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fieldsofbarley
Joined: 12 Nov 2010
Posts: 47
Location: Mexico City
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 Posted: Sun Oct 02, 2011 3:22 pm Post subject: Study and work programs? |
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Hi there,
I remember reading about a study&work program in China. This was a university teaching position with the option of studying either Chinese or a Masters degree.
Anyone knows about this?
cheers |
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Rooster_2006
Joined: 24 Sep 2007
Posts: 984
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| Posted: Tue Oct 11, 2011 3:23 pm Post subject: Re: Study and work programs? |
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| fieldsofbarley wrote: |
Hi there,
I remember reading about a study&work program in China. This was a university teaching position with the option of studying either Chinese or a Masters degree.
Anyone knows about this?
cheers |
I would NOT recommend such a program.
I'm sure you're familiar with the expression "Don't put all your eggs in one basket."
You can get Chinese lessons for a mere fraction of your monthly salary as an English teacher. Master's degree programs are more expensive, in general, than language programs, but once again, there is no reason you can't complete one living in China, paying for it with a portion of your wages.
Compartmentalize your life so that if one compartment leaks/floods, the others will still hold air. If you get everything through one source and that source goes bad, your whole life will suck.
There is a very high probability (and I have worked for more than one Chinese boss, so this is from experience) that your first job will be awful. And when that happens, you'll need to be able to bail on that bad situation and not worry about baggage (a pending MA, for example) to tie you down to that bad situation.
I recommend locating yourself in a major city (Beijing, Shanghai, or Shenzhen) and taking MA courses or Chinese courses from a famous university. Work for an employer in that area. Do NOT try to get a "package" like a work-study program unless there is simply no way to assemble the components in that program separately. |
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Opiate
Joined: 10 Aug 2011
Posts: 630
Location: Qingdao
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| Posted: Tue Oct 11, 2011 3:32 pm Post subject: |
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Agree with the above. Program package deals are just a way for the employer to pay you crap wages I would guess. Granted, I have no direct experience with these programs but they send up a lot of red flags for me. Almost as many red flags as those "come to China and teach as an intern" type jobs......
Good luck. |
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big_big_bang_theory_fan
Joined: 10 Aug 2011
Posts: 105
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| Posted: Tue Oct 11, 2011 3:36 pm Post subject: Re: Study and work programs? |
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| Rooster_2006 wrote: |
| fieldsofbarley wrote: |
Hi there,
I remember reading about a study&work program in China. This was a university teaching position with the option of studying either Chinese or a Masters degree.
Anyone knows about this?
cheers |
I would NOT recommend such a program.
I'm sure you're familiar with the expression "Don't put all your eggs in one basket."
You can get Chinese lessons for a mere fraction of your monthly salary as an English teacher. Master's degree programs are more expensive, in general, than language programs, but once again, there is no reason you can't complete one living in China, paying for it with a portion of your wages.
Compartmentalize your life so that if one compartment leaks/floods, the others will still hold air. If you get everything through one source and that source goes bad, your whole life will suck.
There is a very high probability (and I have worked for more than one Chinese boss, so this is from experience) that your first job will be awful. And when that happens, you'll need to be able to bail on that bad situation and not worry about baggage (a pending MA, for example) to tie you down to that bad situation.
I recommend locating yourself in a major city (Beijing, Shanghai, or Shenzhen) and taking MA courses or Chinese courses from a famous university. Work for an employer in that area. Do NOT try to get a "package" like a work-study program unless there is simply no way to assemble the components in that program separately. |
Why do you even live or work in China with this basis of life? I've been here eight years and have had an otherwise perfect record with everything employment related.
Interesting. |
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Rooster_2006
Joined: 24 Sep 2007
Posts: 984
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| Posted: Tue Oct 11, 2011 3:46 pm Post subject: Re: Study and work programs? |
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| big_big_bang_theory_fan wrote: |
| Rooster_2006 wrote: |
| fieldsofbarley wrote: |
Hi there,
I remember reading about a study&work program in China. This was a university teaching position with the option of studying either Chinese or a Masters degree.
Anyone knows about this?
cheers |
I would NOT recommend such a program.
I'm sure you're familiar with the expression "Don't put all your eggs in one basket."
You can get Chinese lessons for a mere fraction of your monthly salary as an English teacher. Master's degree programs are more expensive, in general, than language programs, but once again, there is no reason you can't complete one living in China, paying for it with a portion of your wages.
Compartmentalize your life so that if one compartment leaks/floods, the others will still hold air. If you get everything through one source and that source goes bad, your whole life will suck.
There is a very high probability (and I have worked for more than one Chinese boss, so this is from experience) that your first job will be awful. And when that happens, you'll need to be able to bail on that bad situation and not worry about baggage (a pending MA, for example) to tie you down to that bad situation.
I recommend locating yourself in a major city (Beijing, Shanghai, or Shenzhen) and taking MA courses or Chinese courses from a famous university. Work for an employer in that area. Do NOT try to get a "package" like a work-study program unless there is simply no way to assemble the components in that program separately. |
Why do you even live or work in China with this basis of life? I've been here eight years and have had an otherwise perfect record with everything employment related.
Interesting. |
I don't live in the People's Republic of China or the Republic of China anymore.
I live in Japan now, making over $3,000 a month, for an employer who pays me on time and in full, and in the amount promised, unlike my ROC/PRC overlords. 
I spent three years in the PRC growing up ('98 - '01) and did a stint in the ROC ('09 - early '11), the latter mostly between my AA and my BS. I paid my dues there, then I moved onto a better/more honest place. Now, don't get me wrong, both places were great for some things, but I found honesty in both places, especially among laoban and certain wheeler-dealers, to be very, very lacking.
The other day, a sleazy China recruiter who has tried to trick me in the past offered me a job -- 6,000 RMB a month. I said "Well guess what, I make over 20,000 RMB a month here in JAPAN" and proceeded to tell that sleazy woman, who has conned me before and used bait-and-switch with me many a time, where to put that job offer...
If you've had perfect luck with employers, great. But that's not typical for teachers who work in the Chinese-speaking countries.
We're viewed as over-paid, under-worked, and easily conned. And who cares? Ol' laowai has plenty of money, what's a few thousand RMB to a rich laowai? After all, in Meiguo, we live in solid gold houses and drive gold-plated BMWs.
And because that attitude is so pervasive among laoban, I highly recommend that the OP hedge his/her bets and diversify. Keep the teaching and education separate. |
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