Job Discussion Forums

[AlexB]

I was just wondering if anyone knew anything about the British Council Language Assistants programme for China. I've just been to a presentation on it, and a few issues struck me:

Firstly they offer a wage of between 3500 and 4000RMB (location dependent) for 14-18 hours work. They talk about placing people in smaller cities, but then I also know that they place people in the big cities too - my impression was that this salary was somewhat on the low side for the number of hours, particularly if you end up in somewhere like Beijing, Shanghai or Guangzhou. Am I correct with this one?

Secondly they only offer return airfare, not outward.

However I was wondering how far the perceived benefits of it being a British Council run sheme were - for example someone to run to if the school tries it on etc, or if anyone knew about anything else.

As for me, I've been thinking about looking for a low hour uni gig which would allow me the time to do a distance learning Msc at the same time. I've a BA (History with Contemporary Chinese Studies), MA (or will have by September - Contemporary Chinese Studies), and a CELTA but no other EFL experience. I'm also only 22, so was wondering if my age would be an issue for a uni job?

So, do people think I'd be better to persue the British Council route and go for the "soft landing" approach, or to take the independent approach for greater benefits but greater risks? Does anyone have any experience of the Language Assistants programme?

Thanks,
Alex

[Kibbs]

AVOID. There is no reason why you should earn such a low wage and I've often heard that they skim off the top of your salary.

[sui jin]

Return airfare means (in British English) roundtrip airfare

[AlexB]

I actually qualifed that at the presentation, and the air fare is definitely for the China to UK flight only

[sharpe88]

If your goal is to have a lot of free time to study, that's not bad.

At least I imagine the BC should be a trustworthy employer compared to others