Job Discussion Forums

[senor boogie woogie]

Hola!

I am looking for employment for the spring semester here in Hangzhou. At the moment I am working for two schools part time, the first school 4 hours per week, the second school for 7 hours a week. The first school pays every two weeks, and the class session is 45 minutes. The other school's sessions are one hour, but I do teach 45 minutes per academic hours on Sunday for the same company. Both schools pay 100 RMB per academic session.

I teach kids, which is fine by me. I go to various schools, there are no classes "in house" so to speak.

I enjoy working for these two employers because they allow me to do whatever I want to in class. As long as I show up, they are cool with me. Iget paid on time with the one school paying me every two weeks.

I find an ad on a local Hangzhou website looking for teachers at a new private language school. I went there last week to talk about the position and did a mock class, in which I was told that I did very well. they asked me if I wanted to be a "full time teacher". I told them that I would be happy to consider their proposal.

Today, I went and talked to the girl about the contract. During our first meeting, I was told that I had to work 23 hours per week, which comes out to 92 hours per month. We sat down and she gave me a copy of the contract and I saw that the pay was 6000 RMB FOR 92 HOURS A MONTH. I told her that this is not near enough money. I told her I would work for 8000 per month for 23 hours/week, and that was a bargain. The "part time" teachers pay 100 RMB an hour. Then she went over the "perks" which includes an air ticket and an apartment, but she also told me that the housing allowance was only 700 RMB a month, OR the school will place me in a place. A 700 RMB place. I live ina 1300 RMB a month place and its a dump (a charming dump). I also doubt that they are going to give me 8000 RMB for a plane ticket back to the United States.

"So, you want to be a part time teacher?" she asked. "Yes, because I will make 35 RMB more per hour." "But there may not be as many hours for you as them." I really wanted to say "So, if you fill all the classes with the people stupid enough to work for 65 RMB an hour, you'll call me." I also told her that what will happen is that you will give me 20 hours per week for several months, and pay me 6000 RMB. Then if a new class opens, you will give it to me with no increase in pay.

The school is situated in a brand new building. The office is clean, new with computers with audio visual crap all in it. The owner has a lot of money or he is deeply in debt, or both. I do not think 100 per academic hour is unreasonable at all. Really this is small money, considering that apartment rentals are expensive and there are many Chinese in this city zooming passed me in their BMWs and Audis.

I have said it before and will say it again, in the coastal cities, do not work for less than 100 RMB per academic hour, room and board inclusive. These people need us! We, the native speakers, make money for them. Always work per hour! Don't do an "up to X number of hours for X money."

In the end, I told her that I will work for 6,000 RMB for 16 hours a week. I doubt I will hear back from them, and when they end up with Indians, Russians, Africans and Eastern Europeans working for them, maybe their bottom line will hurt enough they they learn to pay for quality native speaker help.

Or not.

Senor

PS-This was not an EF school.

[Roger]

I am afraid I consider this attitude slightly unacademic. Self-delusional.
Why would a fulltimer get the same per hour wage as a part-timer? The lady indicated, part-timers get an all-inclusive hourly wage; fulltimers get a full salary plus various perks.
Part-timers are at the mercy of the market needs and the whims of the employer and students; often classes are cancelled five minutes beofre they are due to begin. This lowers your income considerably, whereas a fulltimer can take it with no loss in financial terms.

[Dan__]

Part-time is awesome.

This semester, I managed to hook myself up with a university that was desperate for a teacher at the last minute. Turns out whatever full-time teacher they hired suddenly skipped town. I took the job on Saturday, and classes began the following Monday.

I go there three mornings a week and teach 4 periods. They pay me 490 yuan each time I go. Last month I got 6300 yuan from them for 12 hours a week.

They have offered me a full-time contract for next semester. It would be 15 hours a week at 4800 yuan a month (including 800 for housing, since I don't need/want the school's apartment).

6000+ a month for 12 hours a week, or
4800 a month for 15 hours a week.

Part-time is awesome.

[badtyndale]

This has all been said before. Full-time = all inclusive (flights, visas, medical, holidays, housing). Part-time = look after yourself.

It's not just about quantity. Quality also enters the equation.

Still, there will always be the absolutely ludicrous offers. Recently, I was approached by some idiots who thought they were doing me a favour offering 5000RMB for 30 hours a week on a part-time basis! It seems they didn't understand my unequivocally scathing response since they've just asked me to come to their Christmas party.

[cj750]

One of the ways to approach this is the perm. part time.....I worked a deal once with a school to work 12 hours each week for 110RMB per hour...plus the visa. The hours were at night and for 6days a week. This left me open to work other places and keep legal.
It is often that the perks are what the Chinese cheat you "out of" and if you sub money for perks then when you leave you dont have to fight for it...remember the "Iron Bowl" perks that are offered to our yellow brothers and sisters of the Chinese teaching game are not extended to us and instead a pre arranged offering which will go along with a preconceived notion of Chinese management. Ask for money and it will never let you down....screw the perks....and when someone tell you that you are their brother and that they will take good care of you...beleave me ...they will!

[kev7161]

Yeah, I've gotta say, if I was back home, by the time I paid for my apartment rent + utilities (elec., water, cable, phone, internet) + health insurance + food (okay, I buy a lot of my own food here, but I do get a monthly meal allowance for when I am out of groceries or I don't feel like cooking), I'd be racking up close to 1,000 bucks! Now, add in my salary of roughly $600 (US) and that would have eaten up a majority of my monthly paycheck. Plus, in the states, I would be teaching from 7:30 in the morning until I could drag myself out of there in the evening (plus staying some evenings for various school functions) and then there would be weekend excursions to the school just to get some "peace and quiet" work done!

As with everyone, I'd love to be making more money here in China - - especially for some of the S H I T we all have to put up with - - but I'm not too dissatisfied with my monthly pay.

[senor boogie woogie]

Hola!

Let's do the math on this awful contract with all the "perks" involved.

Base Salary-6000
Air ticket-665 (8000 RMB/12 months service)
Rental-700

EQUALS 7365 RMB a month, which comes out to 80 RMB an hour, 20 less than what a "part timer" would receive.

We western people have this unhealthy love for contracts. We think of these wonderful "perks", the apartment (usually crap and 7-800 RMB wont get you anything), the so called medical insurance (in which if you are really F'd up hurt, then the school will take you for a shot in the ass) and the airfare, which I don't need because I live here.

Senor

[struelle]

Best of both worlds: Full-time job at one school with part-time gigs at another. The downisde is that you take a gamble on the visa issue, and classes may conflict. But it works as long as you remain loyal to your first employer and select classes that conflict as less as possible.

For example, I taught at a boarding middle school last year where all the students and teachers cleared out on Sat and Sun. The chances of doing anything on the weekends there were slim, so it freed me up to do other stuff downtown.

Then again, at times I worked 7 days straight doing this.

Steve

[shenyanggerry]

Of course part time pays better. You only work when they NEED you. They only contract for needed hours. I had a friend in Canada making around 90K. As a consultant, he'd be getting 4-6K per week.

In North America contracted professionals, usually called consultants are paid around three times what a salaried employee gets. They're also last hired and first fired.