I am currently in Kunming for the summer in an intensive language program on Yunda campus, and after returning to the US in mid-august I have one more academic year to complete my undergrad.

I would love to work as an English teacher for Yunda after graduation, but the lady in the office specified for this sort of thing told me I need to ask that office at the Chenggong campus.

I haven't gone to the chenggong campus yet to inquire about the position, but my Chinese roommate looked online and found the list of requirements (only in Chinese) which looks massive and complicated.

I am willing to do what it takes to apply, however I would like to know if anyone has experience applying and landing a position as a Yunda English teacher recently? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Yunda, as a public institution, will follow then normal (Chinese) rules and regulations for a work visa. As such you will not be able to get work there next year.
Basic requirements:
Graduate, + 2 years work experience (I think as a teacher), + TEFL/TESOL certificate.
There are other requirements but unless you were working before you went to university, you will not be eligible for a visa.

In addition, being a native speaker and criminal records check from home country are also required.

Health check too.

AFAIK the 2+ years work experience must be specifically after graduation, so any work you did before does not count.

Ouzhoulin
For now - that vast list of requirements is correct. It's an issue with the Provincial/Municipal Foreign Expert's Department, of which they're well aware. Nevertheless, the requirements for Foreign Experts are driven down out of Beijing and Yunda is required to be compliant.

And yes, to teach in China legally, one MUST be qualified and certified as a Foreign Expert - although I've never really known the value of that certification - no discounts at stores, no academic discounts, can't use it to ride the bus or subway...

If you love the asia/china thing and want to teach english to support yourself - suggest you spend a year or two dinking around Taiwan instead. If you live OUTSIDE Taipei - you'll find the cost of living considerably lower.

There are some expats on gokm who've done the Taiwan jaunt - so perhaps they can chime in on the alternative, if you're interested.

- Hello I would like to work at Yunnan university.

- Yes, certainly. Why don't you go to Taiwan?

Thanks Michael for your valuable input.

As far as I know your two years experience in English teaching can come before or after graduation.

If you want to teach in China you will need:

Police check (authenticated)

Degree (you won't need this authenticating as it will be from Yunnan University I presume)

Reference letters with a contactable referee stamped by the institution to show at least two years of English teaching experience ( if teaching experience is only two years, these two years should be consecutive)

Professional teaching certificates such as TEFL/TKT/CELTA/Trinity/DELTA will help your application - these don't need authentication.

Medical check - made within three months of applying for the work permit (to better meet the requirements this is best done within China)

8 passport sized colour photos on a white or red background.

PDF scans of all of the above documents along with scans of your current visa, last entry stamp and passport photo page.

The other documents are supplied by the school.

Your biggest concern is getting the job as I would imagine competition for jobs at Yunnan University to be quite strict and so you may be up against some highly qualified candidates.

@O
Contact the Yunda Foreign Expert's Office in Chenggong. They're on summer break (I think) but should return sometime in August (I think).

They can usually speak English.

Get your CV ready, so they can give you an honest and fair (to their best ability) assessment of your chances of being approved/qualified as a Foreign Expert at this time. They can also give you a typical estimate of the time required to complete the process, based on their very diverse international faculty (UK, ANZ, USA, etc) and may also be able to give you an estimate of upfront costs, based on your sovereignty, USA typically being the most expensive.