Job Discussion Forums

goodbyeus · Joined: 23 Mar 2011 Posts: 16 Location: Miami FL

Hello,

I am looking at getting my first teaching job in China, (a fairly common situation it seems), and I was wondering about something.

I was looking into two different positions with the same company. One of the positions is in a second tier city, fairly large and the other is in a much smaller city (KFC is the western cuisine : /). The pay, while not significantly different, is actually more, about 300RMB more, in the smaller city. Doing some basic internet research, as I expected, the cost of living is higher in the bigger city, yet the pay is lower, and the teaching hours are more in the bigger city.

I find myself having to decide between living in a bigger city = more expats, more to do, which admittedly is appealing to me, vs. living in a small town with few foreigners but for a seemingly much better quality, at least financially it seems.

I understand this would be a personal choice of what I really wanted to get out of China, the more immersed Chinese experience vs. more western lifestyle, but my question, is the difference in pay common, less for more, more for less?

thanks

johntpartee · Joined: 02 Mar 2010 Posts: 3258

No. Is the rest of the contract the same, i.e. housing, perks?

dharma86 · Joined: 05 May 2009 Posts: 187 Location: Southside baby!

Well unless you're looking for the peaceful life and to save money the smaller city would probably be better.

But you could easily make 300+ in part time work (which would be plentiful in a big city) and you may have a much better time there.

A difference of 300rmb wouldn't convince me too much. I would choose the big city to save me from dying of boredom.

I guess you could say it is normal, offer more money to try and lure the foreigner in. Even in big cities you may find a school with a really high salary, but located way out on the outskirts.

So make sure you google map the addresses of your schools too.

GeminiTiger · Posted: Mon Jun 18, 2012 6:41 am Post subject:

goodbyeus,
Welcome to Eslcafe. Your ambiguous title "is this normal" is in fact abnormal. Please try to use more specific titles for example "newbie needs help picking between two job offers". I'm not a MOD but I can tell you things will go better for you if you follow my advice.

As for your question, 300rmb is insubstantial. You had better consider many many many other aspects of each offer before making a decision.

goodbyeus · Joined: 23 Mar 2011 Posts: 16 Location: Miami FL

Thanks for the responses and suggestions. I will try and make better titles in the future.

I do agree that 300rmb seems insubstantial, didn't think about the part time work thing so thanks for that suggestion.

I was told that both schools were located in the city ( I actually specifically asked this question from reading this forum Very Happy

) Additionally, both of the housing perks are the exact same, which is why I was curious about the whole thing considering they have different costs of living.

Again, thanks for the input, it is something I will have to think about.

johntpartee · Joined: 02 Mar 2010 Posts: 3258

I thought it was a good title. It got my attention. His question was concise, to the point, if a member didn't have any advice it wasn't an all day thing to wade through details.

therock · Joined: 31 Jul 2005 Posts: 1266 Location: China

I guess it depends on which second tier city you are talking about. If it really is a second tier city, then I would take the job in that city as generally most second tier cities are pleasant enough to live in. If the city is a third tier city then there's not much difference to a small town.

goodbyeus · Joined: 23 Mar 2011 Posts: 16 Location: Miami FL

The city is Hangzhou

roadwalker · Joined: 24 Aug 2005 Posts: 1750 Location: Ch

The last time I was in Hangzhou, they were putting in a subway that I don't think was near completion. Traffic was horrible. Nice looking city with lots to do, but hard to get around. Taxis were expensive but good, except when they were in short supply. Buses were expensive and crowded. With a finished subway and a return of the arterial above it, transportation will likely improve, but there are more cars every day there as well.

Is the other city really a city or a suburb of Hangzhou?

hells_kitchen · Joined: 14 Jun 2012 Posts: 18

fat_chris · Joined: 10 Sep 2003 Posts: 3198 Location: Beijing

dean_a_jones · Joined: 03 Jul 2009 Posts: 1151 Location: Wuhan, China

therock · Joined: 31 Jul 2005 Posts: 1266 Location: China

Hangzhou is a great city to live and work in!! Great location, developed and quite scenic. You're nuts if you choose the small town over Hangzhou for a measly extra 300rmb.

Non Sequitur · Joined: 23 May 2010 Posts: 4724 Location: China

I'd go with the bigger city.
Don't worry, no matter where you go in PRC your first gig will be culturally 'interesting'.
Save your communing with nature to away trips.
Nature? Yeah that stuff behind the power station and beside the rubbish dump.
Kidding but my advice to all newbies is be conservative for your first gig.
Best

GeminiTiger · Posted: Mon Jun 18, 2012 11:00 am Post subject:

OP, thanks for being cordial, let me try to give you some more advice the details are too ambiguous (i like this word) to give any clear help. a big city in a coal town in the north is not the same as working in a small town in yunnan and our collective advice would shift quite a bit depending on those details. also, the details between the two jobs must be different as well as the housing as no two jobs and no two houses in china are the same.

what kind of positions are you looking at?

i turned down a job for 11,000 next year in shanghai private school (working nights and weekends) because i wanted to work in a university in a comfortable location (working half days during the week) so I'm only getting 6000. As you can see money isn't the top priority for me.

The devils are in the details, of which we really have none to sort through.