Job Discussion Forums

[The Great Toad]

I have a job offer at a school in a larger city - they told me I will work around 25 classes a week. But the contract says I will work 33 hours and that lunch and breaks do not count as work hours...It is almost like a split shift schedule with the hours set at:

8am to noon and 230 pm to 5pm

this is rather bad as it means I have to get to bed by 10 or 11 pm if I want to have an easy hour to get ready for work and not be tired at 7am. I feel like emailing the school and asking for more money and if I may leave the school at noon and come back at 230pm or if I am required to sit in the school- which inevitably would mean talking to teachers and students - so basically an 8AM to 5PM teacher life... Also the contract is only 8 months long.


I am looking forward to helping the kids there but a 9 hour work day is an ugly thing to an ugly American

Oh I forgot to say there is a 5000 RMB flight payback and that they also offer a fully furnished apartment with it.

[The Great Toad]

I do not want to seem all negative...

I am looking forward to helping the kids there but a 9 hour work day is an ugly thing to an ugly American

Oh I forgot to say there is a 5000 RMB flight payback and that they also offer a fully furnished apartment with it.

[The bear]

A 25 hour contact hour contract is on the high end for sure. 33 is even worse. Even without qualifications and experience it's a bad offer in my opinion.

The 5,000 flight payback is low. Without seeing pictures/location of the apartment it's not possible to say if it's good or not, but be prepared for a shock.

[The Great Toad]

Mmmm It says 33 hours - it also says those are actual work hours and breaks between classes, lunch hours and others hours do not count. So it basically means they can appoint me to teach 4-6 classes a day I guess.

You say 25 work office hours is the norm? That sounds strange unless you are at a University which pays half as much. I could be wrong though. Where did you work in China that was 25 required hours in the school?

I got kind of discouraged when you said the apartment would be less than ideal. Anyway I sent them a very polite message asking if I could leave the school form 12 noon to 2:30 pm since they have me in the school from 8am-5pm every day... I much rather work 8am- 4pm and be required to stay in the school than to work 8am-noon and 230-5pm but be permitted to leave at noon and come back. I found job schedules that are like that the worse as you are stressed running errands or exercising checking you watch knowing you have to work in an hour or two...

[isitts]

I would pass on it. If you’ve been a long time teacher, you can get a comparable salary with fewer hours...Maybe not 20k RMB, but 33 hours is not worth it. The fact that the contract says 25 hours, but the school is saying 33 is a red flag, too.

Is this a public school or a language mill (buxiban/hagwon...whatever you want to call it)? It might be late to apply for a public school unless you’re already in China and the contract started this month...but they usually don’t work you more than 18-20 hours a week.

Can’t say for language mills, but the 12-2 PM lunch break is standard in China.

And as has been mentioned, $5,000 is a low flight allowance...though they may try to justify it by your high salary.

Is the housing actually provided? Or is a subsidy included as part of your salary? 20k RMB with housing paid for doesn’t sound bad...but to work 33 hours a week does. I’d keep looking for something else.

[Voyeur]

Strikes me as a low salary for a big city and that much work plus mandatory time on campus.

[The bear]

[Non Sequitur]

there are other matters, like resources supplied and their adequacy.

[Osiry]

Sounds horrible. There are better jobs out there, keep looking.