Hi, I was wondering whether anyone here is currently teaching English in Hong Kong?
I'd be interested in hearing how you looked for jobs, and how your experience is/was.

Many thanks, D xx

Hi Danni,

That's great that you're thinking about heading to Hong Kong - you might want to get in touch with these guys who are out there teaching at the minute:

http://www.tefl-chalkboard.com/bevsace

http://www.tefl-chalkboard.com/briankoehler

http://www.tefl-chalkboard.com/kittywwk

http://www.tefl-chalkboard.com/dean

Good luck!

I feel sorry for Chinese who have English as their first language (or close enough to first language). I've had experience with Chinese and overseas Chinese struggeling to find positions (although they can, but usually MUST have some higher qualification then TEFL).

My girlfriend pushed me into some small Educational Centre after I had been in Hong Kong a while. You know you can do a few hours in an Educational Centre without a working visa, so this kind of experience in a small back area Educational Centre built my experience to move to another Educational Centre. After tutoring for a little while I got known as "an English teacher" (no TEFL certificate). By this time I was married and had a dependancy visa so it was a little easier to get a job somewhere more reputable in a place who wouldn't usually consider sponsoring a foreigner for a visa.

I got myself in an organisation who go into schools running cources with quite high pay (but super low conveinence, running to any school they put me). Eventually I got a few hours a day in a Kindergarten, it went from a few hours to a few more until I was finishing in the afternoon. I do a few other cources in other Kindergartens some afternoons, my afternoons are flexible because of these cources, flexible as in the contracts are per term, not per year. This is my experience in getting into English teaching in Hong Kong, I didn't actually come to Hong Kong in the first place for English Teaching. It is kind of nice that Westerners can teach English, but you need to realize that there's not really many other options for us. I'm a Westerner, so I can be an English teacher... or... an English teacher *haha*. I studied Graphic Art in Australia, the adverage pay in Hong Kong for a Graphic Artist is 7 to 16k for 5.5 days a week.

The current environment for teaching in Hong Kong would create mixed reviews.  There is an increasing need for Qualified Teachers, but there is a bit of a saturated market for unqualified teachers.  It is true that you can squeeze through the immigration process with a few minor qualifications (4-year degree from a recognized University AND some "teaching experience").  It completely depends upon how much extra documentation you can provide with your application as well as how recognized / creative your sponsor is with the immigration department. Unfortunately, there is also an unwritten quota system that is ingrained in the immigration officers.  If you are from the UK, US, or Australia your chances of being accepted without too much hassle are pretty high...but if you find yourself from an area of the world where people tend to speak with a "thick accent" (SE Asia, eastern Europe, Middle East, etc) you will find the process a little more frustrating.

If you need to beef up your application, here are a few suggestions for documentation you can provide to justify your teaching experience:

- Certified copies of all degrees along with official school transcripts

- TEFL certificate as well as any other language specializations (phonics, grammar, young learners, etc)

- letters of recommendation from the parents of previous students (if you have private instruction or small group experience) ...even camp counselors, Scout volunteers, Sunday school experience, babysitting/Nanny...be creative!

- letters of recommendation (from previous employers, professors, instructors, etc) focusing on your teaching / instruction experience

- if you hold a Master's degree or higher and/or you hold a teaching qualification / certificate, you could consider spending some scratch and having your degrees qualified by the HKCAAVQ (Hong Kong Council for Accreditation of Academic and Vocational Qualifications).  This will make you MUCH more marketable to all learning centers, teacher agencies, and even individual schools.  This qualification can be used to support sponsorship for primary and secondary school NET educators by the schools themselves.  Primary and Secondary schools can pay much higher than kindergartens because of government support.  Kindergartens and learning centers need to rely on parent fees, student tuition, and/or charity support so the pay rate will be considerably lower than government supported schools.

Dealing with the Hong Kong Immigration department can be quite an ordeal. I had to wade my way through it, but for a dependency visa, I didn't need to go through the 'working visa' door. There are always other options in nearby cities like Shenzhen, Guangzhou, Dongguan, Jiangmen. Actually if you wanted to teach in Jiangmen or Dongguan it would be quite easy to get a place there.