Job Discussion Forums

smallworlds · Joined: 15 Nov 2003 Posts: 10 Location: Poland

I have been offered these two jobs in China. If anyone knows these cities or has ideas or suggestions I would be grateful.

As I need to decide soon feel free to email be direct: [email protected]

Thanks
Carol Vialogos

There are two available job offers in China.

1) North of China - Daqing, Heilongjiang province is work for a college. The weather same as Calgary in Canada.
Teaching oral English and listening, teaching materiel was prepared already; the students� age around 15-23 years old; Around 20-30 students in each class;
4500 - 5000 RMB per month basic on 20 hours per week;
Free apartment (Fully furnished apartment with bedroom, kitchens, washing machine, television, computer, air - conditioning, water heater, etc);
100 RMB per hour for extra work;
Still pay salary in the holiday;
Free airport pickup;
Round trip airfare for one school year contract;

2) Taiyuan, Shanxi province East and Middle of China.
Students 18-30 years old; 20-30 students in each class;
Salary around 3500 RMB per month basic on no more than 16 teaching hours per week;
2200 RMB per year for travel allowance;
Reimburse one way airfare for a year contract;
Free private apartment with TV, telephone, air-conditioning, water heater, etc.
Still pay salary in the holiday;
Reimburse one way airfare after a school year contract;

Roger · Joined: 19 Jan 2003 Posts: 9138

Those jobs are run-of-the-mill ones, go for either if you want to come to China. What's not so clear is whether the schools are public or private ones - huge difference as regards your holidays.
Do they get you a work visa???

My comment on the locations: None is tempting. Daqing is an oil town, and Taiyuan is full of coalmines. The only redeeming factor in the latter case is its proximity to Pingyao, which is a smallish town put on the UNESCO's list of cultural heritage sites. Daqing is in the wild nort. I personally can't stand that kind of cold, but the air in both places gets very dirty in winter due to coalfires.

MyTurnNow · Joined: 19 Mar 2003 Posts: 860 Location: Outer Shanghai

Best answer: None Of The Above

The salaries are very weak, especially Taiyuan. You'd survive but would have precious little for fun, shopping, travel, or saving. DON'T fall for the comparison to "local teacher" salaries; odds are you couldn't begin to cope with the lifestyle a "local teacher" endures on the salary they quote, especially if you're new to China. You should be able to do much better, but if you DO take one of these by all means take Roger's advice and at least make sure you're getting a fully-paid Z visa out of the deal.

Even worse are the locations. If you were to poll experienced expatriates here about the worst places to live in China, Daqing and Taiyuan would both be names that come up frequently. They're both bitterly cold, dirty, backward, dull, and quite far from anywhere more interesting. The one exception is the antiquities near Taiyuan...but how often do you really want to go there? Both these places are most assuredly "off the beaten track" here in China, which may sound romantic until you actually come here and get a load of exactly what that really means here.

Both of the jobs you've described boil down to invitations to come get stuck in a miserable hell-hole of a city, teaching unpleasant classes to extremely unmotivated students, all for a subsistence salary that won't give you much chance to go anywhere or do anything.

Is this REALLY why you want to come to China?

I am not writing this to discourage you. I LOVE living in China and this experience can be incredibly rewarding. I just want you to do better.

Don't take anything under 5000 RMB/month, with a Z visa and full benefits, for no more than 25-30 hours a week. My personal preference is to stay away from teens/middle schoolers- teach either young kids or adults. There are lots of marvelous places here where you can find good work- Dalian, Qingdao, Suzhou, Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou, Hangzhou, Xiamen, Kunming, and Chengdu all come to mind but there are many others. Almost ANYTHING would be better than the cities you've mentioned.

Carol, there are literally millions of jobs available here. You can and should be choosy about which one you take. This decision can make the difference between a year of sheer hell and the experience of a lifetime. My advice is to say "No thanks" to both and keep shopping. We're here to help if you want...

Regards,
MT

struelle · Joined: 16 May 2003 Posts: 2372 Location: Shanghai

[quote="MyTurnNow"]Best answer: None Of The Above

davis · Posted: Sat Nov 29, 2003 5:12 pm Post subject:

Listen to Roger,MTN,and Struelle...There are plenty of places in China. It's wide open. You should be able to start at 4000 to 4500 RMB at any number of places with no experience what-so-ever. The ads almost always sound better than the reality so be careful. Do your homework. Ask for previous or current teachers e-mail addresses and see what they have to say. You can come here for the "China Experience" or you can come here and get experience while doing quite well for yourself...IMHO

lagerlout2006 · Joined: 17 Sep 2003 Posts: 985

I actually took a job in Taiyuan. When I arrived they had 1 teacher too many and I was transferred to Shandong. Thank God. I was only there 3 days but cannot think of a good thing to say about it, In fairness the school was out in the boonies so that made it seem worse. A couple who were thewre a while said it was OK when you learned your way around.

The walled city of Pingyao was great but you would only likely visit once. There is an express that can get to Beijing in about 6 hours so you could do that once a month. For a 1st job you might enjoy it who knows.