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flying low · Joined: 05 Sep 2009 Posts: 13

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randyj · Posted: Wed Jul 28, 2010 2:29 am Post subject:

More information is really necessary to make an intelligent decision about something so important. Who are the students in the private school? How many hours would a person teach in each place? Keep in mind that 1,800 rmb might not be sufficient in that location for lodgings suitable for habitation by members of our species, not to mention utilities and rental deposit. The tax on 10,000 rmb/ month figures to be 665, whereas tax for 6,000 amounts to 95.

flying low · Joined: 05 Sep 2009 Posts: 13

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vikeologist · Joined: 07 Sep 2009 Posts: 600

I don't understand your question. Obviously in contractual terms the private school is better, but I think you should make your decision entirely on other factors, principally your impressions of the people who will be your boss. Both jobs offer you enough money. If saving money is your only priority, then China is the wrong country.

Perhaps teaching at a University will be more enjoyable than in the type of private school you describe; for instance the students might be nicer and less spolt and private schools are obviously more driven by profit, but these are such inaccurate generalisations as to be meaningless.

I'm in a big city, and i wanted to stay, but I went through a long string of interviews with schools who were all unimpressive. I thought I might have to leave because there were no good schools, and when I had an interview with someone who wasn't a cretin I practically burst into tears of relief and took the job regardless of money. Of course, you're almost certainly not as pompous and self-important as me, but you still need to evaluate which situation will be better for you.

You don't say whether you're in China currently. Talk to current teachers at the schools and decide what factors are important to you; professional development? autonomy? working weekends? number of other foreign teachers at the school? As I've indicated, my key question for all employers was 'Are you idiots?' though I usually rephrased it slightly.

randyj · Posted: Wed Jul 28, 2010 6:55 am Post subject:

flying low · Joined: 05 Sep 2009 Posts: 13

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cormac · Joined: 04 Nov 2008 Posts: 768 Location: Xi'an (XTU)

TBH until you actually see the contract from the private school you're not going to know if their offers are realistic or not. Also consider that with many private schools there are administrative hours (lesson plans etc) which can be as much as 14 hours a week, and you might be obliged per the contract to spend that time in the school. You should also be wary of a standard no of classes and maximum.. they might tell you you're only going to do 16 hours but the max is 30, but you'll never have to do that. On arrival you might just find that you are expected to.

Get that contract and check it carefully. Until you do, you don't really have much of an offer.

Teatime of Soul · Joined: 12 Apr 2007 Posts: 905

If you have in fact accepted two jobs, planning only to show up at one, then it is an easy choice.

Choose the school that hires two teachers and plans to keep only one.

Cheers.

dakelei · Joined: 17 May 2009 Posts: 351 Location: USA

You don't want to say what city you'll be in but I can tell you if the school offering the housing allowance is in either Guangzhou or Shenzhen, 1800 yuan won't get you much. My place in Shenzhen was a semi-dive and I paid 1900 for it. I'm in a smaller city in Guangdong now and if I was willing to lay out 1800 for rent I could get a huge, nice place. I looked at a 3 bedroom place with all new furniture and air conditioners in every room and the rent was 1000 yuan per month. In Shenzhen that same place would be 3000 at least and probably even more. I'm not so sure about Guangzhou but it also tends to be pretty expensive as well. You need to take such factors into consideration.

flying low · Joined: 05 Sep 2009 Posts: 13

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flying low · Joined: 05 Sep 2009 Posts: 13

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dakelei · Joined: 17 May 2009 Posts: 351 Location: USA

I know next to nothing about Fuzhou but Fujian in general is not a particularly expensive place except for Xiamen maybe. I'm thinking 10,000 plus 1800 for housing would go pretty far there. I'm not an authoritative voice on this, however. Perhaps someone else here is.

KarenB · Joined: 20 Sep 2005 Posts: 227 Location: Hainan

Aside from stuff like salary and housing, you also need to determine if this is a place where the admin is going to treat you right -- in some ways, that's more important than anything else.

Contract the school -- ask them to give you the phone number and/or email of 2 teachers who have been there in the past year, and then get the real scoop.

A good school will actually offer you that information during the recruitment process, because they know they have nothing to fear.

A bad school will try to weasel their way out of giving you this info (my most recent uni lied and told prospective teachers they hadn't had any teachers in the past 2 years (when in fact they'd had 9).

shenyanggerry · Joined: 02 Nov 2003 Posts: 619 Location: Canada

Take the university. They normally pay ontime and in full. The airfare cost will probably make them very competitive depending on your home country. I once calculated that the university paid me over 200 Kwai per hour when I factored in airfare and acomodations.