large or vibrant as Chengdu’s in my opinion.
Not to rush you but your timing might be a little tight for a uni job; most of the unis do their hiring in late May early June and are on vacation now until August. Try what Mike said and get in touch with a hiring manager at a uni, sometimes they still have a last-minute position to fill esp. if somebody quits over the summer/doesn’t show up in fall. After Sept. 1st you’re pretty much stuck until January, and the open positions are way fewer then. Good luck job hunting!
Some common advice (for uni jobs) you’ll hear on ESL forums is to narrow down the places you’re interested in, and then head to the city’s wiki page. They tend to list most of the major universities in the city. From there you can jump to the uni website and look for contact people in the Foreign Language Dept and start blasting emails. It’s not the most efficient way obviously, but it’s a start if you’re not in a position to apply in person.
This is good advice, although I came over on a student’s visa and then transferred after a semester to a work visa at a university. But I was also certain that I wanted to live in Chengdu, and that I wanted a uni job, so it was pretty easy to narrow my search. I’d suggest figuring out what you want out of a place to live first. If you want a large & established expat community, cosmopolitan lifestyle etc. then I’d suggest Beijing/Shanghai. Hangzhou, Suzhou, Yangzhou & Nanjing are like smaller cities with smallish expat communities, but they’re both close enough to Shanghai that they can almost feel suburban. That being said none of those cities expat communities are as large or vibrant as Chengdu’s in my opinion. Not to rush you but your timing might be a little tight for a uni job; most of the unis do their hiring in late May early June and are on vacation now until August. Try what Mike said and get in touch with a hiring manager at a uni, sometimes they still have a last-minute position to fill esp. if somebody quits over the summer/doesn’t show up in fall. After Sept. 1st you’re pretty much stuck until January, and the open positions are way fewer then. Good luck job hunting!
Thanks for the great information. Having a large expat community doesn’t really have much of an effect on my decision because I speak Mandarin fluently and can read pretty well. I actually want to make friends with locals more to improve my Chinese. My family is originally from Northeastern China so I want to go somewhere different. Northwest China is barren so that leaves the Southeast (Jiangsu/Zhejiang) or the Southwest (Sichuan/Yunnan). I also want to go somewhere with a rich history and culture (Shanghai is too westernized) so Chengdu/Nanjing etc. is probably best for me. I’m also very interested in the Three Kingdoms Era (and the novel) and Chengdu was the capital of the Shu kingdom and has a shrine of the Prime Minister, Zhuge Liang (Wu Hou Ci).
The problem is that I don’t graduate until November, so it looks like I’ll need a January job. Could I perhaps go a month or two early and just do some private tutoring and then apply get a Uni job in January?
The problem is that I don’t graduate until November, so it looks like I’ll need a January job. Could I perhaps go a month or two early and just do some private tutoring and then apply get a Uni job in January?
Well, if you came over in November you’d also be facing the issue of everything winding down for the end of the year/spring festival; you might be able to find some work but around January the extra training gets pretty thin. Since you just graduated from college, I’d say your best bet would be getting a job “polishing” essays for students looking to study abroad. Lots of companies charge big money to help students get into foreign universities, and as a native speaker you help their essays sound more native and make more sense. A little ethically questionable, but its pretty common over here and you make about 30-40$ an essay, the peak season for that is Sept-Dec. Check out places like Echinacities and do a little googling and you should be able to dig something up, sometimes people post job offers on here as well.
That’s cool you speak fluent Mandarin and are into Chinese culture. Sichuan’s definitely different and there’s a lot to see, lots of history and Western Sichuan is like a whole different world. The food here is really excellent, what I really like is the slower pace of life people have here, even though it’s kind of a big city people are very laid-back and seem to want to enjoy life, rather than just making money. Nanjing’s cool as well, when I went there I spent a few days just touring the museums and didn’t run out of things to do.
Well, if you came over in November you’d also be facing the issue of everything winding down for the end of the year/spring festival; you might be able to find some work but around January the extra training gets pretty thin. Since you just graduated from college, I’d say your best bet would be getting a job “polishing” essays for students looking to study abroad. Lots of companies charge big money to help students get into foreign universities, and as a native speaker you help their essays sound more native and make more sense. A little ethically questionable, but its pretty common over here and you make about 30-40$ an essay, the peak season for that is Sept-Dec. Check out places like Echinacities and do a little googling and you should be able to dig something up, sometimes people post job offers on here as well. That’s cool you speak fluent Mandarin and are into Chinese culture. Sichuan’s definitely different and there’s a lot to see, lots of history and Western Sichuan is like a whole different world. The food here is really excellent, what I really like is the slower pace of life people have here, even though it’s kind of a big city people are very laid-back and seem to want to enjoy life, rather than just making money. Nanjing’s cool as well, when I went there I spent a few days just touring the museums and didn’t run out of things to do.
Thank you so much!
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