Fewer labels in search of ESL jobs, more chances you will be hired

March and September is usually the peak seasons to look for ESL jobs in China.Many foreign teachers are seeking ESL jobs for next semester. Many of them are exellent native teachers. So we need to think how to help foreign teachers find better jobs quickly and how to help schools to hire more suitable teachers.

It’s common that foreign teachers have their own preferences when looking for English teaching jobs in China, such as location, school type, student age and salary. And schools in China also have different requirements for foreign teachers. It can be understood that when these foreign teachers,who have already worked in China are in the search for new jobs, their expectations for salary and other aspects have been increased a lot. Many foreign reachers are not willing to give the dream of big cities, which brough a lot of difficulties for our recruitment. Every time you ask, “where do you work now” “Shanghai”. Then basically you don’t need to ask where they want to work later, 99% will stay in Shanghai.Big city have more opportunities, but the competition is very intense. When there is a good job,it will be filled very soon,because there are too many teachers look for ESL jobs there. So when other good teachers are in the market, there are no jobs to place them. When I first worked as a recruiter, 10000RMB was a good salary. But recently many teachers are asking for 20000RMB. It’s really very very hard to recommend.Those teachers are excellent, with good qualifications and academic experience. They also have all the visa documents ready. But their requirements are too high to find a good school to match, especially in those big cities with many talents. Few schools are willing to pay a high salary plus free accommodation and flight allowance. Take Shanghai as an example, nearly no schools in Shanghai will provide a free apartment, because the rent is really high there. Teachers always ask for much higher salary like 20000RMB in Shanghai since the cost of living there is high. But schools also have their concerns. It will cost them too much to offer 20000RMB with free accommodation. So in Shanghai, schools usually offer 15000RMB with free accommodation or 20000RMB without accomodation. Nearly no schools can offer 20000RMb with accommodation.So, dear foreign teachers, why not consider experiencing the beauty of the rest of China? Why do you have to stay in the big city? Compared to those who seek opportunities in big cities, I would rather stay in the small city, experiencing local culture and enjoying the slow pace of life.

There is a Serbian female foreign teacher who got her master degree in the United States and had much experience. What’s more important, she is a good quality person and amiable. The first time I talked with her, she gave me the feeling of relaxation.She told a lot of about her choices for cities. She said she would prefer to vist big cities on weekends when she is off work. Living in smaller cities can better experience the real life. This foreign teacher’s personality charm deeply attracted me. Although some schools explicitly need native teachers only, I still tried to recommend some good schools. No accident, these schools were very satisfied with her video and thought she was an easygoing person. You can tell from the first sight that she is good at teaching and a good quality person. Very soon, the foreign teacher chose a suitable English teaching job for her and also get a higher salary than expected. Sometimes, native speaker and higher education is not necessarily equal to high salary. Good schools will more appreciate the personality charm of foreign teachers.

Therefore, foreign teachers can reduce the unchanged requirements such as location. Likewise, schools can also remove some labels for outstanding teachers in choice of foreign teachers like mative speakers. In this way, opportunities for both schools and foreign teachers will be increased a lot.