Job Discussion Forums

[djwheat]

Are there many scams in your experience? Still seems pretty difficult to verify a scam or not. Should "too good to be true" jobs be avoided?

I've seen many jobs, and all of them seem to be around 4500-7000rmb + accommodation; or a higher salary with no free accommodation..

I have come across a job in Shenzhen (tier 3 city?) that is 10,000-12,000 RMB + accommodation... Only 14 hours a week!

No specific, special requirements, just a degree and a years experience.

Do these jobs actually exist (excluding those with which require masters, PGCE etc) or are they almost always scams?

[roadwalker]

[Markness]

It's SZ, man! One of the biggest cities in China. Next door to Hong Kong. It ain't cheap living there, so the price is fair. Enough time for you to put in a few more hours part-time too

[hdeth]

[Son of Bud Powell]

Scams are everywhere. Whether you are a victim of one depends upon how trusting you are of strangers, and how desperate you are for whatever the scamster is offering. That goes for school contracts and almost everything else in China.

If you read enough job ads in a given area and in other areas, you'll get a good feel for the going pay rates. Be sure to get copies of contracts for inspection.

There are other pitfalls in China, so beware!

I've never been scammed. It isn't because i am overly wary or unusually perceptive. I am careful about the company that I keep and the circles in which I travel. I do my homework.

My experience is that scamming is as common among FTs as anyone else in China. One FT tried to sell me a very nice bike very cheap. I declined. Later, I found out that he was leaving for another school and the bike he was trying to sell was provided by the school that he was working for at the time.

Wait. I was scammed once. An FT's girlfriend's ebike was supposedly stolen. I felt sorry for her and chipped in 1600 kuai to help pay for a new one. Her "new" one looked just like her old one, dented fender and all. Six months later her FT boyfriend pulled the same stunt. I found the bike hidden in the apartment's basement.

Another time, an FT at another school always had tickets to performances at a performing arts center. She'd sell them for $150 rmb to other FTs. She said that her FAO got them for her at a good price. I got to know the director of the performing arts center (I tutored his kid), and I learned that he was giving them to the FAO, and another FT that worked at her school confirmed that the FAO was actually giving them out. I never bought a ticket from the FT, but the director was sure to have one waiting for me at the box office.

Another time an FT took up a collection to throw a lavish, short-notice dinner party for a much-liked FAO. I knew how the restaurant worked: 50% deposit plus 50% after dinner. He'd already hit the other FTs up, so I said I'd pay my share that night. Unbeknownst to his colleagues, he had been dismissed for some reason, and he absconded with the money. There was no party, and we stood outside the restaurant waiting for the FT and the FAO. Neither showed. When we went to our apartments, he was gone. He had been moving out a little at a time (he didn't have much), so we didn't notice.

The Chinese I've dealt with have been honest and fair (as far as I know). The electronics bazaars can be a crapshoot, but Chinese and FT alike encounter the same high prices and the same deception. The sellers don't discriminate.

A bit of advice: try to do business with the same people over and over again. You may find that lower prices accompany familiarity. I searched one city for cheap printer cartridges. Each shop wanted 200 rmb per cartridge and an ridiculous price for refills. The lowest price for refills was at a booth at a bazaar. The woman was pleasant and gave me her card. I returned in two weeks or so (I printed my own class materials) for two more refill syringes. They were half the price as last time. I went back a couple of weeks later and bought them even cheaper! She was probably still making a killing on the cheapest price, and she had a regular customer. Once, I went to buy more but she was not there. I was certain I'd be charged a ridiculous price. I showed my card to someone who I believe was her daughter. I didn't get the lowest price, but it wasn't the ridiculous first price I paid.

[tlkdmc]

Doesn't it go without asking? Isn't the idiom itself the answer? It seems to be common sense not to even ask the question in the first place. What makes you think that YOU and you alone found the proverbial needle-in-a-haystack job? You will simply not find what you seem to believe is out there. This is China, hiring unqualified "teachers" to do a job they are not capable of doing. Thinking it profitable is undermining EQ and IQ.

And remember (off the record), that there is no such thing as a stupid question... only stupid people who ask questions.

[wangdaning]

I have also found FTs to be some of the biggest scammers here. Do to language connection it is easy to call them on it, and when that is done they claim they are doing what Chinese do.

I once had a Chinese computer shop guy, little shop, over price me for a power supply (for a desktop). I told him his 100 yuan supply could be gotten for 30 on taobao. He argued, said you bring them and I will pay. Well, I did, and he paid for them (bought 10, a 300 yuan gamble) and the initial PSU. He even asked where I bought them, so he must have been over paying also.

Cheaters cheat, they are not a racial group, a nationality, nor any type of group besides cheaters. Many would cheat their own mother to get ahead. Chinese cheat as much as anyone else, maybe it is just easier to spot for some.

[Quite]

Almost nothing is 100% legit in China. But I think it is safest to work for a public school or university - or yourself as a tutor. There are 37 China scams explained here at http://chinascamwatch.org It wouldn't hurt to know what they are so you can recognize them when you see them.