Job Discussion Forums

[tclowers]

Hi. I've been working as an English teacher in Asia for about three years now, and I'm planning on coming back to China in the spring. I worked for a Wall Street Institute franchise in South Korea awhile back and I really enjoyed it, so I'm wondering what conditions are like at the Chinese franchise.

More specifically, does anyone know what the pay range is for the Wall Street centers in Shenzhen? I checked the search results on this and didn't find anything, but I did see some pretty impressive numbers for the Shanghai centers. Since economies of scale are a pretty big factor when working in China, I imagine that the Shenzhen pay rates are lower, but I can't guess by how much. Any information you guys could give me on this, would be greatly appreciated. Thanks for your time.

[Laurence]

WSI seem to be doing pretty well these days.

I think they pay like 15 000 per month for a 40 hour week, and have lower salaries for less contracted hours.

Not sure if that's pre or post tax or other benefits - perhaps a recent or current employee will enlighten us.

[tclowers]

Thanks for the info, Laurence.

To everybody else, I should mention that I may have made a mistake with the name, I think in China it's called Wall Street English rather than WSI as in other countries. Still curious to see if anybody knows about this company.

[powerrose]

I think I heard 12,000 at one point, but now I can't find it online. It seems that Wall Street English is one of the few non-sketchy schools in Shenzhen, so why not apply and see if you can get in first (I assume yes, since you work for them in Korea) and they will send you the pay scale.

I walked by their place in Coastal City yesterday actually. Seemed nice and clean. I've also heard that EF in Shenzhen is ok (not awful like other EF locations) and their office in Garden City looks professional enough (which is to say that I haven't actually met any teachers who work there, so I'm not giving much info except that the schools exist and look clean and professional).

[tclowers]

[sharpe88]

Sure WSI *looks* professional, but that's their thing. Image. Do a search on this site for what teachers have to say.

[NorthofAmerica]

WSE in Beijing (that is Wall Street English here) pays 16250 for a 40 hour work week plus a bonus of up to 1000 for hitting certain targets as a centre.

The hours are long and the schedule can be a nightmare but all in all it is a well run company that expects a lot from FTs but rewards accordingly. Easy enough to get on working full time and then go down to a 20 hour (teaching) work week later for about 12000.

Not sure exactly about Shenzhen but I think it may be the same.

[xiao51]

[tclowers]

Hey thanks for the info guys.

Thanks especially for those numbers NofA, they gel with what I've generally heard.

sharpe88: Yes Wall Street English (which I believe in this case refers specifically to the Chinese operation) was bought by Pearson (see link below), but I'm not sure of the reason.

http://www.pearson.com/media-1/pearson-news/?i=117

The thing about Wall Street is that in most countries it's essentially a franchise with the local management doing the legwork, but using materials and marketing strategies developed by the parent corporation (owned by The Carlyle Group --look them up, fun guys). What Pearson did was actually buy controlling interest in the local operation. Personally, I'd be curious to know who was running the franchise before this purchase. If it was Pearson, what they've basically done is further invest in a company they were already running. If that's what happened, then it would be hard to make the case for Wall Street China having been in financial difficulties, especially when you read things about 40% annual income growth between 2006-2008. Not that I know anything personally, I've been kind of looking at this situation from afar.