Job Discussion Forums

[Travelingman]

.. set them up.

I am thinking of moving to Shanghai soon. Anyone in the area that wishes to PM please do -- I'd like to have some acquaintances upon arriving.

I understand that the going rate for privates in Shanghai is between 100 - 250RMB depending on a host of factors.

My question is: Assuming one is qualified -- Is it easy to:

1- Get jobs teaching businessmen in Shanghai?

2- Set up groups of 4 or 5 to teach privates to school age kids. I know
that it is logistically very difficult in Korea. Comments have been made
on this and other boards about the legality of it all in China. It is my
sense that in Korea the comments are backed-up with first hand stories
of people being deported, fined, etc. On the other hand, the comments
I've been exposed to about China are usually qualified with word like 'in
theory', 'if they wanted to', and 'you never know when .....' Has
anyone personally every taught self-organized small groups or known
of someone who has?

3- I plan to be in China for a long time and if I had to, I would set up a
service corporation under the name of a trusted friend -- if this would
help me in being able to set up a 20-hour business and have a legal
16 or 20 hour job where between both I can make a decent income.
Any thoughts?

Your comments and advice on parts or on all of my posting is greatly appreciated.

[Diletante]

I did this, numerous times, with no negative consequences. I've no personal experience with other people I know getting fired for doing this, but of course, one's personal experience varies quite a bit in China.

Finding groups to tutor depends on your location, your connections, how outgoing you are, how attractive you are, and how 'teacherly' you seem. Oh, and it helps a little bit to be a good teacher. A little bit.

If you're in Shanghai, do yourself and all the other ESL teachers a favor, don't accept less than 150 RMB per hour. Enjoy.

[chegs]

Personally speaking, my privates are very hard (at the moment anyway).
That should be enough to put anyone off coming to China. Well, within a hundred mile radius of me at least.

[bluey]

Never had any suggestion of a problem with my privates. The PSB don't seem terribly interested in them. There are a couple of companies here that hire out strictly part-timers (so they're not responsible for your visa). They tend to pay 200+ per hour (and charge about 3 times that), and you can get that much and more by advertising on ThatsShanghai.com. Of the few freelancers I know, none will work for under 200.

It does take time to bring the business in, though, and success depends on your background as well as your attractivenes/teacherliness. I think you get credit for experience in industries relevant to your customers, besides teaching experience.

[Kurochan]

In my experience, it's pretty easy to get private students -- just scope out English corners and stuff, and you'll always meet a few people who want private lessons. BUT the trouble is, the people usually have really unrealistic expectations about learning (like "I want to become fluent in one month"), and when they realize how hard learning English really is, they drop out. Either that or you get some miserable kid who has to learn English because his parents are sending him there, even though he really doesn't want to go. In either case, the lessons don't really last that long. People often cancel at the last minute, don't show up, etc. To me, it's such a huge pain in the butt I don't do it anymore.

Of course, it can be lucrative, and it's better than nothing if you've just come to a particular town. But, there's a lot of turn around and it's not very secure. I'd just do it to supplement stable income, because I've found it's a very unstable source of money.

Bluey -- you left SZ? Yantian too dull?