Job Discussion Forums

Orrin · Joined: 02 Apr 2005 Posts: 206 Location: Zhuhai, China

You obviously didn't read the whole post. The time is the entire month of July with full pay, plus the CNY and the other national holidays, also with full pay. Count the days, compare it to the salsry, and then see if the offer is "outlandish". I didn't make this post to boast, but to illustrate that there are good jobs out there if one wants to do a bit of searching. There is no need for a qualified teacher to accept the idiotic 3500 to 4000 uni jobs.

GeminiTiger · Posted: Fri Jul 11, 2008 3:16 am Post subject:

A'Moo · Posted: Fri Jul 11, 2008 3:40 am Post subject:

eddy-cool · Joined: 06 Jul 2008 Posts: 1008

Just my few fens' worth of input:

I recently completed my fifth one-year contract with the same university; my next employer is a college that pays over 7'000 yuan a month, 12 times in 12 months, including during the holidays. No airfare is offered, though.

At my previous place I made less but I had no gripes and I nearly forgot that there were other universities in town... No poaching.

The secret is: Settle for what you need, including what you want to leave on your bank account, and take the job. You may enjoy your work so well you won't ruin your savings account... Some of our best-paid teachers made 6'000 a month, teaching Finance and Economics, whle others doing the usual English Writing and Speaking stuff were paid 5'000 to 5'500.

Yes, some throw in airfare plus travel allowance but pay only ten months a year.

Before I accepted to work for my last employer I briefly flirted with an employer's offer of 8'000 a month (in 2003). I quickly got tired of their bungling mismanagement, obstreperousness in dealing with FTs and duplicity and gladly settled for that job that paid ca. two thirds that much.

Virtually all colleges and varsities work you 16 periods a week, usually crammed into Monday through Thursday. (I was inofficially told that Friday is off for laowais because Chinese staff have to attend political lectures). These 16 periods or hours pay 5000 to 8000 in most places; in Yunnan you may have to settle for 3500 to 4000, though. Zhuhai is another exception - in the opposite end of the pay scale. Why? Don't expect this to last forever - it's a market freak. The Chinese don't consider Zhuhai an economically vibrant city. That's why it is more popular with laowais than it is with Chinese.

Moon Over Parma · Joined: 20 May 2007 Posts: 819

Tomato_Can · Joined: 02 Feb 2007 Posts: 88 Location: Suzhou

3500 sux... plain and simple.

No. I wouldn't. Evah.

SnoopBot · Joined: 21 Jun 2007 Posts: 740 Location: USA

The salary we are getting here in Beijing (I'm under a 6-month short contract) is around 6000-10,000 RMB a month. I'm at the high end right now.

This year was the ONLY year since 2004, I've seen any increase in wages. I started out around the typical 5000 a month level years ago. In inflation terms that 5000 a month might be almost equal to the 8-10,000 a month we get now.

Also, we are usually operating at max hours around 18-20 per week. (actual teaching hours not including prep or movie class hours @ 24hrs)

I know others earn much higher and even more earn much less. I wouldn't accept anything lower than 6000 unless the hours were below 12 and the area had the potential for some type of professional development or entertainment venue.

Of course this is for the top-five expensive cities like Beijing, Shanghai ETC. Others claim under 5000 is acceptable for lowered-cost areas. I have no experience in these areas, only Beijing.