This information is specific to Hefei. Salaries and rents vary from city to city.Public schools and universities pay around 6000-8000RMB per month (5000 at the very low end) and usually provide free accommodation on or near the campus. Private training centers pay around 8000RMB or more per month + a housing allowance. In Hefei, your housing allowance should be about 1500-2000/month. This is roughly the minimum cost for renting a suitable apartment.
Public schools and universities usually have more holidays, i.e., summer holidays, fewer teaching hours per day, and regular daytime hours. Private training schools offer higher salaries, but also fewer paid holidays, 4-5 classes per day, irregular hours, i.e., evenings and weekends.
The following is standard in an ESL contract
- They MUST help you get a Z visa PRIOR to your arrival in China. Regardless of what any school or agent might tell you, don't come
over on a tourist or business visa to teach English! If they can't help you obtain this before you arrive, they aren't licensed to hire you.
- They must either provide satisfactory, individual (not shared) accommodation or help you source an apartment. If a real-estate agent is
used, you should insist that they pay the agent's fee. (you will need to pay the apartment bond/deposit). It is 100% their responsibility
to arrange accommodation for you.
- They must provide accident insurance as part of your contract. Your contract may state "medical insurance" but it is rarely very
comprehensive, and you can rarely get the full coverage details anyway. It is advisable to purchase your own quality medical insurance.
- They must provide full airfare reimbursement at the completion of your contract (keep your tickets). If they choose to pay a cash
allowance for this, it will be in the range 6000-8000RMB
- They must pay the full cost of getting your medical exam and resident's permit once you arrive. These are usually reimbursed upon
completion of your contract, so keep your receipts.
- They must pay an end-of-contract completion bonus of around one month's salary.
- Be careful there is nothing in your contract that stipulates you might be required to work in locations other that specified in the
contract. Sometimes, little ESL schools try to subcontract their FTs out as a way of making extra money. Unless you want to be
traveling to god knows where and trying to get transport costs reimbursed, I wouldn't recommend this.
- Your probation period must be no more 1 month for each year of the contract.
Other advice- Deal directly with schools themselves, and for the love of God, avoid dealing with recruiters. ESL jobs are a dime a dozen in China and
you can find one without much trouble by networking. There is no good reason to use recruiters, but many potential pitfalls. If for
some reason you do use a recruiter, get as much info about their credentials as possible.
http://www.chinaforeignteachersunion.com /2014/05/how-to-check-out-reputation-of-any.html Avoid sending copies of any ID to anyone you do not verify to be a direct
employer or properly credentialed recruiter, and only after they inform you that you have been selected for employment and send you
a contract to review.
- Your school or recruiter must show you a contract before you arrive in China. They must also sign a contract with you before you
begin teaching. They must not wait until the probation period is over before showing you a contract.
- Be totally prepared for inadequate or non-existent curriculum, materials, or teaching support. This is sometimes (but not always) the
case, even in legitimate schools that may have a good reputation locally. You may be given a classroom and just told "go for it" with
little else other than your own gumption. If you are given curriculum to work with, it may be so flawed that it's not practically useful.
Again,this is not necessarily always the case, but you never know for sure until you're in the job and working with their materials. So
you have to be fully prepared for the possibility that you will have to create or supplement materials to a large extent.
- Be prepared for the possibility of discrimination if you are from a country where English is not the first language, or if you are
not Caucasian, or if you are an older person. Such discrimination can sometimes take the form of lower pay or rejected job applications.
These may be impediments in China but are by no means insurmountable, esp. in second and third-tier cities. Keep in mind that many
private training centers are often first and foremost about making money and unthinkingly prefer a particular stereotype for marketing:
a) native-English speaker, b) 20-something, c) Caucasian, d) has degree, e) from US or UK. Discrimination really depends on the needs
of the school at any given time and the supply of teachers in the city.
- You may be expected to teach 4-5 classes a day in a private school, late into the evening and one day of the weekend.
- In almost all ESL schools, you will not be given any payslips or proof of tax payment. You should always have formal records of the
money you have earned in China and the tax you have paid on that money. This is needed for, among other things, wiring money out
of China. At least at the end of each year, request that your school provide a chopped letter (in Chinese) indicating your total salary
and tax paid. Also get a bank statement showing your monthly salary. You should also be able to independently get an official tax
statement from the local tax office.
- Before you accept a job, determine whether you will have unfettered access to a) a photocopier and printer, b) a computer and
internet and c) A/V equipment. If you don't have at least the first two, it will be exceedingly difficult to plan and prepare classes.
- Bring your own laptop. This is really a must in my opinion. You definitely need a computer to access the internet and prepare classes. A
school may provide you with an office PC but it will probably have a Chinese OS and various other crapware that makes it slow and
unusable. You may have restrictions on downloads and installation etc. Also, you really need to subscribe to a virtual private network in
order to have smooth internet access. There is a high amount of interference in the normal running of the internet here, esp. all
Google services.
- Before you accept an offer, try to email other foreign teachers in the school you will be teaching at to get an honest, truthful account
of real conditions. An important question to ask is: Does the school pay salary and other benefits on time? I would be hesitant to
accept a first ESL job at a place where no other foreigners were already teaching.
- Before you come, research other schools in the city so if it doesn't work out with your employer, you know where else to look.
- Don't sign a long initial contract! Only sign year-by-year contracts.
- Very little weight should be given to your "lack of experience" as a reason to lower your pay. The ESL industry in China is largely de-
professionalized, and experience is not necessary to facilitate ESL. (However, this is not true for proper international schools and some
genuinely professional training centers in the big cities).
- Never allow your employer to retain your passport, original degree certificate or work permit. Always keep these in your possession.
- A wait of about 5-6 weeks for your first paycheck is usual.
- The going rate for extra tutoring work is 150 RMB/hour (or more).
Suitable, reliable foreign ESL teachers are in the minority in Hefei. For little private schools in particular, an FT is not an easy catch, and your face alone will make them money by attracting students and parents.
