Job Discussion Forums

[overhere]

I realize it probably depends on many factors....but I will be leaving a decent paying (a little above average for this area) but highly stressful position in the United States. By high stress I mean far more work than can be accomplished, 30 to 50 emails to respond to daily, 15 to 20 voices mails to respond to, staff who need constant direction and a boss, although cool, who has very unrealistic expectations. It is also a pretty cut throat environment.

I know I will be earning less in China but hopefully with the cost of living I won't be losing much.

My question is about the work...Is it stressful compared to a high stressed 40 hour a week office job in the United States?

Thank you!

[maxand]

[overhere]

oh I am tolerant of incompetence LOl just don't want something too fast paced..I prefer to live without medication

not looking to get rich...just a simple life style...16 - 18 hours a week is fine with me...don't mind doing prep time on my own.

[johntpartee]

[choudoufu]

[RiverMystic]

You'll be poor, but the stress should be minimal. If you get a low grading uni with unmotivated students you might get frustrated that they have no interest in actually learning anything.

But for a life break, it is OK for a year or so. But I'd also be thinking of your exit strategy. What are you going to do afterwards? If you are not smart, it might become an extended period where your career prospects come to a grinding halt.

Note: If you take a position in a uni preparation programme you might have a lot of work. These are programmes which prepare Chinese students to travel to overseas universities. You might have twenty hours of teaching a week and a lot of office work. But the pay will be a lot higher than a standard uni job. If you want relaxation, choose a standard uni job of, say, 12 hours a week teaching and about RMB 5000 a month salary with accommodation.

[overhere]

Thanks all for your replies!

In terms of retirement I will have a small pension ($2,000/month) locked in when I turn 55 (4 years from now)..I also have $20,000 or so in the bank and a 401 K to draw from when I turn 59 1/2.

Right now peace of mind is most important...I would have a much nicer retirement if I stay in my current job 4 more years but then again I would be miserable and could stroke out due to the stress...again I live a simple life...I have one bill to pay around $200 month but even that is based on income so would be lowered. I have no dependents or CC debt, mortage I don't even have a car.

I would love to get into teaching subject matter content though if possible..just because I would like to incorporate my education and experience in my teaching.

Again thanks for the replies.

[Miles Smiles]

I know what you're talking about when you mention the cutthroat environment of western academia.

Depending upon how close you get to the department head(s) and faculty, you won't encounter nearly as much stress brought on by your Chinese colleagues because your work isn't usually taken very seriously. The intrigue and throat-cutting will come mostly from your fellow foreign teachers. That is pretty easy to minimize because the ones who do it stand out like neon, and they're not very subtle.

The stress will not approach that of what you may be experiencing in the west --- usually. Pick your universities carefully, and be sure to pick one that offers an English Major curriculum. That'll help you to avoid a LOT of stress.

What you'll encounter in the way of incompetence will include NOT being informed of small things like days off. This is easily countered by telling the class monitor that you expect him or her to keep you informed, and by bugging the cr*p out of the FT liaison to keep you informed. A lot of the frustrations with your teaching situation will be shared by your Chinese colleagues, so in most cases, if you are told about something last-minute, it's likely that all of the other teachers did too. Take, for example, your class load and the classes that you will be required to teach. You will always be required to turn in a syllabus by the second week of classes. What the Chinese call a syllabus is actually a lesson plan for the entire term. That's nothing to stress about because you'll probably be given an extension on this. Nobody really reads them anyway.

If your accommodations are satisfactory and ON THE CAMPUS WHERE YOU TEACH and your class load is light, then the stress shouldn't be too bad.

Avoid the colleges. These seem to be havens for incompetent administrators and students who merely take up space.

In a city of 2 million, you should find that there are a few other universities and colleges. This will USUALLY indicate a competitive wage scale among them. It won't match that of the private middle schools or the McLanguage Centers, but you will draw a livable wage.

If you are teaching in an American university, you have at least an MA. That should command 6-7,000 rmb per month in the smaller cities. You can live on that pretty well. Cities that size don't have much to offer, so there's not much to spend it on except food and transportation.

Overall, the stress level will be lower at the Chinese universities largely because you will have less contact with the Chinese faculty and administration.

[LarssonCrew]

My uni teaching life in China is the least stressful thing ever.

My schedule last term was 2 x law majors, 2 x English classes for the law majors, only, my school didn't actually have a place to teach the English classes, so after discussion with the class moderator we just cancelled.

I started class at the end of September, then taught
October and November, half way through December I left for a vacation, came back start of January and the student's had two reading weeks, after which we entered spring festival time, so no classes until the 1st of March.

Essentially I taught 3 hours a week [sometimes let them go early if they have a sports meet], for about 9 weeks and been paid for 6 month's for that.

I also teach at a sports university, and the student's often have to go to sports meetings and compulsory sports classes, which, if they conflict with their law classes, means that they are cancelled.

It's a bit of an easy ride, but my accommodation is great and my boss is fantastic.

[Non Sequitur]

A lesss-than-20 contact hours pw oral English gig at a provincial level uni or vocational college is probably the least stressed environment you'll encounter in your working career.
That said you'll have nothing to take back home - either money or useable experience.
You'll have a lot of great memories though and when you're an old fart sitting in a retirement home those will be the ones you fall back on. Not the ones about getting the monthly invoicing done in some crappy corporate.

[naturegirl321]

[roadwalker]

I agree with everything above (I don't know about tax planning so I'll leave that out). I find teaching at a Chinese university as stressful as I want to make it. And usually that isn't very stressful.

If you are coming from an environment where deadlines, artificial or real, are part of your life, it might be hard to adjust. Mentally, you may have to train yourself to relax. If you want information at your fingertips and prior to the fact so that you could maybe plan something, you may experience stress. If you are good at "winging it", you'll likely be in heaven. Information is shared at the last moment, and foreign English teachers are the very last of the last minute informed. Mistakes are made, and plans and schedules are changed. You might not know until too late. Train yourself to not worry about that and just try to be mentally prepared to act at a moment's notice.

Still, even if you work for an uptight foreign affairs officer of the school or an uptight department dean, real problems will be seldom. Little office work or preparation will be expected. Your face will be requested at many boring and a few worthwhile events. You'll be treated like an important guest, for good and for bad. Prepare as well as possible for class, whether oral English or otherwise, and show the students that you care. Try to keep the classes interesting and be ready to change directions if not.

[Ariadne]

I agree, university life is usually not stressful. The end of term... writing tests, grading tests, figuring grades, entering grades... is about the only time I feel any stress at all, and some of that is because I've left things to the last minute.

The students are fun, the living is easy. I'm hooked.

.

[LarssonCrew]

It also depends on how serious your university take the course.

I will be traveling to Japan, and the cheapest dates are in April, so I will tell my student's that I am traveling, present them with a project to study for a week, and not have class. My friend who is traveling with me will have to make up all the classes and it's all taken extremely seriously.

At the end of the day, they still all pass, so what's the real difference?

[RalphReggin]

China is on my list too, looking to start this summer when degree is finished ,,might be looking at a CELT too ,,,the less stresful the better so is china low key ? Would want medium hours and a nice boss,, wo'nt work for goons anymore as have spent enough years doing that . Let me know if China is the right place, hit me up if you know of jobs ,, currently in the US