Job Discussion Forums

[claka77]

Has anyone worked at either of these universities (or lived in Shangqiu)? I have an offer from Shangqiu Normal University for 15000rmb per month with free housing. It will involve 25 hours per week of teaching. My concern is that with Shangqiu is its location; it seems to be nowhere close to any tier 1 city (but trains in all directions pass through there).

I also have an offer from the Beijing Vocational College of Labour and Social Security with the same teaching hours and salary (plus a monthly food card valued at around 500RMB to use on campus). I had two Skype interviews for this position (which I've never had for a uni before). It's in Changping District which I think is around 2 hours by public transport to the city centre. With this position, I have to teach 3 different groups (high school, uni students, Chinese English teachers and have an English Corner once or twice a month).

Both positions have paid winter and summer holidays but they don't seem to have any set teaching program (I think I have to start it from scratch and recommend a text).
My former employer (Australian Higher Education Network, I previously worked for them at a college in Guangzhou) offered me 9000RMB per month for a position in Hangzhou (for around 18-20 teaching hours per week , no paid summer holiday). Until I got the above offers I was going to go to Hangzhou.

If anyone has any info on the positions/locations of Shangqiu or Changping/Beijing I'd love to know more before signing anything.

[claka77]

I forgot to mention that both positions were found via recruiters on LinkedIn.com.
I'd normally choose Beijing over Shangqiu as I'd prefer a tier 1 city however the latter specifically requested an Australian teacher (I'm an Aussie from Sydney).

[teenoso]

25 hours teaching a week is a lot ! It's unusual for Unis to ask for so many hours , maybe they do this so they can boost the salary and attract more applicants.
15K Rmb in Shangqiu will go a long way, much further than in Beijing, but as you probably know, Henan is routinely dissed in this forum for being dirty , over-crowded, hot, polluted etc. Although , I know some teachers love it there !

After living in GZ you may find Shangqiu a bit of a shock.

The education system in BJ is probably different from everywhere else, but 'vocational college' usually means age 16-19 students , who failed to get into Uni, so problems with poor English and over-crowded classrooms.
I would check the major of the students you will be teaching - english education, tourism, business etc ok, chemical engineering, computer science etc, not so good.
Also I would ask why the Shangqiu college wants an Aussie teacher - maybe they have links there, or maybe the previous teacher was Aussie?