Job Discussion Forums

senor boogie woogie

Hola!

I have looked in the International Job Vacancies, and a kindy in Shenzhen is advertising a job there. The job pays 6500 RMB a month for the hours of 0800-1650 from Monday through Friday with an apartment shared with someone of the teacher's own sex.

This is only 36 RMB an hour. This is in Shenzhen, a modern city unlike those you would see in Taiwan, Korea or Japan. This city is very close to HK and I guarantee that a person can make this salary with a lot less effort there.

To all new people who want to come to China, think of this as a rule of thumb, at least 100 RMB an hour for any coastal city in the country. If the job is in po-dunk China ask for 80 RMB plus your OWN place. Minimum!! I make 100 an hour working a poorly staffed kindy near Hangzhou. I make 100/45 minutes at a college here.

This is a minimum salary. If you want to hustle, one can make 150 an hour or more teaching private "SARS-free" private classes. To all new teachers PLEASE shop around!!! The people who own these schools make a great profit off the backs of us foreigners, and it is only fair that we reap a little bit of the rewards. I will say that this post has been here for awhile, but most all schools are not paying what they should, especially to us brave souls who love China and are not ready to run away because of SARS. WE ARE OF GREAT VALUE, and the bosses cannot run a profit without us!

Some of us 'old timers' have wives and even children to support. To all "newbees" ask for 100 an hour plus three hots and a cot. You will be doing us a mighty service.

SENOR

klasies · Joined: 04 Mar 2003 Posts: 178 Location: China

Senor

Could not agree with you more. My missus makes 222 an hour and I make 277 an hour. All it will take is for the FT to unite and not accept that low Shenzhen c rap kind of salary. As long as there are village idiots who accept low salaries our bargaining power is made difficult.

Andre

MyTurnNow · Joined: 19 Mar 2003 Posts: 860 Location: Outer Shanghai

Hear, hear!!!!

It's one thing, and bad enough, to offer those miserable little salaries. It's quite another to be boneheaded enough to take them. People leap at 25-30 hours a week of kids for 4000 RMB a month, shared apartment, in some dusty, grimy little backwater and feel lucky to have been selected...or worse still, take the same salary in an expensive city like Beijing.

These salaries are offered only because they get away with it.

People! There's no rush! Do your homework!

MT

kathleen · Joined: 24 Apr 2003 Posts: 38 Location: Nanjing

Make sure to have payment of your return airfare included in your contract. I've taught as a foreign expert for three years and never had a problem until this year when the FAO tried to pull a fast one and pocket my airfare money. I produced the document detailing all the benefits of my employment, which the English department had given me last year. Finally I was paid but now there has been some quibbling about my next year's contract, in which I demanded they include specific language about paying my roundtrip airfare

As I understand it, the Bureau of Foreign Experts gives the money to the FAO upon review of the contract. It is standard for a teacher completing his second consecutive year of service at a government school to be reimbursed for his roundtrip. If you don't get this money the FAO will just "use it for other purposes." He is cheating the Bureau of Foreign Experts.

Has anyone else encountered this situation?

kathleen · Joined: 24 Apr 2003 Posts: 38 Location: Nanjing

Make sure to have payment of your return airfare included in your contract. I've taught as a foreign expert for three years and never had a problem until this year when the FAO tried to pull a fast one and pocket my airfare money. I produced the document detailing all the benefits of my employment, which the English department had given me last year. Finally I was paid but now there has been some quibbling about my next year's contract, in which I demanded they include specific language about paying my roundtrip airfare

As I understand it, the Bureau of Foreign Experts gives the money to the FAO upon review of the contract. It is standard for a teacher completing his second consecutive year of service at a government school to be reimbursed for his roundtrip. If you don't get this money the FAO will just "use it for other purposes." He is cheating the Bureau of Foreign Experts.

Has anyone else encountered this situation?

Peter · Joined: 29 Jan 2003 Posts: 161

In regards to Senor BW: Kindergartens waste a lot of time, there is free play time, then playground time, and very long sleep and lunch times.

So an hourly rate is not a true reflection, but even at half of exposure time it is still robbers wages.

If anybody goes for it, a precise breakdown of hours and duties coupled with 100 min.......see what boils up.

ESL Guru · Joined: 18 May 2003 Posts: 462

PEOPLE - PEOPLE - PEOPLE

PPPLLLLEEEEAAAASSSSSEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!

There is only one answer -
UNIONIZE!

NOW FOR 2,500 RMB PER MONTH YOU MAY JOIN OUR NEW INTERPLANETARY ESL TEACHER'S UNION WHERE WE GUARANTEE THAT WE WILL NEGOTIATE A NEW CONTRACT FOR YOU THAT YOUR SCHOOL CAN NOT REFUSE. WE HAVE HIRED MARLON BRANDO AS OUR NEGOTIATOR.

YOUR SALARY WILL BE INCREASED BY 100 RMB PER MONTH, GUARANTEED!!

JOIN NOW WHILE WE FEEL GENEROUS AND BEFORE WE DECIDE TO INVADE AND JUST EAT YOU.

Peter · Joined: 29 Jan 2003 Posts: 161

Added to my previous post: Kindy rooms have usually 3 teachers/caregivers for one class; one of them is a junior who learns the trade on the job

This dilutes the wages available for one room.

Kindies are also babysitting services; very young children are common.

Being freelance and outside the structure means you can ask and get decent money: 200 at least in Shenzhen

But it is a business, in SZ, a commercial firm has 4 kindergartens. From time to time somebody shows up in a Cadillac and goes to the principal.

Another one is a community kindy, the boss of that enterprise drives the most expensive Merc available.......

MartinK · Joined: 01 Mar 2003 Posts: 344

chinasyndrome · Posted: Thu May 22, 2003 6:12 am Post subject:

[quote="MartinK"]

MartinK · Joined: 01 Mar 2003 Posts: 344

Roger · Joined: 19 Jan 2003 Posts: 9138

Just an afterthought on kindergartens: to my knowledge, expats are NOT normally given jobs in kindergartens. There seems to be a central government edict banning the hiring of native speakers.
I know some of us have legal jobs - but we are a small minority, really!
Besides, in kindergartens you work twelve months a year, with no summer recess!
Pay is often good, but some kindis refuse to pay for your visa! My colleagues in various kindis in Guangdong all are on business visas.
Also, airfare is not routinely offered!
As for the proper remuneration: it often is per period, and one period is only 30 minutes. I have two offers now before me, each paying over 8000 RMB for around 20 periods a week.
A period just comes to 100 RMB, and an hour to 200 RMB.
No, because I do not have tyhe choice of working two periods in 60 minutes... there is a break of between ten and twenty minutes.