Job Discussion Forums

[reblair79]

HI. I was just curious to get an idea of what a newbie with a BA (unrelated to TEFL), a CELTA and no teaching experience other than 1 year assistance voluntary work (local council) expect to save in one year with their first teaching job in China? I'm aware that is vague is it could vary depending on the city, the job offer and lifestyle. An average would be good to know or even just peoples own experiences of what they saved (with an idea of the job they had and lifestyle etc). Thanks! Ray

[Markness]

Hey Ray,

I know you said this out loud already but it is true when you had said "it really depends". Thankfully you said what you've got in terms of paper work (which kind of helps, but the most important thing is your ability to try and sniff out good/bad work).

When I was first in China I was here to study Chinese and all of that jazz and dealt with a recruiter and was only taking in a very humble 4800RMB. I just had fun and thought I was going to find privates easily, which was actually not possible. The area I had lived in was filled with the non-rich folk, and there were no training schools around even. They paid for all of my bills and everything, but still.. 4800RMB 5 years ago or so was not very good. I saved probably about 2000 or so of it, so that would be about 25000RMB a year, which is probably what you can save in a month here if you work a ton. Worst part of it all was on my way out my school couldn't realize why they couldn't keep a foreign teacher there. They paid a lot (and I didn't even know), and they couldn't retain a foreign teacher. I tried to explain to the school that I would stay if they got rid of the recruiter and paid me the full amount, but they were too hesitant and just believed us foreigners were unreliable and therefore the recruiter is a necessary evil (I hope they enjoy the 1-semester teachers).

A year or so later I worked at a training school and took in a much healthier amount. I was at about 10,000RMB, however instead of working only 15 hours a week I had to work 20 now, and the hours were never blocked together. Training schools are fair in the sense that they will pay you on time, but everything else is out of the window. Endless antics from your uneducated bosses/colleagues and then there are the foreign narcs (usually super unqualified for work anywhere else and are looking to move up the chain there). With all of the shenanigans like the school not giving us proper time off, to starting to deduct people for not having "proper" lesson plans, it was time for me to head off to greener pastures. The training school gave me good experience but I would not recommend it unless you really needed a job. The savings of that 10,000RMB was probably about 3000RMB or so a month because I am western and don't want to eat 10RMB noodles 3 times a day, and also enjoyed going out every now and then/buying a new computer, etc. So that year I think I had saved about 30-40,000RMB.

Fast forward to a year after that and you have where I am now, working at an "international" high school where I am getting about 16,000RMB a month (my contract is going to get renewed and I am going to ask for a juicy raise as they keep making us sign 2-year contracts). I only teach 15 hours a week, but again, there are issues with the location since I am a little bit away from where all of the action/jobs are. I have been looking for extra work I'd say pretty much the entire time being here, but it is a struggle to find something that isn't a complete rip-off. The high school itself is fine, the students are rich and kind of couldn't make it to the really good high schools here, so their parents decided for them that they need to go abroad, and here we are. Anywho, back to the extra work situation. If you live quite far away from where all the training schools are, it can be quite annoying. The training schools have not seemed to have raised their part-time hourly rate since I've been here from the beginning, as a matter of fact they are pulling off shenanigans like offering 200 an hour, but since you only teach 50 minutes you get only 166 or something like that. Seriously not worth it if you are putting in 60-80 hours a month.

For purposes of saving your eyes from bleeding, I now am able to save about 8-10,000RMB a month or so from my current salary (which goes straight to the wedding funds), so I pretty much have a gigantic moth flying out of my wallet all the time. I had some good months where I worked extra and could save double that when I worked at other training institutions, but I felt it wasn't worth it as they always always made you work much longer than the hours advertised in the sense that they never were able to block hours together, and not to mention the commute that exists as well.

I live in a tier 2 city, so if you're aiming for a big one like Beijing/Shanghai a game changer there would be that the school would have to offer accommodation, if you're outside of there then it is fine. Accommodation is a big thing in those parts so you it is super important to factor that in. If you're working at a training school in Beijing/Shanghai/Guangzhou and they offer 15-16,000RMB a month, well that sounds all nice and everything but it is actually worse saving power than a place like Chengdu if you're getting 11,000RMB a month here. The housing there for something that doesn't look post-apocalyptic is probably in the range of 4-6000RMB a month, whereas in Chengdu I am currently living in a 2-bedroom brand-new apartment which costs me 1200RMB a month (unfurnished, but we rather buy our own and not live in one that has "furniture").

So, what can we get from all of this? Best place to apply at are public schools, or "international" ones. They have the lowest hours/highest pay ratio. If you can find an extra school to work at in the evenings/weekends then you're really laughing and can be looking at saving 10-15,000RMB a month no problem.

Training school savings are probably in the range of 3-5,000RMB a month which is okay.

If you're not working extra then you can consider the public school savings much closer to the training school ones. Forget about working extra if you're already working full-time at a training school as they keep you there almost all the time in order to make the school look "busy". Nowadays the contract hours seem to be getting longer, but the pay remains. I'd pretty much avoid training schools at all costs and hope that the government cracks down on those places as they are a den for those people who are keeping the salaries down for you. Get them out!

Oh.. forgot something to add, an honorable mention to online teaching. I am looking into that, and heard that you can get about 100-150 or so RMB an hour teaching at home, so that is an another avenue to pursue as well. I am looking into it as we speak and recommend others to do so as well.

A very important edit: your lifestyle is also super important to your savings. If you're going out to the bar every weekend with friends then look at shaving off 2000RMB a month from your potential savings. If you're like me and only go out like once a month then you can pretty much not even worry about it. I live a pretty good life, I read a lot and play video games/look for extra work, haha. A lot of money is saved but there are expenses that come around like a new computer/dual monitors/buying the missus a new computer/buying a new big-screen TV/buying new furniture that doesn't look like the Chinese style which is essentially furniture that looks like it is from the 1970s. That gouges your savings quite a bit, and spring festival time you can pretty much write that month off as you have to take into account the red envelopes you give to family so that grandma can buy milk powder, etc. Also if you're like me and get tired of eating the local cuisine all the time (which will happen, trust me), you're looking at taking off an another 2000RMB a month from taobao import purchases. I'm cool with that though as long as I can have bacon/eggs/hashbrowns for breakfast before I have to go into the sweatshop. So basically there is some variation depending on what kind of person you are. If you're a monk and like to work then you can save a ton. If you're like me then you can save quite a bit, but my sanity remains and I do not feel the need to have to go back home every 6 months like my friends who are running a pretty lean savings operation.

Mark

[getbehindthemule]

You've received a great response from Markness there...
I live in a tier 1 city - Shanghai - and it's not as expensive as some posters on here make out. If you are content not living in the city center you will be fine. Public transportation is fantastic here, there's a Metro station every 10-15minutes walk. )
Try and go for the type of job (public/'international' school) that Markness suggested. Most of these will come with an accomodation allowance (tax free). I get 3500/month and my rent is 3200/month (decent sized one bedroom apartment).
You can live very comfortably on 6k/month here, so if you have a job 12k+ you can easily save half of your salary (much more if you're a bit more frugal than I am haha).
I'm three years in the same public school job (my first in China) and get a pay rise annually and full Summer pay upon re-signing of contract. I also get 8k airfare allowance in cash every Summer.
So I would say look for a minimum of 12k + good overall package and you will be fine in a Tier 1 city.
I would be happy to answer any questions that you may have regarding the cost of living in SH etc, if it's of interst to you.
Anyway, I hope that you can land on your feet as I have. Good Luck!

[reblair79]

Thanks so much for that reply Mark. It was very informative and gave me lots of information to consider.

Getbehindthemule, thanks also, it seems from what you both say, if I do go to China then the schools seem the right place to go. I have a very rough idea now of what I can expect to save depending on lifestyle and job etc.

I'd still love to hear any other experiences from others too as it's very interesting.

Regards, Ray

[getbehindthemule]

[Xie Lin]

As others have already suggested, that is an outstanding post, Markness! It's rare to get so much info and experience in such a detailed, concise format. This thread would make a good sticky, so that it doesn't get lost in the China pages.

.

[VanillaICE]

I worked at a company in BJ for 3 years after leaving my university job, my salary was 19k yuan a month after taxes, and I would get paid a double salary in January for the bonus. I was almost totally broke when I started working for them.

I would save about 10k yuan a month - I didnt buy alot of useless crap or take lots of ran