Job Discussion Forums

Hatcher · Joined: 20 Mar 2008 Posts: 602

Can anyone compare life in GZ to SH?
I have heard mixed things about the city.
How much extra work is there?

Tazz · Joined: 26 Sep 2013 Posts: 512 Location: Jakarta

Why are you asking about 'extra' work......how about looking for a job that pays a decent salary at the outset? Shocked

Jmbf · Joined: 29 Jun 2014 Posts: 663

Some relevant information here in this thread.

http://forums.eslcafe.com/job/viewtopic.php?t=112802&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0

The basic summary seems to be that if you are a decent teacher with the right mindset, there's plenty of extra work available in Guangzhou.

OhBudPowellWhereArtThou · Joined: 02 Jun 2015 Posts: 1168 Location: Since 2003

"...The basic summary seems to be that if you are a decent teacher with the right mindset, there's plenty of extra work available in Guangzhou..."

This is probably true almost everywhere.

I never have to advertise, never did. It took me awhile to get my act together, but word does spread eventually. The better you are, the faster the word spreads.

Curtinca · Joined: 26 Feb 2016 Posts: 73

Terrible air pollution.

Jmbf · Joined: 29 Jun 2014 Posts: 663

Tazz · Joined: 26 Sep 2013 Posts: 512 Location: Jakarta

If you are that experienced, capable, qualified and motivated to achieve financially-why not look for a job in a location that pays well in the first place? As long as the 'teachers' will come here-put up with the $800-$1200 crap jobs with the 'oh yes but, I'm aiming at doing privates to pad out my income' mentality-things won't get any better. My final rant on the China discussion forum- got better things to do, better places to go. Adios.

Jmbf · Joined: 29 Jun 2014 Posts: 663

The bear · Joined: 16 Aug 2015 Posts: 483

LarssonCrew · Joined: 06 Jun 2009 Posts: 1308

I do agree. It can be nice to pick and choose and I often found that with private students I could make alot in the vacation periods if I had done alot of work and tried hard in the term time classes.

For instance, at my friends place, he is making 150 an hour but the students are paying 152 per hour, and he has 12 kids in a class.

That means the school is making over 1800 an hour and paying out 150.

If you can work 12 hours a week for 10000 plus housing then do 20 hours of privates at 300 an hour [possible in big cities] then you'll be making some pure bank, 30000+ for 32 hours a week.

Of course, many newbies read about people in BJ SH making 300 an hour, come and work in Henan in the middle of no where in a university and are shocked when the local chain school only pays 100 per hour or they cannot find privates.

Jmbf · Joined: 29 Jun 2014 Posts: 663

Some good comments above. Taking on private students can be very lucrative and I like the comments about the advantage of flexibility (scheduling flexibility and income flexibility). I think any readers interested in this should pay particular attention to a couple of points though (some of which have been briefly mentioned above)

1. It's important to acknowledge the difference between what's possible under ideal situations and what's probable for yourself in your situation. A new teacher out in the countryside is not going to have the same tutoring opportunities as an established (and experienced) teacher in some of the bigger cities.

2. Like all things, getting yourself into a good position with private tutoring takes time, planning and effort. It's not something you can just walk into and expect amazing income from day 1, you definitely have to put in some legwork first.

3. Realise that the tutoring field is incredibly varied, there is no one-size fits all strategy. You shouldn't expect to be able to replicate the success of others unless you have considered all the variables.

4. When looking at first time positions, the possibility of finding private students in that area should be one of your considerations. Likewise, if you are in an area which is not conducive to taking on private students, then you should seriously consider that factor when looking at contract renewal time.

Non Sequitur · Joined: 23 May 2010 Posts: 4724 Location: China

As to 4. You will likely be negotiating from outside China. How would you assess market for private work?
My advice is get your day job under control in semester 1. Then look at privates - possibly over Spring Break to start with.

Jmbf · Joined: 29 Jun 2014 Posts: 663

Non Sequitur · Joined: 23 May 2010 Posts: 4724 Location: China

In my exp privates came from unresearchable sources.
Even the International Office which would be the first to reprimand me if they discovered I was teaching downtown.
Remember the best source of privates are the language schools (Mom n Pop type) as they are already student agglomeraters.
You get paid whether students turn up or not and the commute is known time and distance.

Jmbf · Joined: 29 Jun 2014 Posts: 663

Don't get me wrong, all the points I mentioned above will merely give an indication of the possible potential of finding private work in any particular area. A small public school in a remote rural area will provide much less opportunity for private work than a large school in an affluent and high density urban area for example.

Now, when it comes down to actually doing the private work, this will very much depend on a lot of factors that can only be determined once you have your feet on the ground in that area, e.g. the attitude of your school's management towards private side work, what's popular (in terms of educational programs) in the local area, the needs of the local students, competition (or lack thereof) from other teachers etc etc.