Job Discussion Forums

[jdardine]

Hey Everyone:

I've recently been sent a contract from Always Education and Exchange Center in Jinan and I was hoping to get some feedback on it. Does it look pretty standard? Also, is anyone familiar with this school? Thanks for your help!

Regards

Jacy

[The Great Wall of Whiner]

The contract seems not too bad, except for the salary.

Most schools offer far more than 5000 RMB per month. And they can afford it.

Schools can hardly say "But China is so cheap compared to the West" any longer.

My grocery bill now would be roughly the same as if I was in South Korea, and in South Korea my salary would be 4X that of what this contract offers.

One of the many reasons I will be going home soon.

Good luck to you.

[Tsuris]

GWOW is correct, the salary is too low for a private school in Jinan given the work load. If you have a degree, and especially if you have any teaching experience at all, tell them you want 5,000 RMB for 15 periods of teaching, not 20, and that this would also be your rate of pay for the vacation period as well. In addition, ask that you be paid 100 yuan per hour of voluntary overtime above the 15 periods. At a differential of 1500 for 5 periods per week x 4.3 (average # of weeks in a month), they are offering less than 70 yuan per period of overtime. Clever.

If you don't have a degree, any experience, or an EFL certificate of any kind, you might consider taking it as a way of breaking into the field. But it is a very low-end package.

[7969]

that airfare reimbursement also sucks. RMB7000 wouldnt even get you home if you were returning to most parts of canada or US i would think. my return ticket last year cost RMB14,000 in mid summer, and air travel should be more expensive this year than last due to higher oil prices.

[Girl Scout]

[jdardine]

Wow! Thanks for the feedback. Okay, I catch everyone's drift, this isn't enough money. However, I'm not seeing a whole lot of jobs that pay significantly more. I have a B.A. but little teaching experience and no TEFL certificate. How much should I be expecting?

[Girl Scout]

If you were working at a university or college, the contract would probably not raise as many questions. However, this looks like a training school. For the amount of work required to do the job, the money and hassles are not enough.

Look for university jobs. If they are in a city, think higher salary. If they are in a rural area, think standard pay. (like what you have already been offered)

Don't forget to question statements in the contract. Find out what they mean by what is written.

[jdardine]

Thanks Girl Scout!

[arioch36]

Also, you need to bargain, its part of the system. knowledge of the rules governing us helps. SFEA guidelines are quite clear, one semester, one way ticket. One year, round trip ticket. If every teacher insisted on this, it would never be in doubt. But if a teacher agrees to 7,000 airfare for one year, they can't later complain.

I am at a uni. The other day I scoped out a job at a training center. Les then 10 student for ever class. They said 6,000, 24 teaching hours, at the office 8 hours a day, 5 days a week. This would mean evenings and one saturday or sunday, no promise of two consectutive days off.
Now let's say you go a uni job for 4,000 16 hours ( a little low). Hopefully just 3 days a week, no evenings or weekends. Here in Henan, lates say you can make a modest 100 RMB/hour working extra hours (yes you can do better) If I wanted to teach 8 more hours a week, 800/ month, about 3,500 a month.
So 24 hours a week, easily 7,000 or more, as I decide. Mentioned this to the langaugae school. Immediate reply, oh, 7,000 shouldn't be a problem, maybe even more.
Then we would have to negotiate more, because this contract, written by a laowai for the school, was a terible contract for a teacher. Also, they did not promise to provide tv, internet, computer. etc.

Think I'll stay at a uni

[Lorean]

As other posters have noted, this would be an 'OK' university contract.

For 15 hours a week, demand at least 5,000RMB per month.

Do not sign any contract unless your place of work is well defined. You do not want to spend another 14 hours a week traveling to one of the many remote locations the school has contracted to teach 1 hour of classes.

Given how 'cheap' this school comes across, I would be weary of the provided accommodations. You may well find yourself sleeping in a hole in the ground. This is not acceptable. Ask to inspect the accommodations before signing; otherwise, demand a housing allowance. The amount could range from as low as 1500RMB to as high as 2500RMB depending on location.

[lf_aristotle69]

I don't know Zibo, but JiNan and TaiAn are both nice enough. TaiAn is much smaller and is a very clean, unpolluted city at the foot of Mount Tai.

A B.A. sounds good... is it in an English language area? If so it's a good qualification and makes you more qualified than 50% of teachers here right off the bat. It'd be good if you could take a proper TEFL course with a practical component before coming over though as teaching doesn't come naturally to everyone.

Should they refuse to budge on the conditions, if you're coming here to start teaching the new semester at the end of August or beginning of September then you still have time to look around and wait for better paid positions to come along.

Good luck,

LFA

[North China Laowei]

I can speak to Zibo from experience.

In Shandong. It's both a city and a very large administrative district that comprises the city with its name and many outlying areas.

It has the largest collection of "re-education" camps in the country to use a euphemism.

The "putong-hwa" that they speak is quite standard, all things being considered.

The weather is formidable and if you like Manitoba, and or Saskatchewan, and or North and South Dakota, Montana, Wyoming, parts of southern Siberia, northern Hokkaido, the northern parts of Norway, Sweden and Finland, then you will be right at home in Zibo. Summers are quite short and brilliant; winters seem eternal and spring arrives and leaves in about ten days.

My experience was that it's very much still a part of the old China and the new energy that infuses Shanghai, Chengdu, Guangzhou, etc., etc., just hasn't made it there yet.

Lots of heavy industry and lots of agro-alimentary type industries. Several good private high schools that hire foreigners.

You will be dealing with stereotypes a lot more there than you would else in China.

All that being said, I left many good friends behind. Food is quite good and relatively bland and if you like dairy products, well, that's the province for the best dairy products in China -- and really fresh and affordable.

Salaries are lower in Zibo than almost anywhere else in China but the cost of living is NOT that low.

In the end, however, if you are a winter person, this is the place for you. If you are not a winter person, then this is not the place for you.

And frankly, Taishan is even more remote than Zibo and when the tourists go home in the winter, and that heavy, heavy Taishan fog and mist sets in for days on end, you might just end up regretting your decision to go there.