Job Discussion Forums

[mcloo7]

Hi. I have an offer for 5800rmb a month to 7200rmb for 18-22 lessons taught per week (I can choose the amount, and the more lessons, the more pay) at a uni in Hangzhou, Xiasha sub-district. Or I could work at an elemtary/middle school in Shenzhen for 10000 rmb per month plus free housing. The uni comes with free housing also. I would be hired by the Shenzhen school district and they will then decide which school in the Bao'an district to send me to. The elementary school would have about 50 kids per class, the uni about 20-30. Both are oral English teaching jobs. The elementary school students have a separate English class for grammar, I would just be there for oral English classes.

[ResearchID]

I'd vote for 22 classes/7200 rmb at the uni personally.

[doogsville]

Ive taught in a middle school before with 50 to 60 kids in a class. 45 minute lessons, and no teaching assistant. It was a nightmare. I had one to maybe five students in each class who gave a s**t about learning English. The rest would just get more and more bored and restless and just talk among themselves in Cantonese. There was no support from the school whatsoever. It felt like a waste of my time and energy and became a grind very quickly. Now I teach in a university and maybe 50% of the students I teach don't care, but there are enough who do to make it worth while, and the job is a whole lot better.

If you make more money doing a job you don't like, in my experience you just spend the money trying to distract yourself.

I would take the uni job, but you have to figure it out for yourself.

[rioux]

Do you enjoy teaching younger kids?

[tangal]

Bao'an is a bit outside the city center, although they now have a metro line going up all the way to the airport. Still, you might feel a bit stranded and out of the loop living and teaching in the outer areas of Boa'an rather than the main city center districts of Louhu, Futian, and Nanshan. Hangzhou also has a metro line out to the Xiasha district, and even with 22 teaching hours at the uni you'd still have plenty of time for evening and weekend "part-time" teaching, which could raise your monthly to about the same as the elementary/middle school job. The biggest problem with the Shenzhen gig is that you won't know where they send you until it's too late. Better to know where you're gonna live and teach before you sign a contract.

[mcloo7]

Thanks for the answers. Should the fact that this would be my first teaching job, and my first teaching experience, weigh into the decision at all? Ive asked this before, but could a beginner start teaching in a university, or could it be better to start with kids?

Thanks for the detailed answer Tangal. Is Xiasha in Hangzhou somewhat isolated too, or do you think it's alot better than Bao'an? One thing I like about both of these jobs is that I wouldnt have to teach on evenings and weekends, so I wouldnt want to have to work alot of privates during those times to make up for the lower salary.

[roadwalker]

I'd guess teaching uni, especially oral English, would be an easier start than teaching kids. Forget your preconceptions of university life. Think extended high school here, with homerooms. Your uni students take the vast majority of their classes with the same classmates. English majors will generally have a decent enough grasp of what you are saying. Non-majors could be more trouble. If you like kids and they respond well to you, then maybe the elementary will be more worthwhile. Expect a short but steep learning curve for either. Have fun!

[Non Sequitur]

Assuming 'classes' are teaching hours of 45 to 50 mins each, definitely go with the uni job.
It's a cruisy way of getting to grips with the FT life and I've seen too many who would have gone on to be good teachers, burned off by a bad choice for Gig #1.
Least downside, rather than looking at do re mi.

[mcloo7]

I found out today that the school in Shenzhen will be Zhongwu Elementary school in the Xixiang subdistrict of Bao'an. There seems to be alot of factories near there. For some reason my gut feeling tells me I would rather start by teaching kids, and Shenzhen seems a bit more lively than where I would be in Hangzhou which is Xiasha, but I could be wrong about that. I keep changing my mind about which one I would rather take. I actually know a Chinese girl in Bao'an who started messaging me when I signed up for QQ a few months ago (she's 26), and we have sort of become friends, she is eager to meet. And it's purely by coincidence that I got a job in Bao'an. I think she might even live in the Xixiang subdistrict. So, at least I would know one person there. Of course, however, she does not speak English.

I'm still deciding though. I could just as well choose Hangzhou. I have to decide by tomorrow morning I think. At least that's what the Hangzhou school says. The extra money in Shenzhen does appeal to me. It will definitely feel good to know that I am saving.