Job Discussion Forums

mongrelcat · Joined: 12 Mar 2004 Posts: 232

5000RMB for a university position with housing provided. Shenzhen.

would you say this is

poor
fair
good
very good

my needs are few....i spend money on tobacco (do they even have Drum or Samson there)

good coffee, the occasional substance to relieve boredom.

I'm in Turkey and looking at southeast China as an improvement. Thoughts?

bendan · Joined: 18 Jun 2004 Posts: 739 Location: North China

Voldermort · Joined: 14 Apr 2004 Posts: 597

You will have a very hard job finding tobacco here, even the papers are hard to come by. You can buy tobacco on special market, but it is not the same as the shredded kind you would buy back home, more like large sheets which would normally be used to make cigars.

5000 in a uni is not to bad, but I would advise you to do some research rather than asking a question like that on here.

dajiang · Joined: 13 May 2004 Posts: 663 Location: Guilin!

depends on the contract details.
how many hours/week to start with.

can you do freelance work on the side?
what's the location?
can you speak to colleagues?
whats the class size?
do you have a curriculum to follow?
materials provided, other facilities?
return flight after a year completion?

lots of factors to consider.

Dajiang

englishgibson · Joined: 09 Mar 2005 Posts: 4345

Good points above Dajiang.
I'd also say that I'd want to know what'd be expected from me in a sense of teaching. I mean........what kinda teaching.
5,000 for Shenzhen is a bit low but with low teaching hours and fine benefits........who knows.....

Cheers and beers

Roger · Joined: 19 Jan 2003 Posts: 9138

There are two universities in Shenzhen, and both have a poor reputation! One is the SHENZHEN UNIVERSITY, the other is the POLYTECHNIC.

The salary level given here is on the low side though the Shenzhen Uni is likely to think that standard; at the Polytechnic a few years ago they offered over 7000 (almost 8 K) but they claimed they had to deduct a hefty amount for housing...which was not quite kosher practice! Anyone accepting a post there would have ended up receiving just a little over 5000 net.

Ask whether you will have to pay tax on that amount!

mongrelcat · Joined: 12 Mar 2004 Posts: 232

Roger · Joined: 19 Jan 2003 Posts: 9138

40 hours presence at a university is utterly abnormal! Do you like office politics? You must be a masochist!

5000 don't carry you that far in Shenzhen; it's probably China's most expensive place - second only to Hong Kong and no doubt ahead of Macau!

dajiang · Joined: 13 May 2004 Posts: 663 Location: Guilin!

20 hours of teaching is regular, but you don't mean to say you should actually stay in an office for another 20 hours more?

That's preposterous of course. Tell em you want to prepare for your classes in your own way, and in your own time/location.

The hours itself are okay. Youre at a uni, so you're working weekdays, in the daytime. So that leaves lots of room for some private students you can have on the side.

Location is important though. Will you live on campus, and if so, where is the uni located? In Luowu, or actually another city 'close' to Shenzhen? If you're in the city itself, you'll find lots of private students and job opportunities.

Still, you ought to get more in Shenzhen. Can you bargain a bit?
Cut back on the hours or try to get a higher starter salary.
Oh, and define what overtime hours pay for. English corners are also overtime of course.

You got a BA and/or experience?
Then you should definitely be entitled to a higher salary.

Dajiang

brsmith15 · Joined: 12 May 2003 Posts: 1142 Location: New Hampshire USA

give it a pass and move along.

mongrelcat · Joined: 12 Mar 2004 Posts: 232

the job descr said you can do lesson plans etc off campus. but still, 40 hours.

now i'm hearing Shenzhen has a dearth of foreigners....and not much to do there.

i don't know...i'm trying to escape Ankara from the boredom. Maybe i should check out HK?

Bayden · Joined: 29 Mar 2006 Posts: 988

The_Prodiigy · Joined: 01 Apr 2006 Posts: 252

5,000 is reasonable to good usually for a university position.

However, the standard teaching load for such jobs is up to 18 hours contact a week. It is unusual and inappropriate for a university to specify the teacher must spend X amount of office hours. It should be expected to have confidence that the professinal can plan their own lessons to the expected standard in their own time.

Another factor is the dearth of holidays - 4 weeks is very low. I teach at Bohai in Jinzhou and we have approx two months off in July and August, a further six weeks in January and February and the two weeks public holidays. I think this is common to most Chinese universities. Although the current salary is lower than this job.

There are nearly always differences between those holding a BA/BSc and those with an MA.

mcgaugheygary · Joined: 27 Jan 2006 Posts: 15 Location: Canada

All those office hours? Are you sure you are working for a university or a language school within a university? Office hours are puzzling to me - I just don't get them? Maybe 2 or 3 a week but 20. I think you would find this mind numbing after a while.

shenyanggerry · Joined: 02 Nov 2003 Posts: 619 Location: Canada

I'm not asked to do office hours. I schedule my own - two hours per week. If there's no realistic use within the first month (at least one or two each time), I cancel them. I always tell my students, see me during office hours. If we need more time we'll schedule it there. In five semesters, I've yet to schedule extra time.

Twenty hours sounds like they're making sure you don't get an outside part-time job. Tell them you'll do office hours at 100 Kwai per hour.