Average salary

[gougou]

It seems silly to think that becasue you are foriegn you will get paid more than a local, what extra skills do you have?

If the company you work for is foreign, your extra skill is being able to understand what your boss wants. Do not underestimate how important that is! In my first internship in China, part of my responsibilites included headhunting. For a company in the dairy sector, we interviewed potentials for a representative position (essentially, they'd be the spearhead of the company). The two most promising candidates where a) a lady that had studied English and had gained a little work experience in marketing for FMCG and pharmaceutical companies and B) a guy with broken English, but who had acted several years as a consultant to Mengniu and another Chinese dairy company. He also had extensive work experience besides that. Against my recommendation - and, so I believed, common sense - they chose the lady speaking decent English.

[cm202bc]

Obviously there is going to be a great deal of variation in salaries depending on the scale of the company you work for, but I have a pretty broad network of foreign and Chinese acquaintances who work in small domestic consultancies in the same general salary range as myself. Most of us either came here as fresh grads from master's programs or with a few years work experience unrelated to China after undergrad. I did get contacted today by an acquaintance about arranging an interview at some ex-im company with a salary in the mid-teens, so regardless of what you start at when you get here, start developing networks.

[gougou]

so regardless of what you start at when you get here, start developing networks.

Absolutely agree. Nothing will affect your salary more!

[carlo]

Are you saying that Chinese would earn twice the amount foreigners earned? Certainly not at comparable levels of experience?

Well, I read this while in somebody else's office. But I'm sure it was not at comparable levels of experience. It was more like, the salary range for local hires starts at a much lower level than for expatriates, but local senior management is paid only slightly less than an expat in the equivalent position. Top local senior management is in short supply, after all. So the range for local salaries is very big. Local expats, on the other hand, rarely become top earners.

[gougou]

Okay, yeah, that makes sense. Even though I would expect that more local expats could become top earners in the medium-term future, as more and more companies are trying to replace their expats by locally hired staff. Local expats being a relatively young breed, they didn't have the chance to advance that far yet.

[xuechengfeng]

Some helpful, interesting, and funny responses. Thank you all.

And Roddy, I can't believe it's been six years! I also like your version of Xue Cheng Feng better than the real one!! B)

I have a friend who owns a company and would pay me 5K RMB + commission in Qingdao. The primary reason I'd consider this is because my doctor wants to open a medical supply business in China and I would need experience to work for him (he's from HK / wife from China).

Also, I need better language skills. Most high-paying China jobs in the U.S. require fluency and practical experience, especially at a MNC. In the future, I'd like to open my own business involving China, so this would also help.

I can postpone my government job until December, so I'm considering taking the China job for a few months and making my decision on if I should stay or go when December comes.

[xuechengfeng]

Is it possible for me to live on 5,000 RMB a month in Qingdao?

Also, for anybody with experience: how easy is it to tutor English on the side and how much would you charge per lesson/hour?

[fritz]

I think 5,000 should be fine to live on in Qingdao

I don't think you need to pay much tax on this as a foreigner as the lowest tax bracket starts at 4,800 for expats (not 100% sure about this)

You can get a decent 1-bedroom for 1,500

Ok food but not extravagant for 50 per day ie another 1500

Almost 2,000 left for transport, furniture costs, cinema etc

[xuechengfeng]

Thanks, fritz.

There is commission also... but not sure how much I will bring in on that end.

[gougou]

If you got half (or so) of that as a housing allowance, you'd probably be able to get everything tax free.