Job Discussion Forums

Halcyon Chimera · Joined: 22 May 2009 Posts: 36

Hello all! I hope everyone is well. I have recently been offered a job at the Univ. level in the city area mentioned in the title. I am very much interested in the job, but I have a few questions.

I haven't seen the contract yet, so I cannot post here for review (or the appropriate section for review), but a friend who recommended me for the gig told me about what I can expect. I am to be paid $4800RMB for teaching 4-5 classes per week, and each class is about an hour and a half. Is this fairly standard? I have a bachelor's and master's degree in ELA secondary education from a college in Alabama. I also have a class B and class A teaching certificate for grades 6-12. I have no ESL experience and no TEFL certification. Does this sound like a pretty kosher deal? Of course, I will review the contract upon receiving it, but I am trying to get an idea from those more experienced first.

Any positive feedback will be much appreciated!

Oh, and other benefits include a paid apartment with everything paid except for electricity (rent, water, cable, internet, etc.) Two bedrooms, laundry room, kitchen, etc. I will continue to search the forums about threads concerning this area, but any information you can give me about Xiangfan will be much appreciated. Thanks in advance.

Voldermort · Joined: 14 Apr 2004 Posts: 597

I can't speak for the area but that salary of 4800 RMB for 14 - 16 classroom hours is about standard.

With your qualifications you should be aiming higher than the standard. My advice would be to do a quick TEFL course than start looking for middle/high school positions. In an average city you should be looking to earn around 8000 RMB for the same hours.

ShanghaiSurprise · Joined: 03 Mar 2008 Posts: 47 Location: Korea...soon China

I don't understand what Voldermart is talking about.

The OP said he'll teach 4 or 5 classes a week at 1.5 hours each. That's 6 or 7.5 hours per week.

Voldermort said that standard jobs are 14-16 hours. He then says the OP should not be searching for "standard" jobs. What is he talking about?

1) 14-16 hours per week? In that case, the OP is way below it.

or 2) 14-16 hours per month? Huh? What? So 3 or 4 hours a week? Where are these numbers coming from?

The OP's offer is NOT a standard job... it's a good one. How much less do you want? To teach 3 hours a week?

OP,

You stand to make 4800 RMB, and work 30 hours a month based on 5 classes per week.

Work that out... that's 160 RMB per hour. That's pretty good for your base job. And they're giving you housing.

Your total compensation isn't really high, but your working hours are SUPER low. If you get lucky and have most of your classes on just 2 or 3 days, then you can easily grab a lot of other work.

Look around, most university jobs aren't going to have hours that low.

randyj · Posted: Fri Jun 11, 2010 12:07 am Post subject:

The actual number of hours of class is unclear. The OP should consider the electricity bill, which in that climate might be significant. Xiangfan is a smaller Wuhan, one of China's three furnaces.

drjtrekker · Joined: 16 Feb 2008 Posts: 251

Have ur coffee boys.

OP
The hours are clear, and so is Volder....
Sometimes one must make the distinction between "teaching" hours, and hours...

The "standard" uni is as Volder says....
14-16 teaching hours a week, and that pay is also around the "norm"...
Its always relative to the area.

Your 4-5 90 min. classes equates to 8-10 teaching hrs....right?
That is very good.

Volder's use of "standard" job I am sure is a reference to the "standard" ESL UNI job...

With ur qual's, I assume he meant that U can probably get a higher paying job, i.e. the high schools/maybe private...although I disagree with Volder that you can get the same hours as the Uni is offering....usually from 16-20 teaching hours is the norm.

IF a credential came with that Masters...then u can try for an international, and get some $$...but u will have to work like ur back in the u.s. of a.
Why come to chiner to do that?
Wink

Halcyon Chimera · Joined: 22 May 2009 Posts: 36

I am actually thinking about taking additional duties/side jobs to utilize the availability of so much free time. My friend said all of the foreigners do that and end up making 7000-8000RMB per month with the additional jobs. I am glad that this seems like a good deal.

I understand I can get a job paying higher at a middle/high school, but I have had bad experiences trying to get jobs at "hagwons" or "hakwons" in South Korea, and I somewhat naively assume it will be the same with China. A university just seems more professional, reliable, and reputable. I tried to find a job stateside in Alabama or Georgia, but the job market is a bit dry. People are holding on to their jobs for dear life, and those who are pink slipped (many have been this year) usually find jobs easier than me because they have full-time experience. I love to teach and travel, so teaching in China will combine the two nicely. It seems that I have hit gold with this position so, unless I get offered a stateside position, I am accepting the offer.

Thanks for the feedback so far!

Calypso · Joined: 31 Dec 2009 Posts: 27

The uni in Xiangfan is quite a way out of the city from what I've heard.

YAMARI · Joined: 27 Sep 2004 Posts: 247 Location: shanghai

why not apply to an international school and get a real teaching job with real pay at least 30000 a month with free place and holidays.

drjtrekker · Joined: 16 Feb 2008 Posts: 251

ShanghaiSurprise · Joined: 03 Mar 2008 Posts: 47 Location: Korea...soon China

Yamari,

How do you figure they all pay that? You seem to sound like every one of those jobs is just being thrown out to anyone that wants to catch it.

I know of a few schools that pay those salaries...they are by no means typical... and they certainly have a lot of teachers wanting to get into them. With today's job market, those jobs are being held longer than before because there are fewer options for going elsewhere.

I agree a 30,000 rmb per month job is awesome, but making it sound like, "hey, why don't you just swing by over there and start tomorrow making 30,000 rmb" isn't really realistic.

ShanghaiSurprise · Joined: 03 Mar 2008 Posts: 47 Location: Korea...soon China

Trekker,

I don't quite understand. Are you saying Volder wasn't talking about uni jobs? And I'm just curious how you get 8-10 hours. How come it's not 6-7.5 hours?

In any case, if Volder said standard jobs are 4800 rmb for 14-16 hours, even if the OP is working 8-10 hours, he'd still have an above-standard job.

Is Volder saying that he should try and work 14-16 hours for 10,000 rmb per month? That would be above standard? I agree with that idea.

If you compare 8-10 hours for 4800 rmb to 14-16 hours for 10,000 rmb, then yes, the latter is better. However, it's not always that simple to get the 10,000 rmb job, and he might have to move to a bigger city for that, which nullifies some of the excess salary earnings with the higher cost of living.

OP, how much money do you need or want to earn each month?

If you are okay not earning a "lot", then the uni job plus some OT will probably make you happy. However, if you need or want to earn enough money to suit a specific purpose, then like the other guys have said, you might want to consider going for something with a higher base salary.

I think the poster a few comments above said the uni is actually outside the city area... you might want to check into that. That kind of situation might drop the value of your job.

drjtrekker · Joined: 16 Feb 2008 Posts: 251

Hello Shanghai,

dharma86 · Joined: 05 May 2009 Posts: 187 Location: Southside baby!

Yeah I think it works out pretty standard for Hubei province.

So far so good, so stay alert for any red flags when you see your contract...

Halcyon Chimera · Joined: 22 May 2009 Posts: 36

I want to earn enough to travel a good bit (as I should have plenty of time to do so), have a bit of a night life every now and again (if this town even has bars or clubs or anything), and eat out once in a while.. Nothing fancy..

I am glad to hear it is pretty standard pay and hours. I realize the pay is a bit meek, but my colleague swears it's more than enough to live on comfortably. More feedback will be much appreciated, especially about details concerning the city Smile

randyj · Posted: Thu Jun 17, 2010 10:59 pm Post subject:

Xiangfan is a miniature Wuhan, right down to its geography. It's just another Chinese city of a million people. I have visited the city several times. There are few foreigners in Xiangfan. The cost of living is indeed low. For example, flag-fall for a taxi was 2 RMB three years ago. Wudangshan, the Taoist sacred mountain, is not far away. Otherwise, Wuhan is four hours away by train.