I am thinking of teaching English in BJ, and I was looking for some advise. Most of the ads I see are either for primary school/kindergarten in the 8000 to 10000 yuan/month range with adult schools paying about 1000 yuan per month less, but requiring evening and weekend work.

I would love to find a school that would take advantage of my extensive business background in marketing and IT, but most of these schools seem to only want teachers with several years of experience.

What I am looking for is a "good job". By a good job, I mean a decent salary, but as a new teacher, teacher support and good working conditions are important as well.

For someone in my situation (non-educational Bachelor degree, little teaching experience, but has a good TESOL certificate, CELTA in my case), can you please comment on the following:

1) Best ways to find a a good job
Internet only, or interview in person?
Directly contact schools or use recruitment agency?
I hope to start living in BJ in September or October, but I plan a 2 week trip to BJ in July, so I can be available for interviews/demos, as well as check out the school's working conditions first hand.

2) What is a reasonable salary to expect for someone in my situation, willing to sign a one year contact?

3) Is it better to get a contract with an employer that will provide a "western style" apartment for me, or one that just pays a higher salary and/or housing allowance and find a place to stay on my own?

4) Any particular schools I should apply to (or avoid)?

5) Same question, but for recruiters/websites? Which are the good ones, and which ones are worthless?

6) If you are a ESL teacher (or were recently), please give me your take on the supply/demand for ESL. I kind of assumed that the supply of ESL teachers in Beijing has/will increased since the world economy has tanked and people are looking for a new career while the demand for classes may have softened as its harder for families/people to afford the classes with everyone worried about losing their job. If this is true, I would image this will have a depressing effect on salaries and work conditions.

I know that education and sacrifice for children are highly valued in China, and that Chinese people are good savers (which will make these rough times easier to ride out), so I hope ESL teaching are not as negatively affected in BJ as they might be in the industrialized southern cities in China and elsewhere in the world.

7) Any advice on how I can best position myself to land the best job? My old F multiple entry visa expired, but I had planned to get a new F multiple entry visa ahead of my visit in July. Will is this type of visa easy to be converted to a Z visa once I find a school?

Thank you in advance for any advice and contacts. As I know its sensitive to post salary information in a forum, feel free to send me a private message about this or any other matter you would prefer to send a private message rather than public posting.

Thank you!

FYI - If its helpful, I am a 41 year old American who has spent 2 years living in the UK and about 4 months total visiting China (mostly BJ) over the last 2 years. Over the last 3 years, I have studied Chinese part time, but as I don't have much of a chance to practice as I have focused on my English and teaching skills since starting my CELTA.