Job Discussion Forums

[longdistancewalker]

Hello,

I have a year experience teaching in and out of the US.
I've been offered a position to teach 3 weeks at a 'summer camp' in Hebei province on a tourist visa and then teach in Yangzhou for a year on a resident working permit.

The Pay is 13,000RMB for the summer camp. 8,000RMB/month (without accomodation) in Yangzhou.


The person who hired me for the summer camp is a Chinese coordinator my contact (Oxford Seminars) put me in touch with. This coordinator hooked me up with someone from another school in Yangzhou called Shane School. (SS is based in Shanghai).

The coordinator wants me to teach the 3 weeks on a tourist visa, then switch to a working visa upon completion of the camp with the assistance of the Shane School.

I am not going to take the year position in Yangzhou at SS but I want to work at the camp. The thing is I have been offered a year contract at Pacican Academy in Shanghai (also known as BSK).

Does anyone have experience with BSK/Pacican Academy? or teaching short term on a tourist visa and switching to working visa and changing schools to do it?

Does one have a good chance of finding work in Shanghai independent of a job coordinating service, without a working visa, arriving on foot in the city with only verifiable credentials and identification?


Thank you for answering.

[Non Sequitur]

You've made a few posts, but don't know how much you've read.
If accom and airfare aren't paid for the camp then most of your pay has gone right there.
As far as the longer term job is concerned there have been recent threads/posts on working on a tourist visa and I think overwhelmingly the opinion is 'don't do it'.
Also on the longer term job think 'package'.
I OPd a thread a few months ago and you should look at that.
Accom?
Airfare?
Utilities?
Classroom hours?
Paid holiday - winter espec?
Subject - Oral English has least prep time and no out-of-class marking pretty much.
I have consistently advised newbies to go with the least hassle route on your first job. After you know how things work, you can branch out into riskier but higher paid activities. Or you can use your comfy day job as a base for weekend/evening work.
We are right into the state sector hiring season (Sept start) so keep looking and always have two or three offers on the go.
Best

[Lobster]

Don't go teaching illegally on a tourist visa. It's what it says it is, a visa used to admire the scenery, not for working. If something goes wrong, you may jeopardize any future chances of working in China. If they decide not to pay you, you have no legal recourse. Breaking the law is not a good way to start your teaching experience. The coordinator is taking you for a ride. Just go and grind away at BSK. It can be a tough gig, but at least they're legit and will provide the proper documents you need for working in China.

RED

[Random Number]

I second previous posters about not putting your real job opportunity and legit working visa at risk for a measly 13,000rmb that you may or may not see all of. And if you do see it all, you're going to be WORKING for it. "Summer camp" in China usually means "intensive summer school during which you will teach class all day everyday to unfocused students who would rather be playing outside." They're usually nothing like Western summer camps, even Western language camps, no matter how fun the recruiter makes them sound.

[peewee1979]

Op you need a better understanding of SUMMER CAMP. When most of us think of Summer Camp we think of canoeing in the Poconos and swimming in the lake and toss in some arts and crafts and a little singing around a camp fire.

But not in China.

Summer Camps in China mean lots of totally bored and usually uninterested students who would rather be doing the things I mentioned above ( ok, not really, we know they would rather be playing WOW, QQ farm, or just sleeping...). And they are usually FORCED to go there by their parents.

As a teacher you will be expected to work some grueling schedule of 6 to 8 hours a day with little rest or free time. Typically they put you in a hotel and the accommodation is shared with someone you never met before.

I have done summer camps and winter camps - luckily they were in my city and I returned home every night.

A friend did one last summer and told me they worked him to death and had lots of sudden class changes that resulted in him working more hours than contracted. They outright told him if he didn't teach them they wouldn't pay him at the end.

If you have a strong disposition by all means to it. But don't come on a tourist visa - get an F visa if you can with a 90 day per entry stay - same cost but gives you more leeway and less visa pressure. Keep in mind that you can't change your visa in China anymore - you need take a trip to HongKong and make sure your next employer will pay for it.