Job Discussion Forums

[gossamerwillow]

I'm looking to move to Beijing next year because my boyfriend is going to finish his engineering degree in Canada and wants to return to China and work for one year to get some experience. He is a native Beijinger and his family has a home in Dongcheng. We've been doing the LDR for awhile now and I would like to be in the same city as he is, so I want to move from Shanghai to Beijing. I don't mind moving, but the problem seems to be the salary and benefits. Though I don't particularly like my school in Shanghai, I make 13k after tax and the school provides a single apartment (really nice- 3 bedrooms, big kitchen, living room, dining room and just me in here). I'm looking at schools in Beijing, but the pay seems to be really low versus the cost of living. I interviewed with some pretty well known primary schools and they would only offer me 15k total after tax. Single apartments cost around 5k a month, so that would leave me with 10k in my pocket (or less if the rent is more). I may be able to pay less with a hutong (which I would really like), but I'm looking at make less monthly than now. I don't expect the same kind of apartment, but I don't want to take a pay cut. I also don't want roommates. Is there no possible way to live in Beijing without renting a shared apartment and winding up struggling financially? Oh, also my current school has me do 16 classes a week and no office hours. I can come and go as I please. All the schools that I've interviewed for want me there all day 8am-4pm. So, in effect, it's more work for less money. They try to make it seem better by saying they pay for summer and winter holidays, however my current school pays for the winter holiday. I don't see the summer holiday being paid as that much of an advantage other than I would need it to pay for rent basically. If I stayed with my current school, I'm able to live in the same apartment all summer and not even worry about rent. I'm weighing the pros and cons, but so far it doesn't seem feasible in Beijing. Are there just not any good jobs open yet or is this the norm? Or is kindergarten the best way to go?

[Non Sequitur]

'Paid summer' - but only if you commit for a further year no doubt. Good to see it on the table at the get go.
Best

[nimadecaomei]

It is hard to say anything without you giving some background.

[creeper1]

I really don’t think there’s much of a difference between rental rates in Shanghai vs Beijing. What on earth are you talking about? It’s obviously going to depend on multiple factors including quality, distance to centre of the city etc.

I’ve paid less than 3000 rmb for a full apartment ( on the edge of line 1)

I’m actually feeling pretty angry about that complaint that a job with hours 8am to 4pm is somehow overworking you. If there is no extra marking or report writing a job like that is a piece of cake.

By the way there are plenty of jobs in Beijing paying 18 k and more.

[Jmbf]

[cormac]

Everything has a trade off.

If you want low hours, then you're stuck with University or low hours with a public school (some offers are almost part-time), reaching a max of 20 hours a week. But the trade off being salary. You get paid lower amounts. 16 hours is the norm here with lower teaching simply because they don't have the students for the classes.

If you want a 'decent' salary, then you need to put in the hours.

Oh sure, there are gold mines out there with low hours and low salaries... but they're not available to 99.9% of people. You need the connections.

Frankly, I'm a bit bemused at your attitude. You've been here a while. I assume you socialise with other foreign teachers somewhat, and should be aware of how things stand in China.

[gossamerwillow]

[gossamerwillow]

[cormac]

Perhaps because teachers who live in one Tier 1 city tend to move around to the others? Just as those living in Tier 2 cities do the same... So, learning about Beijing could easily be done down in one of the expat bars.

As for missing your point, paragraphs would probably have helped. A chunk of text is rather good at disguising important details.

[gossamerwillow]

[In the heat of the moment]

I can't give any advice on the situation in Beijing, although it looks as though you're gaining some insights into it.

From your post, it seems as though the school owns an apartment and rents it to you for free. Few costs for them and none for you; a win - win. That way they can justify giving you a decent salary (salary plus plush apartment) which is better than lots of other schools can.

The issue is, if there are people in the same situation as you in Beijing (nice salary and nice apartment) do you think they're going to quit? No, it's the teachers with less satisfactory situations who are quitting and you're being offered their roles. Maybe a few in decent positions will also quit, but it's likely their friends will jump into their decent gig before it's advertised.

The only issue with your present role that concerns me, is one day the school might want to fill those two empty bedrooms. Until then, if I were you, I'd keep on looking at the Beijing jobs market for good openings. Stay in Shanghai until either your situation there deteriorates significantly (housemates, for example), you get offered a decent position in Beijing, or the LDR becomes a real problem.

One other thing you could look into is your boyfriend and his family asking around. Not much better than having locals who have a vested interested in you being close by doing some of the work for you. Hope that helps.

[thechangling]

Frankly i don't understand why anyone would comprehend living and working in Beijing because most people I've either met or read comments from have at some stage become sick. This happens either during or after their time there due to the horrendous air pollution. My first criteria when picking a place to teach in in China is always the air quality because if you want to spend more than a year there keeping healthy is important.
I got very sick in Taiwan from exercising in poor air and have been very vigilant ever since.

[Blistering Zanazilz]

If you bothered to read her post you’d have noticed she’s in a relationship with someone who is a native Beijinger and has a home and family there. That’s enough reason for normal people to move somewhere, but probably not enough for others.

[getbehindthemule]

Unsure that the OP deserved those negative comments! Although the wall of text is frustrating to read
I've lived in Shanghai for many years. I am lucky to have grown a large network of friends here but only a few are teachers. I know nothing of the situation in Beijing nor have I been there (due a visit!).
It's a tough one I must say OP. I have a very decent postion in Shanghai also and I'd find it hard to leave it. My wife is from Dalian so we would like to make the move there but atm it's better for us to stay in SH!
I currently work 8-4:15 with a long lunch break, office hours are no bad, I actually enjoy the routine of it now that I'm used to it. The fact that I've long fully paid hols (3.5months) and I'm totally free at evenings and weekends make it more than bareable!
I would imagine if you keep searching you will eventually find an equally good gig in Beijing though. GL!

[LarssonCrew]

Maybe get a university job with paid housing and 8-9000 a month.

Then top it up with part time work [loads going in BJ]