Mr Nobody
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« Reply #75 on: May 24, 2009, 01:22:18 PM » |
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It drastically depends on where you are.
Where I am I live well on what I get. In Shanghai, I would starve. I get less than 10,000.
I live quite well, working only a few months a year. Wife works too, which, including benefits lifts the family income to about 10,000
Here, that's a lot. I can and have lived on much less here. Here, it isn't possible to get salaries like 20,000 which I have been offered in, for example, Shenzhen, but then, I wouldn't live there for a bet.
When I add in my extra hours for private stuff, when I can be bothered, I am doing fine.
I also wouldn't send my kids to any school I have seen here in China at all. I would rather home school.
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StMichael
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« Reply #76 on: May 24, 2009, 01:27:20 PM » |
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So can I say that a lot depends on the city you live in? That perhaps in third tier cities, you can probably live very well on, say, RMB3000, saving the rest? Wow.
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Mr Nobody
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« Reply #77 on: May 24, 2009, 01:41:52 PM » |
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Depends enormously on the city.
I am paying off my mortgage in Oz for the first part of this year at a rate of knots due to corporate classes, especially if I can keep them coming from now on. Even without the corporate classes, I have still been saving a few thousand a month anyway. Right now I am saving about 1000USD per month with those classes, after paying for everything we need.
The same wage in Shanghai wouldn't pay the bills, no.
You need to pick where you want to be, and find your niche. For this city, Nanning, I am highly paid. The only FE type job paying more is at the main uni (Guangxi University), but they work far more hours plus lots of office hours (my hourly rate works out considerably higher and I get 12 months of pay not 10) and they treat the FE like caged show pets, and orchestrate and coordinate all the teaching, which is a pain (but excellent if you lack experience, since they teach you lots). Plus I am eligible for the same bonuses the teachers get. There is a private place paying more as well, but it has more hours, and you are farmed off to other schools, adding travel time. And if you are already in China, they don't pay the 'airfare' bonus.
I am far better off where I am.
(Wife is not an FE but a Chinese national, and she is paid at normal teachers rates for the province, so she doesn't get as much as me by far.)
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StMichael
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« Reply #78 on: May 24, 2009, 02:01:59 PM » |
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Thanks for sharing, Mr N. It has been an interesting learning experience reading what ESL teachers go through. I run a "proper" international school in Shanghai (and we hire K-12 teachers on expatriate packages), so my experience is really very different from yours.
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Mr Nobody
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« Reply #79 on: May 24, 2009, 02:14:14 PM » |
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I had an offer from a real school in Shanghai for a real wage etc, since they needed science teachers, which I can certainly teach. The pay was enough to make it attractive. But I like it here. It is the sort of thing I would consider later, simply because my daughter, when old enough to go to school, needs a good solid Western style education. Preferably British or Australian. The package offered included free schooling for any children, which was good.
I haven't decided what I will do about that yet, when she is old enough. I may go to the UK for her schooling if I can't find something suitable here, or HK, or if I decide against home schooling.
Or I may to go back to Australia. (dual citizenship has some advantages) I have a couple of years left to decide.
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Schnerby
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« Reply #80 on: May 24, 2009, 03:41:50 PM » |
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So can I say that a lot depends on the city you live in? That perhaps in third tier cities, you can probably live very well on, say, RMB3000, saving the rest? Wow.
I'm in a third tier and I spend much less than that per month. I don't have a spouse or children, but even so the prices for everything are quite cheap. I do cook for myself usually, but even eating out isn't expensive around here. There is a great restaurant down the street that will fill us with deliciousness for 7-10Y per head. I go travelling on weekends and when I want something I buy it. |
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Raoul F. Duke
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« Reply #81 on: May 25, 2009, 04:54:56 AM » |
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Mr. N is absolutely right...which city you're in makes a huge difference. What's just livable in Shanghai or Beijing would be a luxurious fortune in Changchun or Nanning.
I also had wife and child there; 8000 a month is just barely livable...if no one gets sick and no other disasters strike. However, a single person with even a lick of good sense can get by OK on 8000 in Shanghai, or live quite well (and even save) in the lower-tier towns...especially considering that many jobs in this salary range or lower also come with paid apartments.
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"Vicodin and dumplings...it's a great combination!" (Anthony Bourdain, in Harbin)
"Here in China we aren't just teaching...
we're building the corrupt, incompetent, baijiu-swilling buttheads of tomorrow!" (Raoul F. Duke)
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simba
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« Reply #82 on: January 16, 2010, 01:39:18 AM » |
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Hey all, first post here at the saloon. I used to be over at 'the greasy spoons' and after reading a few posts here I've no reason to explain why I felt obliged to look for a new watering hole. Anyway I hope Raoul notices this reply, trust me to post on a thread nearly 9 months old as my first post. To quote what Noel said, which is pretty much my situation That's all very well for people with university degrees, but what about people who have had to start at the bottom rung with only a TESOL Certificate and nil teaching experience?
They don't have much to offer or bargain with, do they?
Recruiters are like a "one stop shop" for someone wanting to make their first tentative steps into teaching in China.
If researched properly via the internet, and emails, recruiters can be a definite boon to the absolute beginner.
Raoul I'm just wondering how you would reccomend looking for a first job when in this position, I've been looking at as many esl job sites as possible and nearly all look for a degree or at least one years experince? (I know, I know, when we talk about using recruiters it must be like watching a child sticking his fingers in a socket and getting shocked, but no matter how many times you tell him not to do it he still goes back and does it again! Look forward to hearing a reply Simba |
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Raoul F. Duke
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« Reply #83 on: January 16, 2010, 10:37:40 AM » |
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Hey Simba, Well, there's a thread on job-searching without a recruiter- http://raoulschinasaloon.com/index.php?topic=4610.0- but it sounds like you know some basics of searching. I'm afraid things have changed since May 2007...there was a big tightening of rules around the time of the Olympics in '08. These days, pretty much all 'legit' (for China) full-time jobs will require a college degree, and the days when you could easily find work with just a TESOL cert and/or experience are pretty much over. Sad, but true...and a lot of long-term teachers here got displaced from China in the process. If a school or recruiter offers you a full-time job and doesn't require a degree, better take a closer look...odds are good that the school isn't legally licensed to hire foreigners, can't issue a Z Visa or Residence Permit, and is hoping to hire you illegally. IMHO this is very definitely NOT a position you want to be in, or an employer you can trust at all.  If you don't have a degree, you may not be able to get a teaching job in China- especially not a good one. I hate to say it, but it may well just be the way things are now.  |
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"Vicodin and dumplings...it's a great combination!" (Anthony Bourdain, in Harbin)
"Here in China we aren't just teaching...
we're building the corrupt, incompetent, baijiu-swilling buttheads of tomorrow!" (Raoul F. Duke)
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simba
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« Reply #84 on: January 22, 2010, 10:27:52 PM » |
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Hey Raoul I didn't see that message was from 2007  sorry about that. Wow thats a really interesting point your making. So you really think theres no legal opportunity's for a person without a degree? I know the jobs available would be pretty slim and i'd more than likley be in a third tier city or in the middle of no where, neither of which bothers me.I've read on other sites that even though the Chinese government has tightned up on regulations most schools have enough connections to get round this if they wish to. Also i've read some provinces, Jilin especially, are not fully enforcing laws regarding FT's. What do u make of this? Simba |
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Raoul F. Duke
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« Reply #86 on: January 23, 2010, 07:13:19 AM » |
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Indeed...lessons to be learned there... What do u make of this? A hat...a brooch...a pterodactyl...  Anyway. Simba, I won't stand here and tell you that it will be impossible for you to find a job teaching in China. It will just be more difficult...a university degree is now specifically required in order to get a Residence Permit. I'm sure there are those few schools that have the connections you referred to above and can find a way to hire you. But if you really want to have any kind of career as a teacher, you really do need a college degree. I do know the police are starting to bust some of the schools that get their visas and permits from an unrelated source...I got caught in the middle of one of those myself!  If you find a place that can hire you with no degree, good for you! I will be happy for you. All I ask is that you make sure and get a Residence Permit, and not let anyone snow you into believing that an F visa, or even an L visa, is enough. It's not. |
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"Vicodin and dumplings...it's a great combination!" (Anthony Bourdain, in Harbin)
"Here in China we aren't just teaching...
we're building the corrupt, incompetent, baijiu-swilling buttheads of tomorrow!" (Raoul F. Duke)
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simba
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« Reply #87 on: January 30, 2010, 01:11:21 AM » |
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Thanks for the info lads. I do appreciate yer help, theres so much different informaion on nearly every site I read hence all d questions.  |
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Gaomeigeng
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« Reply #88 on: March 16, 2010, 07:42:53 PM » |
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Not to try to revive a dead horse that's been beaten over and over, BUT...I found my most recent job through a recruiter and am absolutely thrilled. I'm working in Shanghai for a great school with a great salary, apartment, and benefits, and I was informed of the job by a recruiter. I am, however, a US certified teacher with experience. I wonder if whether a recruiter is good or bad for you depends on your own credentials. I mean, if you have no degree, you're not legally supposed to be working in China at all, so any way you go about trying to get a job, your gonna be someone's bitch to control because you'll be here illegally; whether that's the recruiter or the employer, it doesn't really matter. I'm just not a fan of doing anything illegally, but I think I have to get used to it here...
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"If she says she can do it, then she can do it! She don't make false claims!" - David Bowie
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kitano
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« Reply #89 on: March 17, 2010, 06:13:22 AM » |
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i sometimes wonder about that line of thinking as well
with no degree or experience you are going to get rubbish jobs at home too. i've met some people about 20 years old on pretty low wages doing the babysitting type jobs who still love the opportunity to lark about with kids all day and live in china and see it as a better option than studying or working in a dead end job at home.....
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