Job Discussion Forums

[GeminiTiger]

How to consider a job offer teaching in China:

Nearly every job offer in China is different and to those new to the game perhaps it should be made clear how to consider one job offer from another. I hope this guide can help to do just that. I will attempt to make it as short winded and clear as possible. I will make some assumptions and generalizations; it is your responsibility to read the contract clearly to check if the situation is the same as what is typical.

Some jobs in the same city will offer 10,000 rmb a month while another may offer as low as 4000. The reality is that after looking at the details of such an offer the 4000 rmb job may actually be the better choice for the teacher.

Consideration: Private school versus Public schools

Private Schools (Training centers usually for children and sometimes adults)
Private schools usually pay upfront salaries between 7,000 and 12,000 rmb per month, however they will expect the teachers to work on the weekend and evenings, the teaching hours usually are 20-25 hours per week and often they will require the teacher in the office another 15 hours for preparation and presentation. Private schools usually do not offer any free housing. Furnished housing can cost 500 in a small city up to 2500 rmb in a large city depending on your comfort level. Electric, water and Internet (if you have a computer) will cost you extra. Private school teachers do not enjoy long winter or summer holidays and often have to work through regular holidays because it is considered the busy time. Though private teachers work more hours they always live away from the school and during their limited free time they are truly have more privacy than any public school teacher. It is also quite possible that a private school teacher is going to have a nicer apartment than that of a public school teacher, if they are willing to pay for it.

Private schools are ran by people who have a direct interest in the profit margins. Some foreigners will be seen as an asset the owners they do really well in private school market and can increase their salary to overcome what can be hard in public schools. To start working in a training center all you need it seems is to be is a foreigner with a high school degree to be considered. Of course higher qualifications are recommended.

Public schools (Elementary, Middle and Senior School or Colleges and Universities)

Public schools have a lower monthly salary usually 4000 to 7500 per month. The contract hours will usually be for 14 to 20 hours per week and perhaps 2 hours of English corner. Depending on experience you could easily teach 16 hours for 4000 or 16 hours for 6000. The schools do not usually require foreigners to work evenings or weekends. The exception is the weekly English corner and also near a holiday you may be required to make up some classes on a Saturday or Sunday. Public school teachers enjoy long winter and summer holidays and usually receive some salary during the winter holiday. Pubic school teachers will also receive a free furnished apartment and about a third the contracts include free electric utility, another third provides a small utility allowance of around 300 rmb and finally one third of contracts require the teachers to pay their own utility bills. Schools usually provide housing to a teacher 11 or more months for a year contract.

Public schools are bureaucratic institutions with well-established hierarchies. They generally have a lot of pride invested in their school the teachers and administration generally have been with the school a long time. Most public schools require bachelor degrees. Generally these schools have little interest in their foreign teacher and will want you to successfully complete your contract and not have trouble, because that wouldn�t generally be good for them or the school. Paying up the required bonuses and airfare is not a serious problem but the teacher should be prepared to deal with the laziness of the school administrators and long waits are infamous in China.


Consideration: Holidays and bonuses

Holiday and travel bonuses add up. A months salary in the winter and two in the summer along with travel bonuses could easily range from 5,000 to 20,000 rmb over the course of the year depending on the contract. In a public school you may be paid 3 extra months with no work required! Private schools do not offer workers long holidays, evening, weekends and summer holiday is when private schools are really busy.


THE MAGIC FORMULA: How to figure your real salary for a year contract

(Monthly Salary * Paid Months) (+Airfare) (+Holiday Pay)(+Travel Allowance)
Now subtract (utilities and housing paid per month *12), (divided by number of weeks to work in a year), (divided by hours worked per week).

Important notes: Paying utilities will likely cost you 3000 to 6000 rmb for 12 months, if you are paying housing you should expect to pay another 6,000 to 24,000. My best guess is the average cost for both is around 2,000 per month

Public teachers work 40 weeks a year about while private teachers work 48 or more weeks a year they also work far less hours so figures in a lot below.

Common College Job:
4000*10 (+8000) (+4000) (+2200) = 54,000 per year
(�0) (/ 40) (/16) = 84 rmb per hour adjusted for bonuses and living costs

Common Private Job:
8000*12 (+8000) (+4000)(+2200) = 110200 per year
(-2000*12) (/48 ) (/30) = 59 rmb per hour adjusted for bonuses and living costs


Consideration: Airfare and bonuses

Schools are always tricky when it comes to airfare. They will usually offer to reimburse the costs of your flight once your provide them with receipts and tickets. Schools will often throw fits at the cost of your flight and if it two-one way tickets or a return ticket. Every detail must be agreed. Sometimes the school will offer to buy your return ticket for you and sometimes they require you buy one before they can reimburse you. Other schools will offer as low as 6,000 rmb for a years contract to cover airfare. The difference between a 6,000 rmb and 12,000 rmb airfare reimburse is respectively 500 per month and 1,000 per month on a 12 month contract.


Last word: Public vs Private
My feeling is that working in a private school is a lot more stress, you have to manage every detail for yourself. Housing, utilities, transportation. You will work longer hours and evenings, also private schools may business dress code. In short, it's more work and more pay. On the other hand private schools do provide more privacy in your offtime as your not living on a campus or near other teachers.

Consideration: Cities

The age-old question, especially in China is what is better a big city or a small city. Well, it really isn�t so simple. It�s very complicated, big cities will cost more for daily life generally and entertainment surely, but they also have the best shopping and access to foreign brands anywhere in China. Small cities are cheap to live in and generally boring however you as a foreigner will certainly be more interesting to the local people. Perhaps the most important thing is that if you have to provide your own housing in a large city you will certainly pay a lot more for a lot less of a house. The pollution level of a city is something I always want to know and is the first thing I research when looking at a job offer, I also want to know about the foreign community and cultural interests. Some teachers will want to know about the entertainment and dance clubs if that is your thing you should definitely go to a large city. Searching google.com with the city name and keywords like �foreigner�, pollution, expat and searching yahoo for images often will give you a good idea of what you can expect.

Consideration: Climate

A word of warning, south china does not heat classrooms and none of the buildings have insulation, winter does indeed make most of China cold for sometime and you will likely be teaching in a unheated building when the temperature is right around freezing. The students will be wearing jackets and so will you. Your apartment is likely to only have a single �air conditioning� unit in the bedroom this unit can both heat and cool the air. It can be effective, but sometimes it is not, it certainly won�t help you in the living room and if your paying utilities, it is always expensive. I�ve been told north china has some heat in the classrooms, but I wouldn�t take that for granted. Coastal cities are as a rule milder in both winter and summer then cities inland at the same latitude in can make a big difference between a miserable or comfortable seasonal change.


I�ll edit this after some feedback; I hope some first time teachers can find it helpful. Please feel free to leave comments. ;)

[TangWolun]

Interesting

There is no mention of families or kids here.

Generally speaking, teachers with families and children get no more
than single people when first offers on salaries are made.

I'm about to take an 8 year old and a 4 year old and they will be catered for in the public system. Yes - you did read that correctly, the public system. I could be earning $A100K in Hong Kong or Singapore but decided to go with Shanghai. and a lot, lot less in salary!! Would your immediate conclusion be that money is not everything!! Maybe!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v687/wOZfromOZ/Bradley%20and%20James/2008homestuff012.jpg

Chinese people are so keen and eager to be friendly and warm to you when you have children.

please, no flamers!!

TangWolun.
我是澳大利亚的英文老师。

[vikuk]

[killian]

i dunno. i have know foreign kids in public schools in china. the amount of trouble they get from other kids simply because they are not chinese is not insignificent.

[Kilroy]

Good post, GeminiTiger.

I scanned through it quickly, and would agree with most of it. It neatly summarises most of the salient points of the two teaching domains in China. Very handy to read for a rookie teacher fresh of the boat in one post. You have obviously been around in China for some time... it shows.

KR.

[kev7161]

Wait a minute - - what about the private schools that are NOT language centers? I work in a private school where parents have to apply to have their children come - - once the classes are full, no more can be let in. I don't think it's really a matter of academics however, just those that have a lot of money. My school is well-established and quite "famous" in these parts. However, I get all the benefits of a language mill (the good pay) plus all the "perks" of a public school: free apartment (off campus), utilities, internet, airfare reimbursement, health care, and more. I (usually) don't work weekends and have never worked at night. So I guess I fall somewhere in between. I think we need an "other" option in the poll.

[GeminiTiger]

Your right I didn't talk about kids in China, because thats like 1% of FTs in China. Same to you Kev, newbies don't need to know about your 'sweet deal'.

[Zero]

[melilly]

Hmmm, let's see...
a big city uni job, M-F days, with evening and weekend privates and corporate classes to boost monthly earnings to a comfortable income.
The key for me is having a flexible schedule, with the security of the uni position and the freedom of freelance work on the side.
I worked long hours for a year to get here, but well worth it.
Salary ranges and hourly rates here are a bit higher than the national average, but so is the cost of living.

[vikuk]

[melilly]

Some good points...

I suppose it depends on how you define the rat race.

Even the times when I've had to teach a lot of classes while arranging a freer, more relaxed schedule, I've NEVER felt like I was in the rat race.

Teaching, or "being" an EFL teacher rarely feels like a chore. Usually when I'm exhausted and at the end of my rope there's a day or two of rest ahead.

Not all EFL jobs are flexible, but flexibility is built into the system and therefore part of the business. We have options and chances to set up teaching schedules that we like, that work for us, that we can live with, that make us happy, etc.

The rat race to me is something much more restrictive, more of a ball-and-chain existence, without the freedom and flexibility, or a "rat's chance" in Hell's Kitchen, to be a freelancer or independent contractor, to break free of those chains.

Case in point: I picked up a Mon-Tue gig here doing an oral English class, 2 hours with a 5-10 minute break, and I make 400 rmb to do this. Since I'm a Yank, that's $57 usd. Hmm, $28.50 an hour to basically TALK to people. Then I walk away, free, with easy money in my pocket, while my students go back to their cubicles.

When I start my uni job in September I'll be lapping these kinds of jobs up like Turkey Day gravy!

[gypsy woman]

I've received several contracts now from universities that all stipulate that teachers are not allowed to take outside jobs, some as stated below even have consequences. Excerpt below:

"Party B may not accept any employment or engage in any other occupation while under contract to Party A without Party A�s permission. Any violation of this regulation will result in a RMB500yuan � RMB1,500yuan fine. If there were serious negative effects, Party A would has the right to terminate the contract."

Often people mention doing well with uni salaries and taking privates for extra income. Were you able to get the uni to amend these contract restrictions? OR do you just hope that they wont find out and fire you?

[vikuk]

[melilly]

[arioch36]

Gypsy