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jimpellow
Joined: 12 Oct 2007
Posts: 913
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 Posted: Wed Sep 02, 2015 4:06 am Post subject: |
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My first two years in China were at Web. They paid on time,etc.
My first year I loved. The school had a good energy with lots of adult students who I appreciated including the young mei nu who get irrational intense crushes on middle aged lao wei. I became friends with several of the students and they were always wanting to take me out to dinner, nightclubs, and on trips.
I really regretted coming back for a second second year. The greedy owner let in a couple young teens, which drove a couple adults aways, so he let in more young teens etc.. By the second summer 90% of the students were teens who ran amok with no supervision from the Chinese staff. Worst thing about it was the boys. For some reason when a Chinese boy becomes a teenager his head triples in size before the rest of him. They have no ability to control their resulting massive melons and they will ram you in the back, bang it on the glass of the classroom, etc. Many Webs have become like this, and if the one you may look at is, spare yourself the experience.
If you were not a screw-up, and the students liked you, you were given a ton of leeway by management. If you were a screw-up, living paycheck to paycheck, and/or the students didn't like you, that same management exerted hierarchical control to the maximum.
You really want to find out which Web it will be and research on that one.
Worst thing about the Webs is that it is a lot of hours of teaching for what used to be a decent salary. But many have not really increased their salaries, at least substantially, and your salary per hour comes to slave wages when you take inflation, increased costs of obtaining a visa, and the increased tax burden into account. |
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Aristede
Joined: 06 Aug 2009
Posts: 180
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| Posted: Wed Sep 02, 2015 5:10 pm Post subject: |
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| jimpellow wrote: |
My first two years in China were at Web. They paid on time,etc.
I really regretted coming back for a second second year. The greedy owner let in a couple young teens, which drove a couple adults aways, so he let in more young teens etc.. By the second summer 90% of the students were teens who ran amok with no supervision from the Chinese staff. Worst thing about it was the boys. For some reason when a Chinese boy becomes a teenager his head triples in size before the rest of him. They have no ability to control their resulting massive melons and they will ram you in the back, bang it on the glass of the classroom, etc. Many Webs have become like this, and if the one you may look at is, spare yourself the experience.
If you were not a screw-up, and the students liked you, you were given a ton of leeway by management. If you were a screw-up, living paycheck to paycheck, and/or the students didn't like you, that same management exerted hierarchical control to the maximum.
You really want to find out which Web it will be and research on that one.
Worst thing about the Webs is that it is a lot of hours of teaching for what used to be a decent salary. But many have not really increased their salaries, at least substantially, and your salary per hour comes to slave wages when you take inflation, increased costs of obtaining a visa, and the increased tax burden into account. |
All good points. The first Web I worked at had the most teens. As a general rule I found that if I looked at the class list and there were more than 30 percent boys, the class was more likely to be a headache. The place was tolerable until toward the end of my contract when the school let in a lot more teens at a reduced rate, and some of them were deliberately disruptive. I came very close to swatting one across the face in my last month at the school (fortunately resisted the impulse). But my second Web had far fewer teens and the only student hassles were a few adult prima donnas.
Concerning the wage issue at Web, as I indicated earlier in the thread, IMO it's the 15 office hours that make the job feel like you're working a lot for a little bit. The 25 teaching hours per week are quite manageable in themselves. |
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jimpellow
Joined: 12 Oct 2007
Posts: 913
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| Posted: Wed Sep 02, 2015 6:24 pm Post subject: |
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| Aristede wrote: |
| jimpellow wrote: |
My first two years in China were at Web. They paid on time,etc.
I really regretted coming back for a second second year. The greedy owner let in a couple young teens, which drove a couple adults aways, so he let in more young teens etc.. By the second summer 90% of the students were teens who ran amok with no supervision from the Chinese staff. Worst thing about it was the boys. For some reason when a Chinese boy becomes a teenager his head triples in size before the rest of him. They have no ability to control their resulting massive melons and they will ram you in the back, bang it on the glass of the classroom, etc. Many Webs have become like this, and if the one you may look at is, spare yourself the experience.
If you were not a screw-up, and the students liked you, you were given a ton of leeway by management. If you were a screw-up, living paycheck to paycheck, and/or the students didn't like you, that same management exerted hierarchical control to the maximum.
You really want to find out which Web it will be and research on that one.
Worst thing about the Webs is that it is a lot of hours of teaching for what used to be a decent salary. But many have not really increased their salaries, at least substantially, and your salary per hour comes to slave wages when you take inflation, increased costs of obtaining a visa, and the increased tax burden into account. |
All good points. The first Web I worked at had the most teens. As a general rule I found that if I looked at the class list and there were more than 30 percent boys, the class was more likely to be a headache. The place was tolerable until toward the end of my contract when the school let in a lot more teens at a reduced rate, and some of them were deliberately disruptive. I came very close to swatting one across the face in my last month at the school (fortunately resisted the impulse). But my second Web had far fewer teens and the only student hassles were a few adult prima donnas.
Concerning the wage issue at Web, as I indicated earlier in the thread, IMO it's the 15 office hours that make the job feel like you're working a lot for a little bit. The 25 teaching hours per week are quite manageable in themselves. |
Your points are all excellent too. I was on management's good side so I did not have to be there for office hours. The worst thing about those hours is they are really just about showcasing the foreigner to prospective students as you know, along with control to a lesser extent.
I will use my Web experience as I have done before on this board to demonstrate what I mean by salary. When I started at a Web In Jiangsu in 2007 the salary was 7500. It is now 8,000 at the school. What the true inflation rate is in a county is always elusive, as the official government figures always underestimate it. Using what I would consider the most accurate index for a non homeowner living in China, I come up with needing a little less than 13,000 in today's wages to have the same purchasing power. Income tax was not applied to foreigners in Jiangsu until 2009, I believe, so that reduces take home pay further. Then there is the 11.5% social tax that at least in theory you mostly get back before you leave.
I went as a newbie in 2007 on a tourist visa that was converted in country. Now for Jiangsu I would have to fly to the US from Colombia and then pay a visa service to get it for me at NYC consulate rather than drive across the border to Toronto, get an FBI clearance, a pre medical (even though Beijing has clarified that this is no longer a requirement), etc. Quite an investment considering the take home pay that chains like Web currently offer.
Last edited by jimpellow on Thu Sep 03, 2015 3:26 am; edited 1 time in total |
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Babala
Joined: 28 Jan 2005
Posts: 1303
Location: Henan
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| Posted: Thu Sep 03, 2015 1:58 am Post subject: |
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| I was with Web from 2003 - 2008. As others said, it used to be good when they followed the rules as an adult training center. The problem was when they started to recruit teenagers. Even worse, the one where I was not only enrolled teens but they told them that they didn't need to take the regular classes. The salespeople were trying to get us to teach special classes where the kids could bring in their homework and we would help them with it. |
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CNexpatesl
Joined: 27 May 2015
Posts: 194
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| Posted: Fri Sep 04, 2015 2:57 am Post subject: |
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| Thanks for the information, all. |
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