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NO teaching experience - is it possible to still get a job?


adam32

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I am a 40 year old UK citizen, born and educated in the UK.  I did CELTA in 2010 (UK institute, grade B), but have had no experience in terms of professional teaching work.  I also wonder if CELTA is still recognized from so long ago?

 

Additionally, my formal education does not related to English teaching in any way.  I have a bachelors degree in Psychology and Politics (20 years ago) and a LLB law degree from 2013.  I also have professional law qualifications and just completed a masters in social work (registered social worker).

 

As you can see my only qualification relating to English teaching is my CELTA (7 years ago) Do I have any hope of getting a job with just this, or am I dreaming?  Would it be better to do a masters in English teaching before arriving in China?  What other options does someone have in a bad position like me?

 

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Do you have two years work experience and a pulse? Welcome to China!

 

I think you'll be fine, and if you sell yourself as an 'English for lawyers' teacher you could do very well indeed. You might lose out on some jobs to people with more recent qualifications or more experience, but you'll get something. 

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Thanks for your replies as it is encouraging.  The problem is where would I look for a job?  At this stage I really don't mind any job, as one of my main motivations is to learn Chinese while working.  Are there any schools which will sort me a visa while I am in the UK?  Looking into the situation, I can at the moment get a tourist visa, but I would need plane tickets and full itinerary.  As an adventure I don't even want to travel by plane to China.  I want to cycle (I cycle up to 200 miles a day) and go on the train across central Asia. I certainly won't pre book anything and prefer local accommodation as I go, such as airbnb.

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Adam, as one 40 year old man to another - you appear to have gone from being a lawyer, to wanting to be a social worker, to wanting to cycle to to China and become an English teacher while you learn Chinese. Sit down and have a little think about what you really want to do. Sure? Ok. 

 

Just Google 'teaching jobs in China' - there's no shortage and a decent school will get you set up with a working visa before you fly out. 

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49 minutes ago, roddy said:

Adam, as one 40 year old man to another - you appear to have gone from being a lawyer, to wanting to be a social worker, to wanting to cycle to to China and become an English teacher while you learn Chinese. Sit down and have a little think about what you really want to do. Sure? Ok. 

 

I know I sound indecisive, but there is nothing wrong with changing direction!  I guess I will change direction again in the future, but when I decide on something I tend to stick with it for a few years at least.  As for cycling that is one thing that has stuck with me all my life.  I used to be a semi professional cyclist, but was not good enough to reach the top and abandoned it as a career in my mid twenties.  Despite this I very much enjoy cycling and have previously cycled from London to Moscow.  So why not Cycle to China, especially as that's where I want to work. 

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I could be wrong but I think a work visa (such as a for a job as a teacher) will require you to enter the country within a certain number of days of the visa being issued and depending on how much of the route you'll be cycling, that time limit (maybe a month or two?) might have expired by the time you rock up at a Chinese border crossing.

If that is an issue then doing it on a tourist visa might be better, assuming it is possible (again I don't know) to switch to a work visa once you're in China without returning back to the UK.

Depending on where you book, you can book fully refundable plane tickets and a couple of weeks worth of accommodation, just hold on to them long enough to show them to the visa office.

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10 hours ago, 889 said:

And as a UK citizen, he'll get a two-year multiple-entry tourist visa permitting a 90-day stay each entry. That should give him a lot of flexibility while he looks for work.

 

Where did your read that?  I holidayed in China and Thailand  about 10 years ago and all I got was a 30 day multiple entry Visa.  It certainly did not last for 2 years.  I have also had a look on the Chinese consulate webpage in UK, but can't see anything about two years.  I thought once you had your 90 days that was it. Where are you getting the 2 year figure from?

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"I have also had a look on the Chinese consulate webpage in UK, but can't see anything about two years."

 

Look again.

 

http://www.chinese-embassy.org.uk/eng/visa/notice/t1330627.htm

 

(Note that each entry is limited to a 90-day stay; after that you have to head to Hong Kong or such and then re-enter the Mainland for another 90 days, unless you want to head to the PSB and try for an extension. And just so there's no confusion, this is a special deal for UK citizens, though Americans and Canadians do get 10-year multiple-entry visas.)

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Thanks for clarifying this.  It seems that the new rules only came in last week. On another note, do you have any idea what they mean by this:    

 

"Five-year and ten-year visas will be issued to eligible British nationals."

 

who are the "eligible" British nationals?

 

 

 

 

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No, it's been in effect for a year, now. That date in the announcement is 2016, not 2017.

 

An "eligible" British National is presumably one who meets the other requirements for receiving a visa and who is a "full" British National, and not, say, a British National (Overseas).

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