Hong Kong Calling! How To Embark Your TEFL Teaching Carrer In Hong Kong? Complete Guide
Hong Kong is a city in China that offers bustling cityscapes with attractive neon lights, a vibrant fusion of cultures, exotic foods to try, and the thrill of adventure around every corner of the city.
What if we told you that you can experience all this and have rewarding TEFL teaching at the same time?
Well, Hong Kong is the place, which is offering a unique blend of professional growth, cultural immersion, and the opportunity to shape the young generation for a better future.
If you are also willing to experience this kind of experience then buckle up!
In this blog post, we will be navigating the exciting journey of becoming a successful English teacher in the heart of Hong Kong.
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So, without any further delay, let’s get started.
Requirements for Becoming a TEFL Teacher in Hong Kong
The basic requirements to teach English in Hong Kong are-
- Should be a native English speaker
- Experience teaching English to children
- Having TEFL certification (at least 120 hours)
- Having a Bachelor’s degree
Teaching Opportunities in Hong Kong
Source: hongkongfp.com
There are plenty of teaching English opportunities at various levels. Let’s get to explore various opportunities available for you to teach English in Hong Kong:
Local Schools
You can get plenty of opportunities to teach in government schools in Hong Kong, as there’s a huge demand for TEFL teachers around the globe. You will get to work hand in hand with local teachers who will also help you adapt to the local government school environment. You can expect a good salary compared to kindergarten and learning centers.
You can find government English teaching opportunities through NET scheme and other job portals available online.
Additionally, don’t forget to ask every doubt and queries related to teaching like-
- What will be your net salary?
- Is there any responsibility after school hours, like-parents-teacher meetings (because these meetings are generally held in the Cantonese language)?
- What will be the working hours?
International Schools
There are plenty of teaching opportunities in international schools in Hong Kong. You can expect a very good salary package and easy-to-manage working hours.
However, the competition is huge to teach in international schools, because the students you will find here are mostly from different countries who have already a high English language proficiency.
To stand a good chance to teach in one of the international schools, you need to have a teaching degree, a teaching license from your home country, Native English-speaking proficiency and you need to have a master’s degree.
Kindergarten
If you love to teach preschoolers or children of 3-5 years old then teaching in Kindergarten is the perfect choice for you. You can expect to work with local school teaching staff to plan out instruction lessons and activities for the young learners.
However, teaching in kindergarten can be exhaustive sometimes, because other than teaching and planning you are also expected to compile the progress of each student and share it with parents’ time-to-time which can be consuming.
Moreover, on the bright side, you will get to teach adorable children who will be full of enthusiasm and it will reward you handsomely on a paycheck basis too.
Learning Centers
In learning centers, you will find mostly adult students who are looking to learn the English language to progress in their respective careers or for higher studies. If you have decided to teach in learning centers in Hong Kong then you can expect to work on Saturday too.
However, on the bright side, you can expect to get two days off each week. Generally, in most of the learning centers, you can expect days off on Sunday and one on any of the weekdays, but you can be certain that you will not get 2 days in a row week off.
Talking about paychecks, it varies with different learning centers. We suggest you do your own research about the learning centers before joining to see how well you will get paid and about the work culture.
How To Find ESL Job Opportunities in Hong Kong?
There are various job boards where you can find plenty of job openings to teach English in Hong Kong. Some of our recommendations are:
Note: Always do your own research before applying for any ESL job by checking reviews from platforms like- Glassdoor, Trustpilot, etc.
Visa Requirement To Teach in Hong Kong
If you want to legally teach in Hong Kong then you need a working visa from the government called Z-Visa. Before you apply for the visa, you need to have an employment letter from your employer or school. Your employers will take care of the visa process, but there are a few things that need to be done from your end before leaving your home country.
You will need to have all the below-mentioned documents to ensure a smooth process for getting your Z-visa.
- Scanned Copies of your photograph
- Scanned Copies of your passport
- Scanned Copies of your job letter from the employer
- TEFL certificate
- Any relevant experience (letter of recommendation from previous organization)
Once you have all the documents in order, you need to visit the nearest Chinese Embassy/Consulate and submit all the required documents. You can expect to receive your Z-visa in around 7 days or earlier.
Salary Bracket You Can Expect
Hong Kong is one of the top TEFL destinations, which offers very generous pay checks to qualified TEFL teachers. If you have bagged a full-time TEFL teaching job, you can expect to earn around HK$16,000 to HK$65,000 ($2,000 – $8,380) monthly.
On top of that, if you want to earn extra money by offering private classes then you can charge around HK$100 – $550 ($13 – $70) per hour.
However, if you are a complete fresher and you come across a question from your employer: What is your salary expectation? Then, you should know the average salary of TEFL teaching in Hong Kong is around $2,600.
Cost of Living
Let’s get to know what cost you are going to bear while you teach in Hong Kong below:
1-Bedroom Apartment: Around 18,800 HK$ ($ 2,399.07)
Utilities ( Electricity, Gas, Water): Around 1,626 HK$ ($ 207)
City bus Fare: 10 HK$ ($ 1.27)
Taxi rate per km: Around 8.50 HK$ (start fare ~ 24 HK$)
Internet (60 Mbps): Around 202.98 HK$ ($25.86)
Metro Ride: 10 HK$ ($ 1.27) one way.
Metro Ride Monthly Pass: 500HK$ ($63.69)
Embark Your TEFLTeaching Journey With Confidence
To begin a TEFL teaching journey in a top TEFL destination like Hong Kong can be daunting. However, there’s no need to be worried, just follow the above-mentioned guide and you will be ready to teach English in Hong Kong in just a matter of time.
So, don’t hold yourself back, start pursuing courses like live online TEFL/TESOL program and make your dream of teaching English in Hong Kong a reality.
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Written By : Abhishek