Should I take the offer?

[ckc_ucl]

Hi Everyone,

I have been offered a teaching job in Beijing and was wondering what you made of the terms as I have no frame of reference but you all seem rather savvy in this area.

I'm just graduating from uni (no TEFL) and I'll be teaching English for approx. 20 hours/week for about 4500RMB/month with accommodation & flights provided. I know that this vastly exceeds local wages, but is it fair for the amount of hours expected? I'm not complaining, just curious!

Thanks for any insight you can provide!

[mlomker]

I recommend that you do some research on Dave's ESL Cafe. The usual advice is to look for $6k on a first job.

Is this a language school job or a public university? The offsetting factor here is that they are paying for your airfare and you do not have a TEFL cert. Airfare is rarely provide by Chinese employers, so that cost needs to be factored in.

Things to do:

1) Find out if it is a split shift or if your hours are in a row. How many days per week off? How many holidays and are they paid? Are you paid 12 months/yr?

2) Pictures of apartment and how far from work? Work at one location or farmed out to who knows where?

3) Phone numbers for other foreign teachers to get info on management and more details.

4) Office hours--have to work 8-5 or can you go home?

5) Overtime--required and paid at what rate?

[trevelyan]

Some lowering paying jobs are ok... if the school more accomodating and doesn't try to take advantage in other ways. There's a difference between jobs which pay for the cost of airfare up front (or after a month, say) and those which promise to pay it at the termination of the contract, for instance.

Why? Because the salary isn't that competitive so depending on how the school is managed, you could find youself in a position where management either lets you go eleven months into the year to save airfare, or start making your life difficult eight months in so that you quit out of frustration. And you'll be hard put to save a lot for airfare on 4500 a month.

That being said, the 20 hours makes this sound like an actual school, so I'd guess that your class time will be 4 hours in the morning from 8-12. If that is the deal things may not be bad. Sure you'll be getting underpaid for class time, but your visa will be legitimate, you'll be provided with a nice place to live and will have the company of other foreigners. And you'll probably have a lot of independence in how you run the classes.Assuming your classes are restricted to the morning, you can always push up your salary by finding afternoon or evening work, or tutoring if you care for that. Or learn Chinese and get out into the city in your free time.

Things to be careful about: (1) if this school is in the middle of nowhere, (2) if compensation is put off until the completion of the contract, (3) class hours are scattered all over the day, or "more or less" 20 hours means a contractual committment to do ad hoc english hours.

[self-taught-mba]

Travelyan is right. I''ve heard too many horror stories. Dave's is a good place to look and read so you know what else to watch for.

Good luck!!!

[ckc_ucl]

Thank you mlomker, trevelyan and self-taught-mba; you have brought to my attention many things I wasn't aware of! I'm off to look at the site you recommended so I can make an informed decision.

Thanks again,

Charlene

[wushijiao]

I agree that the best thing you can do while researching schools is to contact people who have previously worked there. Many schools will simply give you no reply once you ask for references. So, this is a fast way to weed out bad schools.

4500 is fairly low for Beijing, but without experience or being in country, you have less bargaining power. Although, when I was teaching near Beijing (off in a suburb) in 2002-3, I had a Chinese-Canadian colleague who was living on about 5-800 RMB per month, and saving the rest. (Our school gave us accommodation). Most people don’t want to live like that, but the point is that it is possible to live frugally if you want to.

Reading all the horror stories on Dave’s is the best way to avoid getting cheated. Just don’t let all of the negativity get to you.

[jeffofarabia]

you can easily live on that much money but it doesn't leave you with too much to travel on.

[ckc_ucl]

Thanks to everyone for their input so far; I'm awaiting the full details of my placement so I haven't made my decision yet.

I was wondering what the average daily expenditure is when living in Beijing. My accommodation and utilities are being taken care of, so that only really leaves the basics to pay for. I don't plan on living lavishly, but I'd like to be able to afford to go on some weekend trips every now and then. I 4000RMB a month adequate?

Thanks again,

Charlene

[wushijiao]

It really depends on how much you want to spend. I’m sure it is possible to eat breakfast for 3 RMB per day, lunch for 5, and dinner for 5-10. Add an extra 200 per week in casual spending, and that is about 1000 RMB per month. From this point of view, 4000 is plenty.

It might be more realistic to assume 10 for breakfast, 10 for lunch, 20 dinner, 2,000 casual spending per month. If you have accommodation, then you’re doing alright.

As far as pure salary, you could probably do better. The question is: would you like the place that you are going to go to? Would you like teaching that age group? I don’t know.

It’s hard to say what to do. If you know your school is fairly legit, and if you are enthusiastic to hit culture shock in the face, and if you are ready to teach the age group you are have been informed you will teach, then I wouldn’t hesitate too much to take the offer. But, if you need the money (for loans) or whatever, then you might want to search around a bit more.

Good luck!

Also, assuming you take an offer that you will later view as unwise, you can always make quite a bit of extra cash on the side in Beijing teaching on the weekends and nights. 100-250 RMB per hour, depending on the situation.

[ckc_ucl]

Thanks for your comprehensive answer Wushijiao!

When I'm in possession of all of the details I'll be able to make a well-informed decision. Thanks for your help

Charlene