My partner and I are moving to Hong Kong where she has been offered a job beginning early October. We met whilst working on board a cruise ship and have since been living together in London for the past 2 years. During this time I have been working as a Club Host at a private members club in the city.
I am 32 years of age, native English and have a British passport (but no degree!). I have spent most of my twenties working around Europe with tour operators doing various jobs ie chalet host, resort rep etc.
When we arrive in Hong Kong I am very keen to pursue some kind of English teaching job.
Could you advise me please on what the different levels of teaching are, what might be suitable for me in Hong Kong and the courses available out there.
Concerned about Working Visa?
-
21-09-2008, 01:54 AM #1paulkeefe
Advice on teaching/working in Hong Kong?
-
-
21-09-2008, 02:33 AM #2
You can't legally work, study or even reside in Hong Kong without some sort of visa. Assuming that your partner will have an Employment Visa, your best bet would be to get married (trivial to do here) - this will give you a Dependant Visa which will then make it much easier for you to find a job, and will enable you to study for any qualifications you might need for teaching. As a non-graduate with no particular special experience you are going to be struggling to get an Employment Visa (or even to find a potential employer who is willing to try).
-
21-09-2008, 04:05 PM #3
hi
i am teaching in an international school here in hk, but having a teaching degree. before i got here i could not find a job for a secondary school and applied to anything i could find. I discovered there are some 'english language centres' who will emply anyone who is british to teahc english - degree or not - the pay is not great but they might / will sponsor your visa. Then there are those centres which want a TEFL certificate, you can do one on line - some will accept these, others want you to study in person on a specific course. Getting a visa to legally study might be hard though. Or you can go to uni at get a teaching degree which will qualify you to work in a school.
HKU has many courses. Classified post ( job section) on line Classified Post Online
on a saturday has many adverts - i sent my CV to all of them - most replied with feedback and were helpful.
best bet is to try your luck - apply to everything and see what happens. get some work experience in the uk before you come, and if you have time, do a TEFL.
-
21-09-2008, 10:19 PM #4
Since you have experience in the club area, you might want to explore the possibility of working in one the private clubs over here. There are plenty of them and many employ expats... Pay isn't great but you might not be better off with teaching English in a private centre. You could become a tutor but again without a degree, it's a little harder to sell yourself...
-
22-09-2008, 09:01 AM #5paulkeefe
Hi
Thanks for your posts.
On the teaching front, as advised I shall bombard every early learning centre, school etc I can find. I am thinking of doing an online TEFL when I arrive in 10 days, since by the sounds of it I may have plenty of spare time!!*?
As far as the private members clubs situation, even though i have vast experience and glowing references in the industry, aren't working visas completely out of the question in this field?
Many thanks for your feedback, keep it coming please!!!
-
22-09-2008, 09:50 AM #6
Paul
Take a look at Dave's ESL Cafe
Invaluable help and advice from those of us that have TEFL etc.
-
22-09-2008, 01:17 PM #7
Originally Posted by paulkeefe:
