Shenzhen Qinghua Experimental School

[icebear]

I've just received an offer from these folks, and not surprisingly with a "Respond fast!" and figured I'd see if anyone here (I'm looking your way gengrant) knows anything about the school? The basics of their offer....

5500 rmb/month (a bit low for Shenzhen it sounds like)
Apartment included
Round trip ticket provided (although amount reimbursed isn't yet specified)
25 classes x 40 minutes per week
Ages 6-18, between 15-45 students per class (great of them to narrow things down!)

From what I can tell the pay is a bit low, but maybe the place is great to work at, right? Hopefully someone can offer some knowledge, as a search of the web and obvious ESL sites hasn't turned up much.

[Raoul Duke]

Icebear,
I don't know this school but would second your impression that 5500 is a little low for Shenzhen.

Sometimes- not always- sometimes the experimental schools are truly better than the average publics.

[icebear]

I've been in contact with someone currently working there, on his second contract, who says that while the 5500 is lower that average in Shenzhen the amenities and work environment tend to balance it out, so its one I'm considering. Thanks for the 2 cents.

[Ruth]

I'd like to add that the class sizes are nothing to sneeze at. Even at the max of 45 they have given you, that's half the size of my classes. You'll be able to do more good with the smaller classes.

[gengrant]

although 45 6 year olds would be like the 7th Circle of Hell...



I'd hold out for other offers...keep checking www.tesall.com for better jobs...I can't imagine any amenities balancing out 5500 a month...in a smaller city, like Huizhou, yes...but NOT IN SHENZHEN! you're gonna end up living in a hole that you'll want to move out of in a month or two and won't be able to afford to...you'll spend 1/4 of your money or more...I'd ask for pics of the apartment at the least!

icebear, you can find a better job...just be patient.

[icebear]

GG
I'm still in the process of working things out with this school, it looks like something I'm going to follow up on. I was a few steps ahead of you with the pictures of the apartment, it looks nicer than I expected, a fact that has been confirmed by a couple teachers presently there. All my contacts have expressed satisfaction with the work environment, so really the only concern is the wage.

I'd certainly be open to a better paying job, but to be honest I've found most of the suggested websites to be mostly rubbish. tesall.com seems to consistently provide me with results from 2004 with broken addresses. Those that I can get a hold of which offer a higher salary have politely declined my lack of experience or suggested I walk in the day I arrive in Shenzhen. The remaining results are at the same wage or worse. Even recruiters have been slow to respond, offered mediocre results, or simply not found anything at all (in the case of your suggested recruiter, "There are no jobs").

Perhaps I'm using the wrong search terms at tesall.com? I generally will try 'shenzhen', with plenty of outdated ads, or 'shenzhen 2006 2007', which provides generally less than 5 results. At the moment it has 4, 1 with this particular school, two that are duplicates through a place called LanguageMe which has turned me down previously ("Come in when you arrive to Shenzhen and maybe!"), and finally an offer 4 hours from Shenzhen.

Perhaps the market in Shenzhen is becoming increasingly saturated, to the point that inexperienced teachers are passed over by most schools? I'm not sure, I'm willing to follow up on suggestions anyone has, but from here in Alaska I don't see many other avenues to follow.

Oh, the school also provides a free gym and pool, which I'm told are both quite nice. Not sure how that rates on the amenities meter in the area.

[George61]

Bear, the first step is to get a job..a foothold. You can go on and up from there.

[gengrant]

Icebear,

wow..."my" recruiter said there's no jobs? hard to believe. I'm gonna email him and see what's up.

when I use tesall, I type in "shenzhen 2006" and get tons of hits...granted, there are duplicates (most places will advertise on different sites).

I wish I had more to offer...I haven't had my hooks out long enough to have more info for ya.

like George said, once you get your foot in the door, you should be fine. I guess if this place is offering amenities including housing...and if you get the place they show in the pictures...it might not be too bad...and the hours are decent...no 40 hour workweek.

my blessings...

[icebear]

George
Exactly my thoughts.

GG, I'll keep my eyes open and will continue to look, but I feel fairly secure with the school I'm speaking with now, even if the pay isn't stellar. If a better offer comes up, great, but I'm not losing sleep at the moment over taking a slight hit in pay. Maybe I'll be freaking out once I'm there... but that's why I'm saving money now, to augment my income there are necessary.

Thanks for the advice.

[Mr Nobody]

You should be fine on 5500 even in shenzhen if everything else is paid for. Don't be surprized if the return airfare is less than you actually pay. Some places do reimburse the full amount, some don't. However, in my experience, the ones that give you a fixed sum often don't care if you don't show a ticket - so you get it whether you go home or not.

500 less than average per month for a better situation sounds fine to me. It is less than one hours private lessons per week you can give somewhere else, too.

[Stil]

daoding said:

You should be fine on 5500 even in shenzhen if everything else is paid for. Don't be surprized if the return airfare is less than you actually pay. Some places do reimburse the full amount, some don't. However, in my experience, the ones that give you a fixed sum often don't care if you don't show a ticket - so you get it whether you go home or not.

500 less than average per month for a better situation sounds fine to me.

Absolutely! More money is always better but a good working enviornment is hard to put a price on.

[Mr Nobody]

Yeah, one private lesson per week will net you more than the difference, too.

[icebear]

Thanks for the advice, it confirms the impressions I'd already picked up myself. Also, on the airfare, its set at 800 USD. Roundtrip from ALASKA runs around 1200, but in general we pay more for everything up here, since we always skip through SEATAC or LAX on the way.

[Mr Nobody]

That isn't necessarily bad. LIke I said, if that is what they pay you, you can argue for that each year, whether you go home or not. If they reimburse you, you only get the cash for the ticket. So, in the long term, that is an advantage. Some people have had to get fake tickets etc to get their money.

They just hand me the cash, no questions asked. It is less than what you are getting for this, too. (I get 3000 rmb per term for airfare, or about 1000 aus for a year - about 700 us dollars)

[ObertonGluek]

I've also been offered a position at this school and as has been discussed already, the wage is only 500RMB lower than the average which could easily be made up with an hours private tutoring. Heck, I'll do 2! ;D

Also, this place isn't in the heart of Shenzhen and the living quarters are surrounded by shops and restaurants etc that will no doubt be a lot cheaper than downtown.

1 hour from Shenzhen (city) and 3 hours to get to Hong Kong. If you ask me, this is great because I won't be living in the heart of all the chaos but, when I want it, it's not too far away. Excellent.

I have previously been offered a job in Dongguan for 11,500RMB per month but after talking to one of the former teachers, it didn't sound like a nice place to work, or a wonderful area to live, which proves the theory that you can't put a price on a decent workplace.

[solongtinik]

icebear, are u tryin to be suicidal? 25 classes with a maximum of 45 students?
if u're a native speaker go for a better set up dude!!!!!!

im in that fekin situation now and its so hard to get my ass out! u're lucky to have a 5500 offer! whew! stupify me coz i am now!!!!!!!!!

[icebear]

Figured the info may be more appropriate here then the Shenzhen thread, Ob. I've received a few emails from previous teachers there assuring me that during low traffic (night time) it takes about 30 minutes to get from Shekou to Bao'an and is a pretty painless ordeal once you've done it a few times. Apparently trips out and back are common on weekends, so it should not be a problem hitting various nightlife scenes.

[gengrant]

okay, but promise you won't be callin' me at all hours to put you up for the night...

[icebear]

I'll make no such promise! Besides, knowing the level of falling down drunk most the riff-raff around here get it would surprise me if you're the one who wakes up at the wrong house.

[ObertonGluek]

Thanks Icebear, that's good to know!

Gengrant, I also won't be making that promise I'm afraid. Be prepared for a drunken Brit and a drunken Alaskan on the other end of your mobile, several times a week at all kinds of silly hours!

Nah, I'll try not to... but what if we bring back chicks?

[Haggis]

Hi Icebear, I'm new to this site and I got some offers. One was in Shenzen and the e-mail address is [e-mail]

The person to write to is Claire Elinor Cortez. She is the Director of Studies and that is the Tsinghua Experimental School in Shenzen, all according to my files.

They are hiring. I've taken a post elsewhere. Hope this is of some use. Best of luck.

This info is current, as in last week.

[ObertonGluek]

Haggis, myself and Icebear already have offers and have signed contracts. That isn't the issue.

Claire isn't there anymore and somebody else is in charge. This info is current, as in this week.

[gengrant]

but what if we bring back chicks?

well, I won't object, but Mrs. GG will chit bricks and then throw them at me.



so, better keep the chickies to yerself for now.

[icebear]

tall said:

so, better keep the chickies to yerself for now.

Happy to oblige!

[ObertonGluek]

Yeh, me too! ;D