Job Discussion Forums

senor boogie woogie · Posted: Tue Sep 23, 2003 9:08 am Post subject: To NEWBIES in China!

Hola!

Attention to all newbies! If you are interested in coming to China, accept nothing less than 100 RMB per working hour. No less. Anything less is chicken feed.

I am looking for work now, and the language schools and colleges that I am applying to are paying 3000-5000 RMB for 20 hours worth of work! This is small money, especially if one wants to live in one of the coastal cities.

I don't know who works for these crappy salaries. I guess they are either backpackers, third world people or damned old people who want to "travel and experience another culture". To these people I say, go to India, Laos, Mexico, the GD moon, anywhere but here.

I think some of us get sucked in by housing also. It is the law in China that these companies have to supply housing. This is not a benefit. A lot of time it is a curse because your employer is your landlord and you might be placed in a hole that you don't want, or work in a school that locks it doors at night behind a big wall (Been there done that).

Lastly, when they tell you that you can live here on 800 RMB a month, see if the black stuff they are giving you comes from a horse or a bull.

SENOR Twisted Evil

Steiner · Joined: 21 Apr 2003 Posts: 573 Location: Hunan China

Mr. Woogie,

If you live in the countryside, though, you can live really cheaply. My wife and I live on 800rmb a month easily. Of course if we go to a city, we spend everything we've just saved.

cheekygal · Joined: 04 Mar 2003 Posts: 1987 Location: China, Zhuhai

if you come on a contract, then its pretty rare you can get 100 RMB per hour Smile

it's usually 56-60+

my company has worked out a system where we have teachers of C, B and A category [ A is the highest] and also in each category the pay depends on the amount of hours you are teaching. So, the minimum salary for a C category would be 3,000 [below 10 hours a week]. If you get more hours or succeed as a teacher - you salary raises. Also it depends on whether you need a coordinator or not. New teachers usually start with lower salary, but salary gets pretty much high if you are a successful teacher [seriously, not making up - I am the live example!] and you are in demand Smile

yet, the salary is fixed for up to 20 hours a week. if a teacher works overtime - he/she gets paid.

Usually the average salary in China is 5,000-6,000 RMB for 20 hours a week plus package including accomodation, airfare, certain amount of money for bills, traveling fare to get to work [bus/taxi - depending on the company], medical and some other benefits Smile

-cheekybabe

Wolf · Joined: 10 May 2003 Posts: 1245 Location: Middle Earth

gerard · Joined: 16 Jan 2003 Posts: 581 Location: Internet Cafe

Senor is right but we should remember the perks...Next week we have 7 - 10 days off with pay and many get a month In Jan or July-Aug off with pay. A 15 hour a week deal would be 60 hours a month so you should get 6000 right?? But what is the apt and utils worth?? And maybe meals---if you can stand them...And holidays so maybe 4000 is fair for that... Maybe we should say 150-200 as a guage...

Depends how much you need every month I guess...I am happy (for the moment) on a modest salary...I am getting about 6 and will not even attempt to save..Really I do not find China all that cheap. Remenber the thread "live like a King on 500 RMB a month???" No way. Add a zero and it is still not true...And like Steiner says those trip to the city really blow the budget. Indeed I dont find it much cheaper than Korea here. There the standard salary when you convert is about 14000 RMB and I could save half.. (same in Japan and Taiwan roughly.) People talk about saving but ....continue later....

Roger · Joined: 19 Jan 2003 Posts: 9138

I say accept 3000 to 5000 a month if it is your first job, and you are a real newbie! This is good money in most places although clearly not enough up north in Peking and Tianjin, or in the East, Shanghai, Hangzhou, Suzhou and Dalian.
I am luckier now as my employers all offer at least what SBW wants, often more; however, there is nothing wrong if you start out at a lower level. I did that - at 1300 a month, 16 periods a week. I did not starve then!
And to those who have to repay study loans, I can only say living on borrowed money is a crime. It may be your lifestyle, but it is not mine. It is totally alien to my way of thinking.
Repay it while at home! It should be easier to make that kind of money in a first-world country than in a developing nation!