Job Discussion Forums

[theoriginalprankster]

This topic IS related to China, and jobs, and old hands who've taught for some time in China and/or Malaysia, so I hope the mods leave it here.

I've got two fairly good job offers on the table, and need to make a decision by the end of the week, more or less.

Take a look at the info provided below, and please give me your take..

China

1.Position: ESL teacher and IELTS test prep specialist (I was an examiner for four years)
2.Responsibilities: ESL teaching to junior, middle and senior high school students at a private/international high school in Xiamen (rich, possibly spoilt kids)
3.Contract: 12 months, with possibility of extension and raise
4.Hours: 35/week. 3 hours/day office + 20 40 minutes lessons. Monday-Friday.
5.School: Yingcai High School (http://www.eslemployment.com/c/xiamen-yingcai-international-school.html)
6.Areas: Jimei District (off Xiamen island, approx. 40-60 minutes to Xiamen island itself)
7.Salary: RMB10420/month (tax: RMB500/month, non-refundable), RMB50/hour for extra periods.

Other stuff: July and August are paid, but they’re summer holidays, so no work. One month Spring break unpaid. All in all 11 months paid, 9 months worked.

Free apartment on-campus (shared - don’t like that), free meals in canteen, free buses onto Xiamen island.

Bonus: None. Airfare reimbursement of RMB3500 + RMB2000 for internal travel (paid in cash at end of contract, along with June, July and August months)

Start up costs: approximately RMB5000

1USD = RMB6.2

Pro’s: I can speak Mandarin - spent 13 years in Taiwan and China. Free accommodation and meals (hmm, con?). I can do this job blind-folded, I’ve done it for 13 years.

Con’s: China all over again? Feels like treading water. Apparently some of the rich kids don’t give a damn, and sleep/play with phones/show disinterest in class. I left a job like this before I worked at Xiamen University, where the students were excellent. I can manage lazy, rich kids, just don’t want to really. Have to get my own airticket over there, plus pay for the Z visa. Restrictive internet (although Astrill sorts that out). China seems to becoming more aggressively nationalistic, and quite frankly I don’t agree with many of the government’s internal and international policies.

_____________

Malaysia

1.Position: teacher trainer
2.Responsibilities: teacher training workshops and one-to-one engagement with local teachers, with feedback on their ESL teaching skills/weaknesses, etc.
3.Contract: 12 months, with possibility of extension and raise
4.Hours: 7.30am-1.30pm, Monday-Friday
5.Company: Brighton (http://www.brightoneducation.org/)
6.Areas: Johor, Pahang, Terrenganu and Kelentan
7.Salary: 7500MYR/month (less 25% tax for the first 181 days, 10% of that returned after 181 days, 15% tax thereafter)

Other stuff: cellphone (+ airtime), vehicle (+ fuel) and 1500MYR towards apartment provided (monthly). Airfare paid beforehand. 12-14 weeks paid holiday.

Initial 7-10 days hotel is provided, with three day training and assistance in finding accommodation.

Bonus: 25% of yearly salary, given at year end.

Start up costs: approximately 5000-7000MYR

1USD = 3. 76MYR

Pro’s: career development, change of environment (ie. Less of the peasant behaviour one encounters in China - I spent 10 years there). Small city life. Close to beaches, mountains, fresh air, Thailand. Work visa can be obtained within a day, 90 day travel visas issued on arrival.

Con’s: Malaysia is fairly conservative - I’m a single male in my late 30s, looking to find a lady (not ladies), not celibacy. Might get stuck in a highly Malay Muslim dominated province/area - could be restrictive. Isolation - a remark another poster made on my previous thread pointed out his friend felt isolated - I would like to build up a circle of friends, regardless of ethnicity.

Both jobs start late August. Both jobs provide health insurance.

Which one would you go for?

[Deats]

Honestly, with your experience... Neither.

[Shanghai Noon]

[3701 W.119th]

Can't comment on Malaysia, but - for an experienced teacher - that Xiamen offer is one of the worst I've seen.

[Banner41]

Seems like you answered your own question with your post......really need a poll on that?

[esl_prof]

[theoriginalprankster]

[nomad soul]

Which one of the following takes priority:

a. Continuing to teach ESL and prep students for the IELTS test
b. Finding a potential life partner
c. Enhancing your CV with a years' worth of teacher training experience

[jimpellow]

I play the same game over in my head. I know coming back to China is an overall bad move, but something about that cursed hellhole that continues to beckon me.

If I were in your shoes, however, I certainly would not take that offer. The three months off are nice. However, it is pretty obvious that somebody is skimming the salary.

(I did the same for three years in China teaching A-Level Economics, Business and IELTS prep. It is impossible to handle those rich kids. They, along with their rich parents and the school, will conspire to make your efforts fruitless.)

I have not been to Xiamen, but heard good things about it. But of course, you will not really be in the sweet spot of Xiamen, but most likely stuck on some campus in the middle of nowhere in a converted dorm room apartment where mei nu are forbidden to go.

I travelled through West and Borneo Malaysia for a month. Very enjoyable to visit, but everything I heard about the social scene coincides with your concerns. Kuala Lampur seems to be a possible exception, though I thought my best chances as a middle aged guy were with the Chinese xiao jie which worked the massage parlor beneath my hotel.

Now when I lived in the Philippines I met a couple expats who lived in Malaysia who got their girlfriends in the land of bountiful beauties and were able to bring them to Malaysia.

I have to agree with the neither option. I think you are selling yourself short on the China option, and Malaysia is tolerant but conservative to the point that most expats bypass it despite an easy immigration policy and some other very nice aspects to it.

[esl_prof]

[theoriginalprankster]

[nomad soul]

Then Malaysia is likely to be your next destination.

[esl_prof]

[hdeth]

If you decide to work in China, please negotiate an appropriate salary with that school. I see these saps coming in on salaries like that and it draws down everyone else. You should be looking in the low 20's if no housing. high teens or 20ish with shared housing. 10k is a joke for that job. They do the same thing at my school...try to get someone to come in for 10k and shared housing and moan about how this is China and it's not a rich country, blah blah blah.....meanwhile the parents are paying 2-4x the tuition as a private school in the west.

The kids in the lower ranked groups will be misbehaving and apathetic. The kids in the higher ranked groups can be very well behaved.

[Markness]