Job Discussion Forums

[Dray]

I've heard that it's possible to get a university teaching job without a postgraduate qualification in China. However, I am looking for jobs which require qualifications and pay accordingly.

I'm doing an MA in Applied Linguistics/TESOL and may head to China in the future. I have a (Chinese) wife and a child to support. If I am well-qualified, do you think I will be able to find a decent university job which will pay enough for me to support a family? If so, where is the best place to look?

[LanGuTou]

"Well paid university jobs" in China must be an oxymoron!

Best to calculate the pay on a hourly basis. In the north of China, you may get jobs teaching twenty six hours per week or so for around 7000 rmb per month. Most contracts are for 18 to 20 hours per week for between 4500 and 6000 rmb. The variation is actually large from city to city and province to province but, as a ball park figure, 60 - 65 rmb per teaching hour is about right with free accommodation, holiday pay and return air ticket.

In the south east of China, university rates are a little higher but not that much.

5000 rmb + free accommodation in most Northern China cities could support you and your wife. A child is another thing altogether. There are reasons why bringing a child to China is not such a good idea as I am sure you will find by searching this site. You may even find that most universities will not even entertain the idea of offering you employment for this very reason (although the replies may state "other reasons").

[englishmaster]

As far as I know, RMB5-7000 is the pay at Chinese universities, which is perverse given that uni profs are usually better qualified and teach more complicated courses. Some jerk with only a BA can get double the pay for teaching Mickey Mouse oral courses at a southern bushiban. It's just China ....

You could accept a uni job as your basic employment, then do part-time work for extra money at private institutes. Some uni profs do that, but it's a lot of extra work.

As for me, I'm getting out of here.

[askiptochina]

[MisterButtkins]

[Zero]

What are the key reasons not to bring a child to China? And which of these reasons would play into whether a university offers you employment or not?

[ttorriel]

Many universities don't want to deal with the supposed issues with a child-filled family... visa's, noise, helping with doctor visits, etc. The more prevalent issue, is many universities simply don't have living facilities for foreigners with children.

[Jayray]

Find a university out in the boonies that seems to have difficulty retaining teachers. While your qualifications are quite valuable in China, there seems to be merely a vague correlation between pay and actual qualifications in the marginal public universities.

[china-1994]

I just got 8K with a Masters Yabadaba Doo ! Not much,but ehhh..