Job Discussion Forums

[Asiateacher]

Does anyone know how to guarantee part-time hours (150-200 RMB/hour)?? I'd like to work 20 hours a week like this, plus my job in a training center. But it seems that it's very hard to avoid cancelations... It's hard to keep this kind of thing steady.

Any suggestions??

[vikeologist]

The standard way would be to say that students have to pay for classes that they cancel with less than 24 hours notice.

It depends how much in demand your services are, to what extent you can apply conditions of this type.

[kungfuman]

My part time job offered me guaranteed hours. However on several days - including weekends - it was only one or two hours. They really didn't understand when I explained to them that I didn't want to work only a few hours on a valuable weekend day.

[muffintop]

Are you talking about private lessons at your house? Your post is not very clear.

Make them pay for a month in advance after one or two lessons. Then they can cancel all they want but your time is paid for. This is what I do with almost all my private classes. Make them understand it is not only the lesson that they are paying for but also your time. If they let me know a few days in advance I usually do not make them eat the cost of the lesson though. If they call me the same day of the class..they are paying me.

I did not always do it this way and would also have a ton of cancellations or they'd try to change the time or the day which would almost always conflict with other classes. Now I have FAR less headaches. I have had a few classes quit because they had to pay for lessons they did not attend but almost all returned...with apologies....and more money.

[LarssonCrew]

I explain that I'm busy, that they are buying that 'block' of my time, and I am fitting them into my schedule.

I ask for at least ten hours up front, five if it's law related because I can pick up 300 an hour for law related classes, and 3000 RMB in one go is a tad harsh, however if it's 200 an hour for English class, 2000 up front. Then if they cancel, I've still got that cash.

[Non Sequitur]

[zactherat]

Assuming you are stringing hours together in different places, I think 20 hours pw without any cancellations is unrealistic. At that rate, you're bound to get at least 10% cancellations simply due to sickness and other unforseen circumstances.

Cancellation rate is also obviously - and probably most importantly - linked to quality of lessons, which at 20 hours pw on top of your actual job would be hard to maintain for most teachers.
Banking on income from privates is not a good idea because the workload is inherently fickle.

Plus you have to watch your back in case anyone gets onto you for working illegally and you find yourself having to explain your carefully planned tax evasion to someone in a uniform. Kinda stressful. But good luck anyway.

[Voyeur]

I thought you could do privates legally in China.

[LarssonCrew]

To be honest, if you're teaching adults and just going through 'practicing' speaking together, how would the cops know the difference between a class and me treating my Chinese friend for a nice coffee? They wouldn't!

New Channel or other books strewn on the table top in Starbucks is a bit of a give away.

Also with privates, I notice that the fluctuation is huge, if the student has an exam to 'study' for, they will cancel often, but in the summer they may 'bump up' to 4 hours a week instead of 2 , or 2 instead of 4 etc.

Then again during spring festival I once had 3 weeks solid of cancellations, the same students in the summer were pulling in 3000 a week, averaging about 2000 up until spring festival, imagine the planning hit to go from 8000 a month in privates to about 1000, ouch!

[kungfuman]