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Having trouble in Beijing

 
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km618



Joined: 14 Mar 2007
Posts: 65
PostPosted: Tue Mar 16, 2010 12:51 am    Post subject: Having trouble in Beijing Reply with quote
I've been here for two weeks and I still haven't gotten things rolling yet. I came here because I thought it would be easy for me to find good work, but it's not happening. I had a demo set up for a kindergarten that paid 150 an hour (20 hours a week), but I didn't even have enough money to buy materials for the demo...or for the subway to get there.

I have six private students, and I meet with most of them once a week in the afternoon, but I don't even get cash for that. The tutoring agencies I was in touch with before I came here pretty much straight up lied on their ads (You can have as many students as you want)

Is there any way I'd be able to find steady work during the daytime? Do any of you know of any kindergartens that need a teacher?

I'm 24 year old American college grad and I have two semesters of experience teaching Oral English at a university, and some experience doing one-on-one tutoring.
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thessy



Joined: 09 Nov 2008
Posts: 111
Location: Xi'an
PostPosted: Tue Mar 16, 2010 1:04 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
Prepare for a wave of folks coming to lecture you about the importance of planning in advance and having a backup plan, especially in China. They'll all be right in what they say too, but criticizing you after the fact isn't going to help you out with the problem you're in now.

http://jobs.echinacities.com/ShowJob-56028.html - there's a Kindy job posted and it took literally less than 10 seconds to find it. If you have internet access you can find hundreds of jobs posted in Beijing just through simple searches.

Also for your privates, there's absolutely no need to go through an agency. Check out the classifieds on Beijing Stuff, The Beijinger, and whatever other websites have classified ads for Beijing, which I'm sure are several. There are also other websites where tutors can find students and students can find teachers. You just have to look! Some jobs are not easy to find online, some are not posted online at all, but hundreds if not thousands of positions are probably available right now in Beijing if you just look.
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daCabbie



Joined: 02 Sep 2007
Posts: 244
PostPosted: Tue Mar 16, 2010 2:38 am    Post subject: Re: Having trouble in Beijing Reply with quote
km618 wrote:
but I didn't even have enough money to buy materials for the demo...or for the subway to get there.


This is what's called: a bad situation.

If you are honestly that broke then you need to suck it up and ask a friend or someone back home for a loan. Dig through couches, call mom and dad or dust off the evil credit cards. There is not much anyone here can do for you in your present situation.

But on the good side this is China. Finding a job can be quick and simple, sometimes. Look at this website and apply for EVERYTHING. Search the web and you will find ten more sites like this one. Apply to schools, training centers, kinders and try the recruiters (i know?#$@%!!).

You are gonna need at least two months pocket money. That is at least 2-3000rmb if you keep expenses really low. You are not gonna starve to death.

Within a week of applying everywhere something will break your way. Good Luck and be strong. You need to get busy.
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ttorriel



Joined: 13 Oct 2008
Posts: 193
PostPosted: Tue Mar 16, 2010 4:00 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
"bad situation" ? uhhhhm, yea, uhuh.

Randomly come to a foreign country with no money, no plan, no job, and what do you expect?
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km618



Joined: 14 Mar 2007
Posts: 65
PostPosted: Tue Mar 16, 2010 11:28 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
ttorriel wrote:
"bad situation" ? uhhhhm, yea, uhuh.

Randomly come to a foreign country with no money, no plan, no job, and what do you expect?


I had no money, but you assume that I had no plan. I already had jobs and interviews set up with five or six different schools, but most of them lied to me or lied in their ads. I thought there was going to be as much work as I could handle, or so they told me. I had no reason not to believe them at the time.

So keep your "I'm-too-smart-to-ever-get-in-a-sitiuation-like-that" talk to yourself..

I'm in a really bad situation now, and I was just looking for some advice from fellow waiguoren without being flamed for it.
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km618



Joined: 14 Mar 2007
Posts: 65
PostPosted: Tue Mar 16, 2010 11:39 am    Post subject: Re: Having trouble in Beijing Reply with quote
daCabbie wrote:
km618 wrote:
but I didn't even have enough money to buy materials for the demo...or for the subway to get there.


This is what's called: a bad situation.

If you are honestly that broke then you need to suck it up and ask a friend or someone back home for a loan. Dig through couches, call mom and dad or dust off the evil credit cards. There is not much anyone here can do for you in your present situation.

But on the good side this is China. Finding a job can be quick and simple, sometimes. Look at this website and apply for EVERYTHING. Search the web and you will find ten more sites like this one. Apply to schools, training centers, kinders and try the recruiters (i know?#$@%!!).

You are gonna need at least two months pocket money. That is at least 2-3000rmb if you keep expenses really low. You are not gonna starve to death.

Within a week of applying everywhere something will break your way. Good Luck and be strong. You need to get busy.


Well, I got lucky today. I'm going to sub for three days for Expertise Education for 450 a day, then do a demo on Monday (9k a month)

I had another offer for a demo tonight, but I couldn't make it, so I'll go in tomorrow (already set up), that's for nights and Sundays (150 an hour, 7 hours a week).

If that works out I should be ok.
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km618



Joined: 14 Mar 2007
Posts: 65
PostPosted: Tue Mar 16, 2010 11:48 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
thessy wrote:
Prepare for a wave of folks coming to lecture you about the importance of planning in advance and having a backup plan, especially in China. They'll all be right in what they say too, but criticizing you after the fact isn't going to help you out with the problem you're in now.

http://jobs.echinacities.com/ShowJob-56028.html - there's a Kindy job posted and it took literally less than 10 seconds to find it. If you have internet access you can find hundreds of jobs posted in Beijing just through simple searches.

Also for your privates, there's absolutely no need to go through an agency. Check out the classifieds on Beijing Stuff, The Beijinger, and whatever other websites have classified ads for Beijing, which I'm sure are several. There are also other websites where tutors can find students and students can find teachers. You just have to look! Some jobs are not easy to find online, some are not posted online at all, but hundreds if not thousands of positions are probably available right now in Beijing if you just look.


Ok, I was pretty much just looking on The Beijinger, so I guess I'll have to check out some different sites. I had never even heard of Beijing Stuff...I'll try to set up my own privates too. I put an ad up last week but I mostly just got messages from English tutoring centers (who I found out will take 280 and give me 100 of it).

Thanks for the replies and I'm going to check out the other websites.
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daCabbie



Joined: 02 Sep 2007
Posts: 244
PostPosted: Tue Mar 16, 2010 11:51 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
Sounds GREAT!

Keep working at it. Nothing is for sure in China. The only way to be comfortable is to have 10-20 thousand in the bank and the balls to walk away from a bad school.

But for now you will have to take anything and everything that comes your way. Your attitude sounds better now than in your first post.

Keep your head up. Spend time planning your demos and finding cheap places to eat and things will work out.

China is full of liars. You just have to change your idea of what a lie is. You will never change them or their attitude.
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