Batgung

for the Immigration Department to see a reason to grant a visa!!

Fiona

If English is your native language, you can get work as an English tutor. But, you'll still need to get that visa, and the local language colleges that advertise for staff typically expect you to have at least a TEFL / TESOL qualification.

If anyone has managed to find an employer willing to get them a visa as a teacher/tutor, we'd love to hear any advice you might have for other people trying to do the same.

Regards, MrB

Yeh, sure. Probably Kung Fu School may have this special vacancy. Dear, there are no jobs here without a good qualification and sound experience. Come on a visitor's visa, get to know here and then take a decision.

Is it tough teaching in national schools in Hong Kong? I heard from friends that Hong Kongers are workaholics. The problem with the NET scheme is that it's a contractual post and not a full civil service post.

It is pretty easy to get work in HK teaching english to kids / adults, WITHOUT possessing a university degree or work visa. I know many people who have done this and while I acknowledge that most english teachers here have a BA and a work visa this is not uniformly the case. Naturally if you wish to work for the British Council or other reputable organization which will page you a decent wage you would require both plus several years of experience but there are many, many small tuition centers around town, particularly in Kowloon / NT , who employ young westerners without degrees or work visas. They (the tuition center and the people you will teach!) just want a white face basically. The salary would not be great ($12,000 - $15,000 full time) and these centers can be quite unreliable at times when it comes to paying their staff on time, but there are many young westerners - most are on a gap year between secondary school and college, but i know of others well into their 20s without degrees who are doing the same - in HK doing this type of work. Of course it is illegal to work without the proper work visa and I do not wish to encourage people to break the law but it is relatively easy to get round this by simply leaving HK every three months (when entering HK most people with western passports get a 3 month tourist visa), if only to Shenzhen or Macau, to renew your visa.

"What jobs are available without college ed. and with livable income in HK?"

Not many, trust me. Sure there are plenty of HK residents with no college education who make "livable income", but as a foreigner, someone with no education or language skills is basically a liability to HK. Companies risk huge fines for illegally employing you etc. Plus, look at how most people live in HK.. they live with their parents until they are married, and that's not all just a cultural thing. Without income coming in from everyone, even HK families would struggle with the cost of living here. My flat in HK is not what I would consider luxury, in fact it's small and old, but it still costs nearly double what I was paying per month back in southern California for a place about four times as large. Living here isn't cheap, you can reduce costs here and there, but the cost of living here is much higher than compare to say... Thailand ;)

Thanks for the update, and good luck with the studies and Cantonese.

MrB

Al, the website you refer to is dead!
The one you want is www.hkpnets.org