u/anxiousunderdog

Career Advice: UK PGC + UK Experience vs. Sunderland iPGC (with iQ*S) for Top-Tier International School in Hong Kong**

Hi everyone,

I'm at a crossroads and would really appreciate some honest advice from experienced teachers, especially those familiar with the Hong Kong international school market.

Background:
I'm a non-native English speaker with a strong academic record from a UK top-tier university and high IELTS scores (overall 8.5). I'm trying to choose between two routes to get my teaching qualification, with the goal of returning to Hong Kong/Asia to secure a teaching post at a top-tier international school.

Option 1: UK PGC with QTS*
Move to the UK to do a traditional PGC* with QTS at a top-tier university, then ideally stay there for several years to gain teaching experience and possibly PR before returning to Hong Kong.

Option 2: Sunderland iPGC with iQS**
Stay in Asia and do the University of Sunderland's iPGC* with iQ*S while continuing to teach here.

My Concern:

For Option 1, my main worry is that I might not land a position at a good/competitive primary school to beef up my CV. Given how competitive top-tier international schools in Hong Kong are, I feel like there's only a solid chance of getting hired if I've taught at a strong school overseas. If I end up at an average UK school, will the UK PGC* + experience still give me a meaningful advantage over candidates who took the iPGC* route and have been building experience in Asia?

Would be great if you list your institution and the area you are teaching

I often see job ads from P&I club, hiring claim executives, reading from those ads they are looking for someone who are from law firm, another P&I club, or insurance broker - they can be qualified or non-lawyers? when I look through Linkedin I see people with shipping degrees and no legal background working in those job, so may I ask how can a lawyer and a non-lawyer both be working in the same job? Im a bit confused if the job actually require any legal knowledge, and will not coming from a private practice legal background limit the career options?

Long story short - started new job at an established professional services firm. During the interview I was told my role was expansion, however it was clearly not - someone more experienced had left - but now that Im already in the job, what can I do about this lying manager?

There is no ambiguity in this - a new team was created a year ago prior to me joining, and they had someone in my role for more than a year