Employment & Professional Development

Hello,

I am a graduate of a language institute in the states and having attended a seminar on teaching in China, I was referred to your site by a recruiter from a major school chain. I don't remember her name.

She recommended your site as a reference point for various schools and cities in China.

I have accepted a position to teach at Nanchang University in Jiangxi Province. I applied for a teaching position via the firm, which doesn't have a website, per se, called ESL Across China.

I have no reason to believe that anything is wrong, but could you provide any info or feedback on the agency or area, school.

The particulars:

5000 RMB/mo, apartment on campus, airport pickup, western bathroom, western food at the school, English TV, air conditioning, airfare reimbursement after a year 2200 RMB travel allowance. I was also up (1 of 3) for a position at Changzhou University and I rejected working in Taiyuan.

I have no teaching experience yet, other than the school, but I have a lifetime of career experience in a technical field and I have never traveled to a non-English speaking country before, but I have always had an interest in Chinese and wish to learn Mandarin.

Did I make a good decision? I am waiting for my F visa, and they still want me despite school starting this week.

Thank you for any information you can give me.

Sincerely,

Paul

Dear Paul,

Five thousand yuan for 12 to 16 50-minute periods per week is about the standard rate for doctoral-level foreign oral English teachers throughout most of China—although that might be the rate of pay for entry-level degrees due to the slightly higher cost of living in Jiangxi province, which is probably a five- to six-hour train ride away from Shanghai.

I don’t have any specific information about that particular school but Nanchang University is one of the 96 designated Project 211 universities: so that means it is quite a cut above the average Chinese public university. Academically speaking, Project 211 universities attract and only accept the brightest students in China.

When you read the contract addendum what you have to keep in mind is that you can’t take anything for granted or at face value. For example, what does “English TV” mean? Despite what associations may come to mind, what it means in reality is that you will have one channel in English called CCTV9, which is China’s one and only English language channel (although several other stations do air English language programs at different hours during the day). What does “air conditioning” mean? It probably means one old and barely adequate unit in the bedroom. Unless you plan on living in your bedroom with the door shut during the summer months, this is something worth clarifying beforehand. What does "western bathroom" mean? It probably means a Western toilet set immediately adjacent to a cold water sink with a water heater and shower head on the opposite wall in an unclosed area (no shower stall). Contract compliance in China typically follows the letter of the law while often violating the very spirit of it from our Western perspective.

As suggested in the guide, you really need to communicate with current foreign teachers at the school to ascertain exactly what is what. There is really no other way to know for sure. On the other hand, if your goal is to get over to China to learn Mandarin and experience a new culture, then, quite frankly, you might not need to concern yourself with all of these particular details other than to mentally prepare yourself for what you can expect. If, for example, you imagine yourself having a nice-sized apartment with a comfortable coiled-spring mattress and numerous English language channels to choose from, you will probably begin your journey feeling very disappointed and even emotionally disrupted.

Before contacting current teachers at the school, be sure to read over one of our two checklists (there is a mini-checklist in the appendices and a comprehensive checklist accessible under guide supplements).

My major concern centers around the F-visa. This is a big red flag to me and might suggest some impropriety on the part of the recruitment agency. If Nanchang University is hiring you directly, they (the university) should be processing your paperwork for you to enter China on a Z-visa (work visa), not a business visa (F-visa). My fear is that the recruitment agency is attempting to hire you as a contractual employee of the agency and not of the university, in which you will be subcontracted out to the university. For your own protection, you shouldn’t agree to this at all.

Tell the recruitment agency that you expect a contract with the university itself and that you will only arrive in China to teach English on a Z-visa. If they balk at all, then there is something very wrong with this arrangement.

Let us know what happens.

Hi Dr. Greg,

There are similarities here to my own situation. I have taken the plunge and decided to come teach in China. I attended a series of seminars to "earn" my TEFL. That company put me in touch with someone who must be a recruiter in China. He then put me in touch with another person, who made me this offer. It reads to me like I would be an employee of the company. I know what questions to ask from reading your site. I haven't found a lot of info negative or otherwise about this company online. I did see one guy complaining at one of the usual gossip sites that they held onto his passport for months while supposedly trying to get him a Z visa. I'm wondering if anyone here has had experience with this agency. (Guangzhou Worldy Cultral &Edcuational Service CO.LTD.) (Their spelling, not mine) Here is the email I received from them. I will point out that I only have an A.A.S. degree in a technical field plus a TEFL and my background is in publishing as an editor. Editor being just a title, not what most people think of, I edited reference books.

THE EMAIL:
First Background About Our Company.
Our company is an employer.Company hires foreign teachers to be staff in company,and their working places are in public schools because the government entrusts company in charging of foreign teachers' positions in Guangzhou City, Dongguan City and Zhuhai City. Company has run the business for many years and gained a good reputation .So far we are a team of 70 people working together to serve for over one hundred schools including kindergarten, primary schools, middle school,colleges/universities.

2 School here usually have more or less 50students per class in middle school,40 per calss in primary school,25-30 in kindergarten If u are going to teach in middle school,they are kids of age 13---15 or age of 17-18.If u are going to teach in primary school, they are kids of 8-10. Teachers will be placed on either one level of high schools,primary school and
kindergartens.
3 class lasts for 40 minutes.
4Work conditions are :
20 hours a week teaching Monday to Friday from morning to 12am, afternoon 2:30pm to 5pm more or less. There is usually no work at weekend unless government requires .Teacher shouldnt be later for class or absent for classes without reasonable reasons.
school semester starts on Mid -Febuary or September 1st for teachers..
Company or school will provided you text book or teaching material to teach,some school they will appreciate to follow their text book,some dont,then teacher need to follow comapny 's guide.
All schools locate in downtwon or which is easy to go somewhereelse by bus ,subway and train.
Casual or formal dress code are fine in school.
5 Beniefits:
Monthly pay is7500 RMB .with free accomodation,insurance, work visa assistance, airfare reimbursement,etc)
we offer teachers with individual standard apartment.with tv,bed , hot shower machine , airconditioning,fridge,washing machine ,furnitures etc.
Company pays apartment rents monthly.Teachers have to pay the utilities fee.Averagely monthly utilities fee is RMB150-200.
company pays your flight reimbursement at the end of the contract in order to get guarantee.12 month contract is round trip airfare.6 month is one way airfare.
6 Company pays teachers differently according to teachers' qualifications.Monthly pay should be kept confidential and should not be discussed between staff and customers.

Sorry if is this is too long or I have posted to the wrong place. Thanks, Danny

Hi Danny,

Yes, according to the information you attached, you will be an employee of the recruitment agency, i.e., "Worldy Cultral &Edcuational Service" and they will be hiring you out for a nice profit to their clients, various public senior and junior middle schools as well as kindergartens. Monthly pay is ambiguous: contract initially states 7500 then adds a caveat that pay varies according to qualifications, so I'm not sure what that means.

You will be doing a great deal of commuting as you will subcontracted out to various schools throughout the city and, you should know, Guangzhou is a big place: It could easily take you more than an hour to commute from one school to another. For this reason, I don't consider this to be an ideal employment situation in China. In addition, there is no mention of days off and they are reserving the right to use you whenever they need you: that is usually a red flag.

With an associate's degree, you should be able to find employment with one private school and I think that will generally be a more desirable arrangement for you.

Thanks Dr. Greg. I really appreciate it. I was thinking along those lines but then I considered that maybe I was just paranoid. I was excited at first but then I went to your site and started reading again. That was when I got suspicious. Thanks for all you do. This certainly fits a situation you so accurately describe in your job section, I believe.

Hi, posting again to update my situation.

I have been offered a job at a public middle school and I have done some research on it. All seems well, I am going to accept their offer. First thing is the Dean of the English dept. seems to understand what can happen to the foreign teachers in some places. She made it clear that she is not a recruiter. She specifically told me not to enter China on a tourist visa. She is able to get me a Z visa and I will have it before I leave the country. After reading this site, I took that as a sign of legitimacy. I also read a couple of posts on the web by teachers there. They seem content. One went so far as to say he wants to stay there, so while it's possible, he enjoys misery, I believe the school is doing the best they can to make the foreign teachers comfortable. I think this site has prepared me for what to expect. The pay is very competitive as far as I can tell and the apartment is free. I only pay for phone and food. I think the city is a little out of the way but it still has a KFC and MCDs, so it's not too rural. I also noticed the school hires teachers that are not white. I don't know if it because they can't get enough of the coveted palefaces or not. I also have a friend who lives in the city, so I am pretty happy with how things turned out. For more info: 4500 yuan, 20 teaching periods a week, 45 min. classes. They went a little low on the overtime, but I read it carefully, it is not mandatory, so...I can only imagine what would have happened if I hadn't stumbled on your site one day. So thanks very much.

I agree with you that the school's admonishment not to enter China to work on anything other than a Z-visa is a very encouraging sign. In addition, the contract you were offered is a standard package, perhaps a little bit better than standard as electricity seems to be included.

Best of luck to you and let us know how you are doing after you arrive.