Job Discussion Forums

[vikdk]

[Bayden]

[vikdk]

well if you agree with both - why the urgent need to post -

[DistantRelative]

Vikdk Wrote

[Bayden]

[vikdk]

[Leon Purvis]

Reality check, folks.

An English MA level American University teacher who starts as a faculty member (few actually begin a position as a faculty member) will be paid about $24-$28,000 for a three year contract. If his contract is renewed, he won't get much of a raise.

In addition, as a lowly MA level Freshman composition teacher, he will have twenty hours of classes per week. At twenty-two students per class, he'll be spending most of his free time CORRECTING papers (if he does his job right).

Then there are committee meetings and faculty meetings -- all unpaid.

He will not be given anything free: housing, cable TV, utilities, or computer (unless he is lucky to have a computer in his office--- if he has an office at all).

Then there's the commute to school. He will probably need to own an automobile because faculty housing in major universities is usually reserved for tenured emeritus faculty, deans, and chancellors; many American cities have inadequate mass transit.

If you are a PhD. at a mid-tier level school or lower, your first few non-tenured, contract years aren't appreciably better salary-wise. Upper-tier colleges won't offer much better during the first few years (provided, of course, that you are actually renewed for a second contract on a tenure-track. American colleges and universities seem to change faculty as often as most hygienically-conscious people change their underwear).

Depending upon your school, you may or may not be provided with comprehensive health insurance.

Do you REALLY think that you'd be better off doing what you're doing in China if you were working for an American college or university instead?

Now think about this, and think about your job and salary in China. Those who live and teach in China and cannot survive on less than 20,000 RMB either live in major cities and demand high-end housing and a self-indulgent lifestyle, or they have holes in their arms where all the money goes, or they're really sitting at home in the west, flailing away on their keyboards with one hand and holding the Help Wanted ads with the other, and waiting for the tides to rise so they can hit the water and do some REAL fishing.

I wonder if many of the folks who profess to making extravagant wages here in China are beginning to feel the competition and feel a need to use this BB to try to scare the newbies away with warnings about insufficient compensation and pay which is not commensurate with their abilities and credentials.

My experience with FTs in my neck of the woods is that many of them are lucky to be here in China with a guaranteed paycheck for good behavior, a roof over their heads, and accessibility to cheap booze. These same Fts wouldn't be allowed inside a college, university, or be allowed to come within a stone's throw of ANY legitimate learning environment, much less be allowed to teach in one.

So is a paltry 4,000 - 6,000 RMB per month sufficient to provide one with a good lifestyle with enough left over to save? Does the paycheck and perks compare favorably to what I would receive at an American university or college?

You bet.

[WordUp]

kid.. whatever your name is.. Lets say for fun that I just graduated from college.. I'm going to your school to work the same wages as you because its "fair" as you imply.. So you've been in China since 1997 teaching, and you wouldn't have a problem with that?

When I got to my school there were several teachers making at least 6000 and had been there for two years. With my higher education I started at the same rate as them..

When they found out what I was making they protested and eventually quit when the school refused to pay them more, but not after making alot of problems with the school.

I say, newbies do their research and dont expect to earn as much as an experienced ESL teacher or what some ignorant troll has to say about it..
Find something better to do with your time.. Earn a market based salary for the area..

[vikdk]

[KidfromBrooklyn]

Word.....I agree entirely. If you start at 6000 with your degree in what ever, you have spent the time, and money, to begin at that point.

If teachers already employed at said school at the same starting point 2 years ago have failed in their endevour to advance themselves then they face choices. Can you dig it?

If it is the fate of FT's in China to earn the same salary year after year with no respect given by the baijue swilling laobans then there is a problem with the system and mindset of the leaders.

Don't sell short your education.

180 degree twist to think about..... BEWARE!!!!!! some may regard the following coment as extreme PLEASE READ AND THINK AT YOUR OWN RISK.






On the other hand why doesn't the wolfman tout volunteerism. " A thousand RMB in your pocket for whatever you want!!!! Free food, free apt, with electricity and internet!!! free chinese culture classes and language lessons by the enslaved chinese teacher staff!! and don't forget a free tea ceremony once a day every afternoon right after your noonday nap!!!! sheeeeeessshhhh. Open your eyes, look up to the skies and see.

[Malsol]

When I made 18,000 in Shanghai I did not save any more than when I made
5,000 in the hinterland.

[Steppenwolf]

[Steppenwolf]

[Steppenwolf]

[cj750]