Job Discussion Forums

[Hojusaram]

I have read the Job Information Journal and I keep seeing messages saying that I can earn over 8000+RMB.

But it seems all the jobs on chinatefl.com, etc are offering 3000 -5000RMB.

What's the deal? Where do I find these higher paying jobs? I would love to know where to look.

Can anyone give me some advice? Please?

[Edward]

Hate to say it [Ok no I don't] but, to make the big bucks, you really should be someone who has "payed their dues" so to say. In other words, come here FIRST, find a school, and THEN you will find your own pot of Kuai at the end of the red rainbow. You will get your 8,000+ RMB by finding it yourself. Leave the first school you work for, then TADA! You're in like Fin/Flynn/Flipper...whoever

Don't be put off by that please! It is, well...you have to find your own sources. I found mine by blind luck, being in the right place at the right time, friends, sharing a drink with a total stranger at times, and so on. The jobs are not that many, and they only go [MOST of the time anyway] to the people already here, who KNOW somebody [I give people I TRUST and KNOW information locally. I am not about to tell YOU about a great paying job, understand?]

"No bounce, No play"

Good luck,

Michael

[Hojusaram]

I get what you're saying Edward. Man, so much for helping people out huh?

I would never say to another teacher in my previous countries what you said to me. We ALWAYS tried to help.

So what? You been here X amount of years so you expect others to have it as hard as you did? How about making the experience a better one for those who arrive after you?

If you need any advice on teaching or finding good jobs in Korea or Singapore then PLEASE drop me a line. I will show you how kindness and grace are demonstrated.

Thanks for nothing buddy!

[gerard]

I am new here so I dont really know much yet. However the chinatefl jobs ARE high paying when you consider the workload. I work 4 hour blocks 3 days a week. Gives me 4 day weekends which I doubt you could get in Singapore. I was also offered over the net a job paying 7000Y but it meant working Sat and Sun with Tuesday as the day off. As far as I know that is the norm. Also keep in mind that Korea pays well---it may be cheaper here but only if you are careful. If you want to move here though good luck . PS I would say this site is as good as any to look for work.

[Roger]

To begin with, this is not a good question. Compare like with like, not apples with pineapples!
Make up your mind whether you want to
- work for a PRIVATE outfit, one that only keeps you on their payroll so long as they have paying students; that means you will be working on weekends. That's no problem as you will get a day off during the week, and weekdays and Sundays are virtually identical.
You also work at hours, preferably in the evening. Again, this is compensated the mor
-Or you accept a job from apublic school. Then you have regulaand paid holidays and weekends. Besides, you work and almost all afternoons are off. What you on them is normally your business although you will most likely be forbidden from accepting a second job!

Now which one of the two pays better? It is self-evident that a private language institute attracts expats with higher salaries, but you enjoy fewer days off.

[ChinaLady]

well, you have to determine WHAT is high pay? This is China, and you are not Chinese. While I am told that I am making BIG money compared to "the Chinese" I work with, I am not the one with a car, nor have I moved into a new apartment, and going to the Blarney Stone is only a once a month item. The BIG money is not in teaching but in business. Or an international school. The trade-off? You will work for those BIG paychecks. I work 15 hours a week. I control my student appointment times. I do not have to be here from 8am to 6pm. I come and go as my personal schedule dictates. If I want the BIG money again, back to business with working Saturdays and Sundays I go. It is a choice!

[Roger]

My first job in China paid 1300 RMB (one-thousand-three-hundred yuan), and my employer didn't mince her words during the interview saying they would pay very little compared to WHAT I WAS USED TO.
1300 in those days was equivalent to about 2500 today.
My second job paid just that - and it was a private school! The owner thought I would work 12 hours a DAY, I thought twelve hours a WEEK. We had to make a compromise, and we did.
However, in that school I hardly made money even after my working-hours were down to a more humane 12 hours a week. Initially, my boss could not afford to rent a flat, so he rented a rooftop airconditioned room in a hotel. I shared a bathroom with staff. The daily visits to food stations ate up almost all my income. On two occasions during April, a heavy downpour in the middle of the night flooded my room and I had to find shelter somewhere else.
In hindsight, I can only say I must have been pretty stubborn to stick it out there.

Little by little, things changed, improved. One big leap came when China formally entered the WTO. ALmost overnight, jobs multiplied, and the salaries increased.

On the other hand, working conditions in classrooms have remained largely the same as before - overcrowded, filled with unruly and often demotivated students, little respect for expat teachers and their specialty. Still, teaching is what keeps me here.
If you can't put up with inconveniences you had better stay away. One of the more pressing inconveniences is the insability of your job. Part-timers have to submit to the most erratic decision-making. Classes are begun and cancelled at hours' notice. English is now taken even less seriously than it used to before because it is a subject of prestige rather than necessity. This makes your job extra difficult.

But there are people in whose lives you can make a big difference. Learning a second language is a character-modifying process. I know that I have kindled someone's interest in English I feel I have achieved the most important goal of this job. Those students learn how to learn, and they give me more satisfaction than the increased wages I can command now.

If you only come for the money you burn out quickly. You should ask yourself: Why teaching? Why not modelling? Or cooking?
When you are in China long enough other job opportunities come your way. The Chinese, not unlike Westerners too, like exotism. A foreign face in Chinese advertisements enhances the product's mass-appeal. I have just learnt from one of my former students that his company made significantly more business after they had used me as a figurehead at one of their stands during a trade fair. This year, they hired me again for a few days, during which I earn about double what the school would pay me. I do nothing but while a few hours away in an exhibition hall and stand the indignity of being stared at and spoken about ('who is this foreign guy' - 'he is our partner' - 'hebang' in Chinese!).
It is not bad as a job - buit is not intellectually stimulating.
For that, I wish I could go back to my class!

[7969]

many people in esl seem to think that because they had it hard, then life should be hard for others as well. they wouldn't want you to have something they never got themselves i suppose. if you need info on taiwan, please message me. will reveal all the secrets to you.

[fat_chris]

I find that "I put in my time, so should you" attitude to be bogus.

I agree with Roger. There are more things to consider about teaching than just the money. If it's just for the money, why not look at other things that will give you more $$$.

[AKA]

Have you read the sticky at the top of this site?
You can't have, because there are well paid jobs there. 8k is the base I'd accept.
Question;
In your home country, if you ran a newspaper ad. saying "point me to a well paid job, as I'm too lazy to find one myself", what would be the response?
Also, as was pointed out, big money=long hours. I'm making 15k, but do 30 hours a week.

[Aussieguy]

I have been in Shenzhen for nearly two years. Compared to the rest of China the pay here is really good. I am on about 18000 a month for a twelve hour work week, but i have to stay in the school from 8am until 5pm every day. Some friends of mine are on similar wages but their hours are more flexible.

There is an element of luck involved in finding a good paying job. Experience doesn't necessarily make a big difference. For example, my boss hired me over a woman who had an MBA in linguistics.

Best of luck.

[wOZfromOZ]

18000 for 12 hours a week isn't bad is it but you say you put in 9 hour days. 5x9= 45 hours x 4 = 220 x 1 = 81 RMB /hour when calculated down. I wont pick up a pen for less than 150Y for 45 mins.

That's been the case now for 2 years!

(not a very satisfactory outcome really mate!.)

[gerard]

WOZ how can that not be a good deal?? If my math is good he teaches 16 45 minute classes a week and then sits around. You would need to teach almost 30 of those and maybe run all over Shanghai to do it. I would take the Aussieguy deal. Unless he is there 7 days a week.

[AKA]

I was in hurry this morning Hoju, and forgot a few points:
No one on the Job Information Journal said YOU could get an 8k job. Who are you? What's your track record? They meant THEY have already got one.

I mentioned that sum on that journal and got badgered by some guy. Not you I hope. I think I even sent him some ads. to prove the point. If it was you, I expect you would have got it sorted out by now.
Of course, the now legendary Colin Owens was also on to me. "Impossible" quoth he.

There is a weekend job on one of the sites I keep pointing people to paying 2000 a week for 2 days work! Sell your soul to a company, and its yours. There's your 8000 a month, not to mention what you could make on the other 5 days. Seriously, find an agent if you can't do it yourself, but don't ask for recommendations.
Try harder, instead of being a try hard.

[wOZfromOZ]

Gerard

It's not bad mate is it but I'd only want to be at the workplace half of those hours.

22 hours @ 150/ hour is like 13200 and 44 hours is 26,400....... but who'd want to teach 44 hours - some do -I've known some to do up to 70hours/week and score big pay for that. These hours are for the examiners who are in high demand.

cheers
wOZfromOZ

and how's everybody's tax payments?
I hope you're paying or your school's paying cause you're gunna get caught if you're not!!!