Job Discussion Forums

[august03]

I've been asked (by a friend) to teach English lessons to a group of about 15 adult employees of a private company. I'm not sure exactly what the company is but it's not a language school or anything like that, it's just one that wants it's staff to improve their English. It would be a few lessons a week outside of school hours, I've been asked to give a quote but I have no idea.

Should I charge per person or by the hour or .......?
What is a reasonable rate?

By the way I live in a small city so perhaps I can't get the same amount as I could in a larger city, or could I?

[Sinobear]

By initiating this in a small city, you are setting a precedent. If you charge too little, you cannot justify charging more when you create the demand. If you charge too much, you may catch the attention of the PSB.

I would go with what you personally feel your time is worth. Is this casual and informal? Is this a structured and quality-driven task? If it's a short-term venture, your price should be high. Long-term assignments can be cheaper (guaranteed income over time). "As much as the market will bear."

Good luck!

[kev7161]

Remember, if you ask to be paid per person, to make sure you get paid at least for 3 or 4 lessons ahead of time for each person. In other words, if you set a scheduled time for your meetings and some don't show, you are still making the effort to be there and should be compensated for it.

If you charge just a flat, group-rate fee, then you'll be paid that amount no matter if one or all fifteen show up.

[Auntyjack]

You might like to think about charging on the basis of a whole service delivery as opposed to # students, # lessons/teaching time. In other words a specific job which includes xx contact hours, yy preparation hours etc. I say this because if you want to deliver reasonable value you'll need to spend a little time initially coming to grips with the company, the business, the specific needs of their employees and the best way to work with them.
I do believe that doing this kind of job for a company is quite different from classroom, course based or syllabus teaching. And yes, I know there are plenty of 'business english' modules out there, but in the end it needs to be targetted, and to target accurately you need to spend some time with them before you even think about the first lesson. Which should be chargeable. That investment up front pays off for the company and is justifiable as long as it's explicit, and so are the benefits.

[2 over lee]

Our new resident troll, El Lobo.

As far as privates go, I fully agree that it�s wise to get students to pay ahead to avoid one-timers i.e. �come-see-the-laowaiers�.

[Auntyjack]

Nice to meet you too. 'scuse me if I don't sound like you.
On the topic, all I'm saying is that if it's for a business then prep time at the same rate as contact time is legitimate, rather than being expected to just go in a deliver an instant lesson.

[august03]

Thanks for the advice, I do agree about having the payment first and I think I'll ask to be paid per person, it might weed out those that are just there for a look.

Has anyone done this before, what price did you charge?

[Roger]

You cannot charge students individually - nonsense! You will get your wages from the company, and your students will be your boss. Collectively.

The downside is that if anyone is displeased with you you will be out of your job in next to no time.

Company work is extremely fickle. The reason is that the wrong side is footing the bill - the company, and the wrong side is assessing you - the students.

They will be too tired or disinterested in sacrificing their spare time. I normally make a point of having the students pay a nominal part of the tuition so that they know it is in their own interest...

As for tuition fees: You might be able to ask for more than from a training centre; don't forget the company would normally ask a trreaining centree to send a teacher, and your salary would feed your employer first of all.

So, let's say, RMB 200 an hour. Plus transport. Make them pay upfront, and commit them to a schedule! Very important!

[KL]

If you still are feeling unsure after reading these posts, you can have a different Chinese friend call the nearest language training center and ask what the rate for small group instruction is. Then set your fee accordingly. On a more positive note, I often do this kind of teaching for free and find it very enjoyable. (Put the guns away....it's my husband's company!) Your students are already gainfully employed and should be interested for the sake of definite goals, i.e. promotions, higher commission, assignment to a different branch within their company. This is in contrast to students who just have vague ideas that English will "help" them in the future. You may have a few students who are learning because they enjoy it. (These people do exist in China, though you probably wouldn't guess by reading many posts here!) These students have specific language needs and will usually know what they are. Of course, some companies offer incentives to attend these classes and some just make them mandatory. Regardless, meeting adults who already have jobs will be a nice change of pace from teaching other students. You will probably enjoy yourself and make some money in the process. Some people make a living doing nothing but this type of corporate training!

[Susie]

12 hours per week at RMB5,000 (each employee pays RMB10 and the company boss subsidises the remainder), you prepare the employees for the College English Test 4 - 6 (the one university students have to pass), and arrange for the to actually take the test.

[Auntyjack]

I work for business, not schools. Companies don't always care about English tests, just helping employees speak better English, for obvious reasons. And I agree with KL - it's good fun, there are plenty of companies who aren't out to do you over, and the staff are not lazy idiots. They just want it to be relevant to their job, and that you work in with them. You make some good friends along the way. If this came through a friend then you should be able to assess if you've got someone who's going to work with you, and if the staff welcome you. If you've got that, then go for it, it's a growing field and a chance to get into some positive territory (!)
If it doesn't work out, what the heck, you've only lost a few hours, just cut a reasonable price for the job and don't get bogged in the detail.

[MES]

A couple of colleagues and I have done quite a lot of in-company training in the last 4yrs in Guangdong. We've agreed to accept no less than 200/hr, payable at least a couple of wks in advance, and car transportation must be provided if the job's more than say a 30-40 min bus ride away.

With this kind of training some students will ALWAYS drop out for various reasons such as: they're not paying so there's little at stake for them, that meeting or deadline or prospective client comes first, the lessons are outside working hrs, they don't like your teaching style, the material doesn't meet their needs, the class level is too low or too high for them.

Of course there're ways to minimize these problems but, as Roger said, it's fickle work. It can be financially rewarding though....the plum jobs can pay 250+ per hour and provide some very good perks.

Cheers.

[myesl]