Hello. My name is Fred and I live in Vancouver, BC Canada. I have sent my resume and passport photo to a few recruiters about teaching jobs in China but have had no job offers so far. I would like to teach at an elementary school as I have previous teaching experience (Grade 2 teacher and substitute teacher) in the Province of Manitoba, Canada. I completed two years of teacher training in elementary education at Brandon University in 1976. I held an interim teaching certificate but it expired in June, 1981. I want to emphasize that "I DO NOT HOLD A DEGREE". I have a diploma in Teaching of English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) that I completed in September, 2003.
I have been reading the Job Discussion Forum at Dave's ESL Cafe website and the impression I get is that I should avoid using recruiters in my search for a teaching position in China or other countries. How does one by-pass having to go through recruiters in their search for a job? Don't most schools use recruiters to find potential teachers for any teaching positions? If I don't wish to use recruiters, how else will I be able to find a job?
Finally, are there any Canadian teachers who have taught at elementary schools in either Shanghai, Beijing or Hong Kong that they could recommend as a good place to teach, with good staff, standards and school reputation?
I would appreciate hearing from any teachers who were able to find good teaching jobs either on their own or through other means, WITHOUT RELYING ON RECRUITERS? Thank you for your assistance in this regard.
Fred