Job Discussion Forums

[lemak]

McLoo's (for lack of a better word) nitpicking made me wonder if there are actually any perfect jobs out there. Curious how everyone would rate their place of employment. What are the positives and negatives....for me....

Pros.

-Easy hours. Generally fewer than 10 per week.
-Friendly and helpful students (outside class)
-Left alone to teach what and how I see fit
-16 weeks a year vacation. Partially paid.
-3, at worst 4 day work week.
-No classes before 10.20am, and all finished by 3pm.
-Decent sized apartment
-No expenses outside my own personal ones like food and clothing.
-Location. A stone's throw from Shanghai, Suzhou and Nanjing, but far enough out to avoid the chaos. Everything I need nearby such as supermarkets, banks, public transport, hiking trails etc.
-Most comfortable bed I've ever slept in.
-Nice clean city with relatively civilized people. Very little spitting or littering.

Cons.

-Seemingly dishonest and lazy FAO staff. Seems to be continual nagging to get things like allowances or airfares paid. Gets tiring.
-Disinterested and extremely low level students (inside class)
-Paltry pay with moderate pay rises per year that don't even match the inflation rate.
-No opportunity for progress or promotion of any kind. Dead end. Don't overly care for now, but after a couple more years......
-Freezing apartment in winter, sauna in summer.
-1990s era internet.
-Unpaid summer vacation.

I'm not sure...I'm (w)racking my brain and that's all I can come up with. Maybe my cons are almost par for the course in the Chinese tertiary education world. Perhaps I should count myself lucky.

[kungfuman]

Worst part of my job is that some of the other foreigners are ex-convicts and some just plain dirtbag child molesters.

Other than that I like my job.

[nellychess]

[lemak]

I don't have any questionable closet pedos or ultra weirdos this time around, but I've worked with plenty in the past in other countries. For some reason this industry seems to attract some "special" types.

Got a few cantankerous foreign teachers around though who seem to find the bastion of intelligentsia being to argue, nitpick over every tiny detail and play childish games of one upmanship in an effort to ingratiate themselves with their Chinese masters. Thankfully I don't work closely with such "things" and rarely seem to see them more than a couple of times a semester.
Not all are like this....just a few.....interestingly they all seem to be aging (late 50s or older) and from Australia/New Zealand. Weird.

In contrast no qualms with the local teachers. I find them very easy going and friendly.

[cloud_pleaser]

My school until very recently was almost 100% pros. The pay is more than enough for Inner Mongolia. FAO/ Dean were almost always above board, fixed problems immediately. Working hours were fine; I had to do overtime last semester (it is Inner Mongolia, not exactly a common choice for foreign teachers) but was compensated handsomely.
Students are mostly women from villages/small cities, daughters of farmers and miners. Incredibly nice and hardworking.
Apartment is small, but comfortable and liveable.
Despite the heavy industry, Baotou is nice and the air is surprisingly very good (AQI is often below 50 and sometimes a little over 100) People here are some of the nicest I've met in China(Both Mongols and Chinese). I've made a lot of

As for the cons: there is a major one that came completely out of the blue recently, and I detailed in another thread :
http://forums.eslcafe.com/job/viewtopic.php?t=101610
The other cons are utterly draconian dormitory staff, who seem to like offering their own interpretation of the rules displayed clearly in the lobby, and have intimidated/harassed almost every guest I've brought over.

[teachingld2004]

PRO'S
Geat teachers here (except for one)
Boss has great Engliish ability and is very helpful (really)
Students - well, they are students. Mostly good.
Apartment - large and nice view. And on campus.
Decent pay
12 paid weeks per year.
Bonus twice a year
14,000rmb airfare (no tax taken out) even if we do not use it.
Airfare every contract
12- 16 hours per week . (currently have 12)
Work only 3 days a week

CON'S
Hard to bet things repaired in apartment. (but nice apartment)
Bills are high.

[johntpartee]

[teachingld2004]

Yep, its a keeper. Teachers stay, some for 5 years. I am just now signing my second contract. First contract is for 10 months, and second (and 3rd, 4th and 5th) are for one year.

We need a teacher...........

[kungfuman]

My airfare is full pay for July and August plus an extra 4000y a contract

[Denim-Maniac]

PRO:

Small classes, motivated and friendly adult students, no weekends or evenings. And no office hours.

Lots of student contact time so you really can work closely with them to improve their English.

Clear communication from HR and teaching administration on all issues. Fortnightly meetings are held entirely in English.

A genuinely fair and straight-up boss who is both helpful and accomodating.

Pay is on time, in full and bonus payments are made according to the contract.

Housing provided, including utilities within 3 minutes walk of my classrooms.

Flexible over contract length. I have worked a 6 month, 8 month and now on a 9 month contract here.

In Yangshuo. Small friendly fun place to work with less of the usual issues associated with big Chinese cities (pollution/crowds and queues/stares and hellos/transport issues)

CONS:

Awfully low salaries. Fair in terms of the income I generate, but terribly low compared to pretty much every other job discussed on this board.

A lack of standards in some FT classes. I work in a team of 3 foreign teachers and have found that their teaching style can sometimes undermine what I try to acheive in my classes.

Lots of student contact time can sometimes be problematic. Having the same student for 90 minutes a day for 10 weeks straight means having an awful lot of material.

And did I mention the low salary?

[ecubyrd]

Pros:

*high salary
*high housing allowance
*no Sat-Sun weekend work
*190 day paid school year
*year end bonuses
*good administration
*good co-workers
*good students for the most part (see cons)
*freedom to teach as I see fit and supplement material
*school paid dinners/trips

Cons:

*a bit far commute-no problem though as I can choose where I want to live and can get daily exercise by biking or take a school bus
*students suck sometimes

Did I mention that I get paid year round and only work M-F for a 190 day school year?

[theoriginalprankster]

Pros:

1. 4 lessons/week (90 minute lessons)
2. 5 minute bike ride from home.
3. Hands-off management.
4. Fairly attentive students.
5. For what I do, a good salary (7500)
6. Use of all uni amenities (pool, gym, library, etc).
7. 5 minute bike ride from home - whereas it used to be a bus-boat-bus ride of two hours.
8. Mostly female students (which I have no interest in), but they tend to be more attentive in class.
9. 5 minute walk to the beach.
10. AC-ed classrooms.

Cons:

1. Classes are spread out over 2, YES 2 days.

[lemak]

[dean_a_jones]

Pros:

1. Decent salary that has increases built in
2. Great academic support staff, who listen to feedback and are willing to try new things in terms of course structure, methodology etc.
3. Good teachers who, over the last few years, have formed a consisent group and stuck around, who don't tend to leech but are not wierdly distant or worrying in terms of other things mentioned on this thread
4. Private apartments as part of contract, not on campus
5. Great Chinese teachers, a core group of full-time staff who enjoy socialising with the native English teachers at lunch, for dinners and good discussions about both work and life
6. Class sizes (for speaking classes or lecture/seminar classes, often 10 - 15)
7. The fact that the students are in a 1/2+ programme to go abroad, so feel the language stuff is not just a waste of time

Cons:

1. Non-academic support staff. They must do something well horizontally, as vertically they seem pretty useless
2. Terrible forward planning (yeah, that is pretty much a national pastime)
3. The students who are here because their parents have the means and they lack the choice. They are not misbehaved, but quite lazy, and it can drag the whole class down if you have too many of them peppered in.

The cons are more irritating than anything, and I quite like my job. I definately find the non-work stuff is what makes me have more bad days/want to try somewhere new than the work stuff. It was the reason I came here in the first place, and the reason I will almost certainly go, at least for a while. But all things considered, enjoy my life and work here.

[kungfuman]

Cons:

One dirtbag brags about he was in prison for making ans selling drugs in the USA.

Pros:

The POS should be leaving in a few months