Job Discussion Forums

[Milamber]

Firstly, Hi to all.

I am a new teacher in China, having 10 months experience of a private school in Harbin. I teach A-Levels, which (if my college is telling the truth?!?) is the first such college to do so. If that is true, then that makes me the first teacher of Maths and Physics A-Levels in China - which, although this might sound odd to some, I'm actually proud of, even if it's not all peaches and cream.

I have been offered a contract at the above school to start in September, but I just wanted to get a couple of opinions from those of you with considerable more experience. Is Shenzhen worth going to to teach? Does anyone know of this school - has it operated under a different name in the past?

I am also wary of the contract, since whilst the things Dave has mentioned have been (mostly) put in, the contract feels very loaded in their favour and since my current contract is not strong, I feel I don't want the hassle of another year with a contract that means knack-all - I would like a contract that's at least fair, if that is possible. I don't want to get into an argument about what is fair and what isn't, but if anyone PMs me, I'll pass on a copy of the contract they've shown me, and my response to it and hopefully I can get some expert opinions on the contract.

Many thanks for any assistance,

Milamber

[Roger]

The best thing would be to publicise the terms of your contract.
The name of that school you mentioned sounds like a newcomer. Expect many teething problems then!
I do not know if you like Shenzhen - coming from Harbin, you might. Then again, you might not, who knolws? I did not like the place for three years. It was a bit wild-west when I lived there, a lot of paranoia (which seems to have been blown away by some typhoons since), and a lot more expensive than the rest of the country.
Two pluses though: You can easily day-trip to Hong Kong, and most salaries are more attractive than in other parts of Guangdong.

[Peter]

On the top of the Chinese forum page, written by Dave, is a sample of a standard contract, which we all should have for comparison.

In regards to money; 150 RMB is standard for freelance work on an hourly basis.
If you recieve board and food, calculate that in

The return flight is a separate issue

[Milamber]

All,

Many thanks for the replies. I would expect teething problems here too - I experienced lots with this place in Harbin. Publisizing my contract would take up too much room here - but would happily send it to anyone who pm's me with their email address - send their contract and my response by way of attachment.

If anyone wants to contact me direct, then [email protected] is fine too.

I'm not scared of a few teething problems - but am scared because of this (new?) 'standard' that I must pay for my outgoing flight to China, and then that gets refunded if I stay long enough. Something smells of 'cheat' here somehow. Maybe it's just good Chinese business sense, but my first school paid for me to come to China and I would've thought that that would be the standard.

Ah well.....

Many thanks again for your replies. Hope you can help me!