Job Discussion Forums

bridge · Joined: 22 Aug 2004 Posts: 5 Location: Wonju, South Korea

For those of you who are currently working in or have worked in China, is it a good place to work?

I am a newbie and am looking at different places to work around the world. I have heard of the need for EFL teachers in China and have always wanted to go there. What can you tell me about working in China?

Is it difficult to find work?
What should I look for in a job?
What is the going rate for a teacher with an TEFL certificate and BA degree?
What are some positives and negatives about living and working China? Is there any cultural aspects that I should be aware of?

Any help in this matter would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

Ludwig · Posted: Tue Sep 21, 2004 1:37 am Post subject:

I doubt very much if you mean the SARs of HK and Macau so, unfortunately, the answer is a resounding 'no'. Mainland China is most certainly not a good place to work. It is a Third World crud hole full of people who push, shout, lie, cheat, steal, and spit.

Guest · Posted: Tue Sep 21, 2004 1:43 am Post subject:

Please ignore Ludwig - he must have gotten out of the wrong side of the bed this morning.

China is a wonderful place to live and work. You will command a larger salary than I do, so I think you should look in the range of 4,000 r.m.b. to 6,000 r.m.b. per month for your first teaching job.

Work is available here constantly and even though I think they prefer you to start at the beginning of a Semester, they seem to hire all year round.

The next Semester will commence around the middle of February 2005.

You should make sure you are offered the following :

1. Salary not less than 4,000 (for 10 teaching hours per week)

2. Free apartment (not shared)

3. Free computer and Internet in your apartment

4. Plane fare reinbursed after 10 month contract (half after 5 months)

5. Some Schools offer free meals - mine does.

I hope the above is of some help to you.

Best of luck

Ger · Joined: 25 Feb 2004 Posts: 334

I think, China is viewed as an experience by undergraduates wanting a year out or just after they graduate and before they take up gainful employment, rather than as a place to work. I have to say there are those who have friendships with Chinese people or who have a Chinese spouse who can't speak Chinese so they work: they teach English. Then there are those who are in China to try to improve or develop the country in one way or another. There is another group who come to China perhaps to escape the way of life in their own countries, but they cannot escape from themselves. Increasingly, especially since WTO entry, there are foreigners doing business in China, who have factories. Then there is another group that I don't know about. Where would you fit in?

lagerlout2006 · Joined: 17 Sep 2003 Posts: 985

These folks in the provinces such as HK and Taiwan are jealous of us lucky enough to be in China itself. They pat themselves on the back and look at their salary. (which is good) Guppies is what they are. PRC-wannabies.

China is the place and dont listen to these flunkies in other places in Asia.

They are crying all thew way to bank they can't be in the best country.

(Ludwig why don't you go to a hotel and stay the hell away from a computer. Guy did not mention HK or Macau. HK is a province of China and it's not even the best one...)

millie · Joined: 29 Oct 2003 Posts: 413 Location: HK

Ludwig wrote:

amberrollins · Joined: 24 Aug 2004 Posts: 27 Location: Way Out in Korea

I looked at several different places around the world before I came to China, too. I love working in China and I am thankful every day that I came here.

No, it is not difficult at all to find work. I teach at a university, and I am offered jobs all the time. There are several good web sites filled with teaching jobs in China. I have a BA (in English), several years teaching experience in the US, and no TEFL. You should have no trouble, either.

It's pretty standard to teach 16 - 20 hours a week, school pays for your flight, and puts you up in apartment. Some places pay utilities, some give a utilities allowance. My school, for example, pays for electricity, water, and internet. I pay for gas and drinking water (don't drink the tap water here without boiling it!), but gas and water are really cheap.

Universities pay about 4000 - 6000 RMB a month; the higher a degree you have and the more years experience, the higher the salary goes. You'd probably be looking at 4000, which is plenty good in China. Language schools pay about the same, although on the higher end.

There's all kinds of cultural things to be aware of, way too many to go into now. In general, I think that if you do your research before you leave and come with a positive attitude and an open mind, you will have a great time here. Some people say that nobody comes here to teach, but I did, and I love it. I love the students and the administration here has thus far always given me a lot of freedom (more than I got in the US, actually). I think China is wonderful. I don't want to go back!

Ludwig · Posted: Tue Sep 21, 2004 10:33 am Post subject:

latefordinner · Joined: 19 Aug 2003 Posts: 973

You'll never have _all_ the answers to this one, but you've already got enough, I think. Yes, it's easy (too bloody easy) to get a job here, and with a degree plus teaching experience you should command 4 to 8 thousand, depending upon the location. (If you look at a private school, don't settle for less than 5500 and a lot of ammenities. If you go to BJ, make that 6500. If you go to Shangers, I dunno. Can't count that high.) The problem is that because it is too easy, there are a lot of semi-, notvery- and totally unqualified people here scooping the brown stuff jobs off the street. And my-oh-my, how the brown stuff just spawns itself in this, umm, economic climate. Staying away from brown stuff is a job in itself. I don't want to come between feuding factions, but I think you should pay a modicum of heed to the Ludwigs. It ain't that bad, but in any rose garden there's bound to be a few thorns.

A Token of My Extreme · Joined: 14 May 2004 Posts: 76

Roger · Joined: 19 Jan 2003 Posts: 9138

I have been here ten years by now, two of which in Hong Kong. Ludwig's sarcasm is of a certain kind, yes, but it's not in any way misleading.

You can get gainful employment but your job security and stability are never assured. You do command relatively higher pay than locals do, but you will always find areas in which you are discriminated against.
The curricula here are a joke as are their school exams - areas of friction between you and your superiors.

Some boast about how easy it is to land a job; well, I have seen better times, really! It's moving in the opposite direction now, and I reckon in about three years, many of us will be packing our bags for greener pastures.

If this is your first overseas work experience, why choose China? Why not Taiwan? Korea? Thailand? Why don't you have a pronounced interest in a particular country?
Only if you are culturally motivated will you find enough to keep you going.

Ludwig · Posted: Tue Sep 21, 2004 1:42 pm Post subject:

Why, thank you, 'latefordinner', (the one and only) 'My Extreme', and 'Roger'.

I gave what I considered to be a (considered) silly response to what is obviously a silly (and non-considered) question. What is meant by 'a good place to work', for example? In what part of China, doing what job, and for how much?

I know people who earn well in excess of 40,000 RMB a month on the Mainland (partners in business (read, 'crime') with Mainland wheeler-dealers) and they swear blind to me that they would never work anywhere else.

Of course, when your salary affords you a three-storey detached countryside villa in sub-tropical Guangdong with your own lake in the grounds of some 15 hectares, two maids, a house 'boy' (read, 'last resort, last line of defence in the event of a violent burglar'), a car (a blacked-out Merc), a driver, and a stunning beauty contestant wife of 22 (with an educational background in the US), it is truly a great place to work (especially when you can afford anything, anytime � such as getting helicopters to HK at weekends).

If, however, you are stuck in some God-forsaken industrial wasteland ('No Man's Land') on 3,000 pieces of Chinese toilet paper a month surrounded by peasants spitting, shouting, pushing, and blowing their nose onto the seat of the bus, then it is obviously somewhat less appealing.

Yu · Joined: 06 Mar 2003 Posts: 1219 Location: Shanghai

I don't know your reasons for coming to China or considering China.
Search deep within your self and answer a few questions to help you figure out why you are coming here, what you want to get out of this experience.

I have only been to Korea (so briefly), Japan, and China.

Living in Japan was a kick ass wonderful experience... it was very comfortable. People are very polite. I was treatedvery kindly there.

China is different. In my opinion, right now is the time to come to China. What the future will be for China in our lifetime is unpredictable. There is a different kind of energy here in Shanghai that is exciting. There are so many changes happening everday all around, you can see the development and the changes and have a chance to expereince that firsthand. The US is done having this kind of growth. So I am enjoying this time to be in China as I think it is an improtant time in the history of China, and seeing how it emerges will be intersting in years to come as I see what the end result is. (Of course I can really only speak for Shanghai).

It should not be too hard to find a job.

A Token of My Extreme · Joined: 14 May 2004 Posts: 76

Ludwig