Job Discussion Forums

[Ray Of Light]

Is it normal for schools to provide a settlement allowance to new teachers upon arrival? Hearing conflicting reports. Public schools in this case, that is.

[OhBudPowellWhereArtThou]

An official allowance? Never heard of one, never seen one in a contract.

If you go to a public school, you might ask for a loan. In addition, you could ask for a meal card for the school cafeteria.

It's not a good idea to arrive in China without funds. I've arrived with as little as $300 USD, but I'd been up the creek if things had gone south.

Will you be living in a private apartment? Others will be able to advise you about deposits and the like. It isn't cheap.

[getbehindthemule]

It certainly wouldn't be the norm but I've heard of schools/companies giving teachers a loan or an advance to help cover the considerable expense of renting an apartment.
In most large cities, it seems to be standard to pay three months rent in advance in addition to a deposit (min one month). So in many cases you will nead to cough up four months rent prior to moving in. As Bud said, it's not cheap! You will most likely need to invest in bedding, kitchen utensils, etc. also.

[Osiry]

Don't buy the cheap towels at Walmart, they're terrible. Get the fancy ones.

Haven't heard of a settlement allowance, but as has been stated previously, some will extend you a loan at the beginning of your contract to cover apartment costs etc.

[hz88]

I've never come across it in the case of public schools, in the high end jobs it might be part of the package but I would say rare if non existent in the ESL field.

Renting an apartment where I am requires three months in advance plus a months deposit. In some instances I've known landlords and letting agents ask for six months.

If you are new to China it might be worth finding a school that provides accommodation as part of the deal, at least until you get yourself sorted out. It might not be what you are expecting but at least you don't have the hassles of dealing with the finding and paying side of things. You could always negotiate a move out at a later date.

Its not always possible but I would say you should have at least 5,000RMB or the equivalent to tie you over until your first salary. Be mindful this could be as long as two months after you start working depending on your contract.

Some schools may give you a small loan against your first salary if you are struggling but you would need to ask for it and don't take it as guaranteed.

[jimpellow]

Yes, I agree with the others that your choice of words needs clarification.

If it is a loan, I would never suggest taking it unless one is truly desperate. Even then even, I would reframe how it was accepted so as not to give even a hint of financial desperation.

Although a certain percentage of schools do so for benign reasons, namely an understanding that the upfront costs now incurred with teaching in China are quite high, a fair amount are testing for financial desperation as a means to enslave the teacher.

[backtochina2017]

Anyone who has a credit card should have a decent amount of money to run them through a month. That's each credit card. Do you know the number of banks wanting people to get a credit card with them? Even places like Target issue a credit card.

This should be a non-issue. After a month, you only have to pay a minimum balance. Anyone who runs into problems here should either stop buying so much or they have really bad financial management skills.

Basically, that's like $6,000 USD to get your crap in order before the fourth month where you would get your third full month's salary. Don't spend like Trump and you will be fine.

[astrotrain]

Last year (Sept 2015) when I worked in Southern China I had only set aside $2000 Canadian for my the 1st month stay at the school plus the flight and Visa costs.

I had funds in the bank account that I really didn't want to touch and there was a promo going on with one of my credit cards for 1% interest cash advance for 12 months. So I did that instead since my funds in the bank account and other investments yielded greater ROE than the cash advance.

My school paid upfront the initial plane ticket over (had to use my negotiation skills) so that gave me more room to work with, like buying a bunch of household stuff, cooking pots, utensils etc. My budget was real good as I had some left over even after my 1st paycheck.

Of course I had 2 other CCs and a low interest PLC as backup if there were any major emergencies.

You need to prepare and do the proper due diligence in order to avoid as much financial calamities when you move to work in a foreign country barely speaking the language. I am an Econ graduate, ex banker and worked in investments so this stuff was drilled into me very early and one of the reasons I taught Economics there. I see too many people particular the FTs there financially irresponsible, having next to nothing when they leave China back home. Just boggles my mind. I saved a good deal of my salary there and avoided all the major banking fees for currency transfers by mailing a debit card back home and have a relative regularly withdraw the amounts. Another FT who did the transfers got hit by both currency fluctuations and large banking fees for wiring money over. Just not smart.

I lucked in as my former school was up and up, professional and gave me the help with the Visa, bank account setup, regular salary deposits etc.

[Non Sequitur]

Going into an existing rental with other means the upfronts are far less.

[getbehindthemule]

[The bear]

Relocation allowances are available in China, but very rare. The average public school/uni will not offer one. The only time I've seen them are for western uni's in China or international schools.

[Babala]

My university gives new teachers a 400 yuan supermarket card to buy household goods they need but it's not in the contract, just something we do for our new teachers.

[Elicit]

[OhBudPowellWhereArtThou]

[Non Sequitur]

The bus driver just let me ride free until I figured out that I had to keep putting money into the card,

I never took you for a Millennial Bud.
But you clearly were, once.