Job Discussion Forums

[DosEquisX]

Unlike ROK where salaries are pretty much the same across the board, China has very different salaries for jobs that are mostly the same (referring to unis here). They have similar duties and responsibilities and a similar teaching environment.

I am a uni teacher with only a year of teaching experience outside of China (in ROK). I took a meh job in China because I came into the hiring process rather late and just took any meh job I found. So, I get paid a very low salary (4.5K/month, though that is the norm for teachers at my uni).

Due to the meh job with low salary at a meh place, I hope to move onto greener pastures. After a year of experience here, I know that I should command a higher salary. What I don't know is exactly how much I could command if I decide to pursue another university job.

How do I determine that number? Should I use that as a start and demand more, hoping to haggle down to that number? I started at such a low number that although going up to 5000-6000 RMB would be a great increase for me, I still might be underpaid.

[wangdaning]

Well, what do you teach? What do you have experience teaching? What qualifications do you have?

You could get more, but, like anywhere else, you need to think about what you offer. You have listed you experience, but what about your potential. What could you offer?

Not trying to interrogate you, but more information will help you get better estimates of where you stand.

[DosEquisX]

-In my mid 20's
-Very foreign looking (pale white skin, blue eyes)
-BA in unrelated major (Economics)
-TEFL certified (dinky online one, but some schools may not know the difference)
-One year of teaching experience (ESL in South Korea)
-Will have one year in China after contract is done
-Taught mostly Oral English, but have also taught Reading and Writing English classes as well

[Non Sequitur]

Really pointless to compare jobs on salary alone independent of hours worked, accommodation, airfare refunds or allowances and a very important issue in the uni sector � whether your 7/8 week summer holiday is paid if you sign on again.

On your stated qualifications and experience and assuming a good array of non-salary add-ons I would say you are at about the market level right now for uni work in reasonable quality-of-life/cost-of-living cities.

Very cold or polluted places may pay more. Only you can make the trade off calculation.

Your next avenue for better earnings is weekend private or mill work and/or 5 or 6 weeks of summer camp or mill work.

A uni with a sizeable FT complement may have a FT Director who can introduce newbies to the realities and monitor ongoing quality of teaching. A teacher doing this type of role could normally expect another 1000 per month of salary over what an ordinary FT will be getting.

These jobs are no sinecures. In any group of 8 to 10 FTs you will have 1xmissionary, 1xalcoholic, 1xjuvenile-to-the-point-of-thumb-sucking dope, 1x skirt chaser and at least one preening, self absorbed, look at me type. And that�s without looking at any of your problems.

China is NOT a place to make a lot of money and even if you think you�re doing well, the exchange rate RMB/any other currency is way lower than it should be.

[The Great Wall of Whiner]

I have very recently changed my tune about salaries in China. I used to gasp in horror at seeing people working what I consider slave wages (anything under 10k a month) but now I realize that apples and oranges cannot be compared.

If you are set on teaching in a university, you can't find your own market value because the value is based on the other teachers and what they are willing to work for.

If there are plenty of foreigners willing to work for 4,500 RMB a month in a university, then that is the market price, no matter how good of a teacher you are.

The university sets the budget at say 7k a month, and the person in charge of hiring you wants their monthly cut. They could bump you up to 5 or even 5.5 or 6 after a year or so... but why bother if someone willing to work for 4k comes along.

I assume you work little hours and have loads of free time as a result of your low pay.

A foreigner near where I work makes 6k a month in a crappy little training college, and he didn't even finish high school nor is he a young in his 20's blue eyed lad.

Good luck and bye.

[auchtermuchty]

You've got to consider things like weeks in a term, housing allowance, holiday pay, restrictions on airfares (like an upper limit etc). I calculate how many real (60 min) hours I will work over one year and how much in total (absolutely everything) I will get in return. In my current university job it works out at about 300 RMB per (real, 60-min) hour of teaching time, but that is probably not that easy to find.

[Scott 1955]

Duh ?

[Miles Smiles]

I'll chime in on this even though you've been given good opinions already. However, to get the big picture and to see what is being offered throughout the nation, visit as many websites that post job offers. I suggest that you visit abroadchina.org. It lists positions available by province. There, you'll see every kind of teaching job imaginable in every province. Required qualifications and salary ranges are also stated. A visit to that site in March-June will give you a good idea of what's out there. (It's not all pretty, as the venerable GWOW has already said).

NOTE: This is not an endorsement of that website. You'll probably find better, more reliable employers who advertise on Dave's.

[urbanversion]

[SahanRiddhi]

You're teaching English in China? And you think you have a market value?

I'd say about $4.50.

http://www.coolquiz.com/trivia/explain/docs/worth.asp