I came to KM on a Friday, spent 3 days in a net bar finding every little thing I could. I've applied to Raffles among 3 colleges, and a primary school, as well as posting my resume online everywhere. This has been basically 3 days ago and nary a call. Everywhere else in China I'm being begged to come work there. My creditials are solid and expectations aren't too high...why don't I have a job in KM yet?

Kunming is often slower than everywhere else in China, which can be nice or frustrating, depending on the situation.

I'd recommend going to a bar, finding someone who works as an English teacher here and buying them a beer before barraging them with questions about what schools might be hiring and anything else you want to know.

Buena suerte!

i second bongzilla.

i don't think kunming's like anywhere else. things move slowly around here. despite the occasional (frequent?) frustration, this is part of the city's appeal.

relax a bit, buy that beer and don't interrogate too hard.

Yeah, Kunming is a hard place to pick up a job. I locked one down about a month ago that starts september first, but for you I could honestly reccomend WEB english school. It is designed to be very smooth and effective for teachers, and if it is anything like where I live now the pay isnt too bad either. Good luck.

You'll have noticed the profusion of English-teacher want ads on this site....

Let's be frank Tex. You aren't really posting this horrorstory of going 3 days without finding a job to get an explenation to this intolerable fate of yours but to get someone to contact you with a job offer. Fair enough though. It might work.

There are also plenty of foreigners here because of the attractive climate and the comparatively low cost of living. Hence there are also a certain amount of cowboys around which I think have made the schools more carefull with their hiring process recently. I don't know any schools around here who haven't had at least one or two "teachers" who were more trouble than they were asking for.

Danmairen you have a point about those "rogue" "teachers" but let us also note that a lot of "schools" don't know how to treat both "Chinese or "Foreigner" teachers. So my advice is be careful what you wish for, you just might get it.

Dan, I'm not sure how successful this method of advertisement would be. Who's going to send me a job offer from someone lamenting the job hiring process in Kunming-rather I've got other offers on the table that I'm holding off all in favor because I do enjoy the thought of living in Kunming.

Now, as far as cowboys-being a Texan I've been called one before, but I've done the China rodeo long enough that I can be considered dependable and a kick ass teacher. All this in consideration: do you KM vets suggest me waiting this out a little bit considering the slowness of the process? How long would you wait out?

TIA.

For Danmairen: is "cowboy" meant to be derogatory? What is your definition?

Cheers - - JJ

Tex, if your goal is to secure an English teaching job in KM, I don't think you have to worry about waiting it out; you just have to contact people directly.

If you're a native speaker, you're reliable and enthusiastic, and you have teaching experience, you have a great shot at getting a tolerable job at any of the schools posting want ads on this site--or any other site listing KM schools. Probably almost any school in the city would be thankful to have you (and to kick out the poser tourist they might have "teaching" for them).

If you're looking for something a little higher up the ESL ladder, you can ask around or look online and get the email for the foreign affairs departments at the local unis, and send them your resume. Give them a call, too. (Though it is late in the season to try to secure this kind of job.)

Anyway, just contact them, go in and do a quick interview, and choose the one that suits you. I don't think it has to be any more complicated than that.

Good luck!