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Philip1982
Joined: 24 Oct 2016
Posts: 5
Location: South Africa
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 Posted: Wed Nov 02, 2016 8:33 pm Post subject: Gold Star Recruiters and Beijing HELP and ADVICE PLEASE! |
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Hi There! 
My name is Philip and I'm off to work in East Asia soon. It will be my first job in my new teaching career. I'm really doing a lot of research and making sure I decide to take a direction that suits me.
Firstly. Is Beijing as bad as people say regarding pollution? Can anyone please advise me on the living conditions there. I can imagine that the city is huge and has a LOT of people. That's fine as long as I work and have a decent place to stay.
Secondly. I saw a good deal in Beijing offered by Gold Star Recruiting. They seem to have a standard deal for the other cities in China but for Beijing they are offering quite a high salary and a attractive signing bonus. They also offer flight reimbursement for the job in Beijing only. I think they are recruiting for a company called "Wall Street English" I don't know if they're another company or not or just a subsidiary of Gold Star. Does anyone have experience with them?
It also seems like they work people like crazy. But I guess with the high salary comes more work.
Any advice would be appreciated.
The deal is as follows:
***Salary: 17,000 RMB (2,700 USD) / month for Beijing (30 teaching hours + 5 office hours per week)
***Salary: 16,000 RMB (2,500 USD) / month for all other cities in China
10,000 RMB (1,600 USD) flight allowance (Beijing only, paid one month after arrival)
***15,000 RMB (2,400 USD) sign on bonus paid over 3 months (Beijing only)
***Professional development quarterly bonus
***7,000 RMB (1,100 USD) end of contract bonus
***11 days Chinese National paid holidays + 10 days personal paid holidays per year
***14 days (Beijing) or 4 - 7 days (other cities) free hotel at beginning of contract and help finding apartment
***Legal 'Z' work visa and Foreign Expert Certificate (FEC) provided
***Airport pickup and full induction and training provided
***On-going training and professional development
***Career development opportunities worldwide
***Free Mandarin Chinese lessons
***Certificated Harvard Manage Mentor Course
***Wall Street English IELTS test preparation certificate
***Free online subscription to the Financial Times |
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Osiry
Joined: 19 Mar 2015
Posts: 84
Location: Nanjing
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| Posted: Wed Nov 02, 2016 9:14 pm Post subject: |
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First of all, congratulations on making the choice to teach abroad! If you don't mind me asking, what's your story? What made you want to do it?
To answer a few of your questions:
The pollution in Beijing can get very very bad, but it's not terrible all of the time. There are a lot of other cities where you could find work that might be a bit nicer to live in.
Gold star are a recruitment agency. Wall steeet English are an English training centre aimed at older students. They are different companies. I think you can contact WSE directly through their website if you want to cut out the middleman.
With most of these language centre jobs you can expect to work longish hours (compared to university and public school positions) but they're usually a good way to start your ESL career as they provide a decent income while you get settled and make contacts. Many people start out in these types of positions and move on after their contract is up.
If I was in your position, I would try and find something with lower hours, in a more desirable city. Check out Shanghai, Suzhou, and Nanjing. 30 contact hours per week is a lot, and I value my free time. Your initial salary might not be all that high in a public school or university position, but you'll be able to enjoy yourself more, and make contacts to find a better job for your second year.
One more piece of advice: when looking at salarys, look at the entire package. Cost of living might be a lot higher in some cities, and provided accomodation can make a lower salary a lot more appealing. |
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nomad soul
Joined: 31 Jan 2010
Posts: 11454
Location: The real world
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| Posted: Wed Nov 02, 2016 11:27 pm Post subject: |
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| Philip1982 wrote: |
My name is Philip and I'm off to work in East Asia soon. It will be my first job in my new teaching career. I'm really doing a lot of research and making sure I decide to take a direction that suits me.
Secondly. I saw a good deal in Beijing offered by Gold Star Recruiting. They seem to have a standard deal for the other cities in China but for Beijing they are offering quite a high salary and a attractive signing bonus. They also offer flight reimbursement for the job in Beijing only. I think they are recruiting for a company called "Wall Street English" I don't know if they're another company or not or just a subsidiary of Gold Star. Does anyone have experience with them? |
Do you meet their requirements?Native English speaker from UK, USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand or Ireland
Bachelor’s degree
TEFL certificate (No TEFL? We recommend INTESOL)
2 years of teaching experience (for all cities apart from Shanghai)
For Shanghai: no previous teaching experience required provided you have 120+ hour in-class TEFL certificate
Out-going, dedicated, professional
Note: If you do not yet have 2 years of teaching experience, please let us know and we will provide you with other job opportunities.
Last edited by nomad soul on Thu Nov 03, 2016 12:25 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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Philip1982
Joined: 24 Oct 2016
Posts: 5
Location: South Africa
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| Posted: Thu Nov 03, 2016 8:29 am Post subject: |
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| Osiry wrote: |
| First of all, congratulations on making the choice to teach abroad! If you don't mind me asking, what's your story? What made you want to do it? |
Hi Osiry.
My story is quite a long one. Firstly, I have a 5-10 year plan to buy land somewhere. I'm 34 so I'm actually starting to seriously think about my future. I have a Bachelors Degree in Photography which I studied 5 years for. (I split my final year in 2 because I was working to pay for my studies, so it's actually just a 4 year degree). I specialised in documentary and Travel Photography.
I managed to get a job in Fine Art Printing but the problem here in South Africa is that salaries are really really low and you still work long hours and are stressed a lot as well. My salary was about $900 and Cape Town, SA, where I lived, is the most expensive city in Africa. Half that was rent and I basically cut out almost all socialising.
I worked on the Superyachts for a year in the US from 2013, but the lifestyle and physical risk is just ridiculous, I honestly learnt that money isn't everything.
So I've always love travelling and living abroad. I've done a lot of research into teaching English and it seems a lot more civil and manageable. Which suits me a lot better. The salaries are lower but on the yachts you waste most your money on partying anyway.
| Osiry wrote: |
| If I was in your position, I would try and find something with lower hours, in a more desirable city. Check out Shanghai, Suzhou, and Nanjing. 30 contact hours per week is a lot, and I value my free time. Your initial salary might not be all that high in a public school or university position, but you'll be able to enjoy yourself more, and make contacts to find a better job for your second year. |
I've been trying to figure it out the past few months. It seems that with teaching english there are many options and ways to go about it. I've actually been thinking the exact same thing. Take it easy the first year and get the experience and then gradually build myself up.
I'm actually not so keen on China but it seems like they have good deals and there's a big market for private tutoring. My initial destination was Korea. A lot of South Africans go there. Your thoughts? Then I've been checking out Japan as well. I would really like to go there. But I think living costs are really high.
So basically I'm looking for a job with manageable hours where I can learn a lot and also make a decent amount of money. I ruled out Thailand and Vietnam. I'm not one for tropical climates. Taiwan, Korea or Japan sounds like the best option for me at the moment. Any advice on a city with reasonable living costs or companies / programs? I want to teach adults though but I'm flexible. Just not small kids.
Thanks for the reply! |
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Tazz
Joined: 26 Sep 2013
Posts: 512
Location: Jakarta
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| Posted: Thu Nov 03, 2016 10:38 am Post subject: |
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| Take into account that the private tutoring you are talking about to supplement your basic income in China is pretty much about the small kids.....corporate/business classes are relatively scarce and difficult to find, in comparison. |
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Philip1982
Joined: 24 Oct 2016
Posts: 5
Location: South Africa
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| Posted: Thu Nov 03, 2016 3:40 pm Post subject: |
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| Tazz wrote: |
| Take into account that the private tutoring you are talking about to supplement your basic income in China is pretty much about the small kids.....corporate/business classes are relatively scarce and difficult to find, in comparison. |
It's all good. I really don't mind teaching kids one on one but it's dealing with a whole class that might make me a bit crazy.
Thanks for the reply. |
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Non Sequitur
Joined: 23 May 2010
Posts: 4724
Location: China
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| Posted: Thu Nov 03, 2016 5:26 pm Post subject: |
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| Philip1982 wrote: |
| Tazz wrote: |
| Take into account that the private tutoring you are talking about to supplement your basic income in China is pretty much about the small kids.....corporate/business classes are relatively scarce and difficult to find, in comparison. |
It's all good. I really don't mind teaching kids one on one but it's dealing with a whole class that might make me a bit crazy.
Thanks for the reply. |
You need a school to sponsor your visa. |
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Osiry
Joined: 19 Mar 2015
Posts: 84
Location: Nanjing
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| Posted: Thu Nov 03, 2016 7:09 pm Post subject: |
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| Philip1982 wrote: |
I've been trying to figure it out the past few months. It seems that with teaching english there are many options and ways to go about it. I've actually been thinking the exact same thing. Take it easy the first year and get the experience and then gradually build myself up.
I'm actually not so keen on China but it seems like they have good deals and there's a big market for private tutoring. My initial destination was Korea. A lot of South Africans go there. Your thoughts? Then I've been checking out Japan as well. I would really like to go there. But I think living costs are really high.
So basically I'm looking for a job with manageable hours where I can learn a lot and also make a decent amount of money. I ruled out Thailand and Vietnam. I'm not one for tropical climates. Taiwan, Korea or Japan sounds like the best option for me at the moment. Any advice on a city with reasonable living costs or companies / programs? I want to teach adults though but I'm flexible. Just not small kids.
Thanks for the reply! |
Most jobs that are in your range will probably be working with kids, but there are quite a few adult teaching positions around as well. One issue that I think you may run into is the requirement for two years of teaching experience. You can get around this, but some places will turn you down flat if they can't get around the requirement.
It sounds as though you're quite keen on a higher quality of living, and a decent work life balance. I think you should ditch Beijing, you'll have a much better time in one of the less polluted, and more temperate, southern cities. the cost of living in a smaller city will be much better as well. On paper the WSE offers seems good, but factoring in rent, food, and travel, it won't end up much better than a lower salary in a tier 2 city.
If you want to do private tutoring on the side, just be aware that this is illegal, but if you're discreet it shouldn't be too much of a problem. You'll also want a job with low hours so you don't get overworked.
Japan is nice, but harder to get a good position, longer hours, and high cost of living. Korea is the same, but you often get paid a little more than you would in China.
If you think you'd be happy in an adult training center like WSE, then also look into at it's slightly less prestigious counterpart: Web International English. I interviewed at Web in Nanjing but decided it wasn't for me (I think I would get outrageously bored as the teaching is all one on one and extremely structured).
WSE and Web both have schools all over China, so it would be easy to get a job in a decent city, as long as they don't mind that you don't have the 2 years experience.
I think in Shanghai you can get around the 2 years experience requirement if you have completed a 120 hour in classroom TEFL cert. You may want to verify this though as I am not 100% sure (this stuff always bloody changes). Shanghai also has a higher cost of living than a tier 2 city.
After a year of working at an adult training center, you should have the connections to find a more suitable job that will allow you to find the work life balance you want, and do some private tutoring on the side to supplement your income. Maybe a nice cushy university job, or perhaps an international high school. |
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OhBudPowellWhereArtThou
Joined: 02 Jun 2015
Posts: 1168
Location: Since 2003
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| Posted: Thu Nov 03, 2016 10:12 pm Post subject: |
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| Tazz wrote: |
| Take into account that the private tutoring you are talking about to supplement your basic income in China is pretty much about the small kids.....corporate/business classes are relatively scarce and difficult to find, in comparison. |
Another thing to take into consideration is that unless the school is someone's Saturday non-licensed school, all of your corporate work will be by referral (really) and most of your private tutoring will come from the same.
There was a young woman in my city who was running an at-home school who actually accosted round-eyed people and asked them to come to her school to do anything. She needed their presence to make the school look legitimate. This may or may not be common, but it is not a good deal if the owner gets busted while you're there. And then there's double trouble if your boss doesn't approve of your doing outside work and you get caught.
Doing side jobs is no piece of cake, and if you do your homework, classroom teaching is no piece of cake. It requires a fair amount of work, especially during your first year. |
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Markness
Joined: 30 Dec 2009
Posts: 738
Location: Chengdu
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| Posted: Mon Nov 07, 2016 2:15 pm Post subject: |
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I say take the job. That job is offering about 2.5-3k thousand dollars a month, which is nothing to scoff at, even if it is beijing where about 1k of that will go to rent. Do the grind, get your experience and look for another job in BJ that pays about double, the recruiter is taking a big chunk so you can find places that are willing to pay that amount without using a recruiter. Recruiters are good for getting in the country, but if you want to be making bank you need to stop using them immediately after and use teaching job websites like echincities to help you find a real job. Get rid of the recruiter and your wage goes up almost double somehow magically...  |
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Firearcher
Joined: 04 Jun 2007
Posts: 35
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| Posted: Mon Nov 07, 2016 2:56 pm Post subject: |
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| I have dealt with both WSE & Gold Star. Both are reputable. You are in good hands. |
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thechangling
Joined: 11 Apr 2013
Posts: 276
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| Posted: Tue Nov 08, 2016 5:38 am Post subject: |
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| Firearcher wrote: |
| I have dealt with both WSE & Gold Star. Both are reputable. You are in good hands. |
Get real. Both are terrible to work for and have reviews to match, particularly WSE. |
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sford1
Joined: 24 Sep 2016
Posts: 1
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| Posted: Sat Nov 19, 2016 3:53 pm Post subject: Please tell us about your experience with Gold Star |
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| Firearcher wrote: |
| I have dealt with both WSE & Gold Star. Both are reputable. You are in good hands. |
I'm thinking about applying through Gold Star, too. Firearcher, can you talk about your experience with Gold Star? |
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