In the last few weeks I have seen a lot of post calling for help by people just starting out as teachers who may or may not have already arrived in China. This post will cover some of the fundamental areas of difficulty that they may encounter. So let's begin:

All Native English speakers can teach English. All English teachers are equal.

This is the unfortunate premise that most of the schools here are governed by, which can be a double edged sword for new teachers. The upside being that if a new teacher is well informed then they can earn the same as someone who has worked for many years here. THe downside being that there are always an endless amount of carbon copies (in the school's eyes) willing to take your place should they decide not to pay you or you act up. So what do you need to know?

1.) Part Time or Full Time

There is an interesting dichotomy in this industry between the two forms of English Teaching employment. FT will offer a lower base with greater benefits and the holy grail of teaching - stability. PT will offer higher rates of pay but with no benefits and less stability. Most teachers here take FT for their main income and then supplement with PT. Some however take the choice to make PT their main source of income and can do quite well. For example: If you get 200p/h part time and work 4 hours a day 5 days a week then you are on 16K already. If you do it through 2 companies you split your tax liability (discussed in TAX section) to a negligible amount and pull in around 15,500 after tax.

My advice to teachers is to weigh up all areas and not just the salary:

1.) A Full Time contract MUST include:

Type A
Base Salary (Minimum 12K Gross)
Visa Costs covered
Maximum Teaching Hours (25)
2 Days off a week
(Most likely will include office hours)

Type B
Base Salary (Minimum 5K Gross)
Free Apartment
Visa Costs covered
Maximum teaching hours (25)
2 or more days off a week)
Paid Vacation
(Generally should not include office hours but if Max Teaching Hours is less than 20 it is acceptable)

PT contracts will include nothing except the salary. BEWARE part time masquerading as full time - make sure your contract fits one of these models, if not do not take it.

Now looking at those to FT models the 15,500 looks pretty good right? Well riddle me this, if you are part time what additional costs need to be borne? Well you will probably need to work on a F Visa (discussed later) which costs between 3K - 5K every 6 months depending on your country and the rules at the time. During National Week and Spring festival your salary will slow down to a crawl (Camps not withstanding). Lets assume and income of around 8K for those months. Then unless you are lucky and have a stable part time job, every few weeks to few months you will have a waiting period between the end of one course to the start of another. Eventually your part time salary divided over a year looks less and less attractive.

Make sure you do all the calculations before taking the plunge.

Note on Part Time Salaries:

You should never work for less than 150RMB an hour NET (Part Time) no matter what the situation. Adam Smith once said that "Anything is worth what someone is willing to pay for it" and that applies here because there are ALWAYS other jobs willing to pay higher amounts for even the greenest teachers. Just because you are new, it does not mean you should accept bad pay and conditions. I recommend you set you price floor at 170RMB

2.) Tax

Tax in China is quite confusing but I will try give it in the simplest terms. For the real calculations please go here: http://home.wangjianshuo.com/archives/20070108_personal_income_tax_in_ch...

You can only be taxed by a company if they provided you with a visa.Period. If you work Part Time you don't pay tax because they can't legally hire you and thus can't report the tax. One trick that I liked to do was with companies who fake taxes but offer a higher base rate (i.e. We will give you 220 and hour but its taxed) is to never work over the tax barrier. If you earn say 4500 at 4 companies then you earn 18K NET. If you work at one company for 18K you pull out 16Kish. That saves you just under 10 hours work.

How it works:
You are not taxed for the first 4800 that you earn, after this there is a graduated system with an additional system of deductions. I am not going through the whole thing here but just be advised there is NO SUCH THING as a flat rate here. If your company is telling you that they have a flat rate of 20% then they are lying.

3.) VISAs

I will only disucss two types here Z(Working) and F(Business). If you plan on working on an L(Tourist) or (x) Student then you take a big risk.

Z Visas are the only visa you are legally allowed to work on.For a company to be able to issue a Z Visa they must have a certain amount of issued capital. Things means that many of the smaller schools cannot issue them and thus go through an agent. Going through an agent is much more expensive than doing it legally as the agent then finds someone in a large company to issue the documents and pretend you work at the large company while in fact you do not. Real cost 850RMB. Agent Cost 5K - 8K. You should always try to get a Z visa. If the company issues it themselves then they will need to cancel your VISA before you leave as they have a fixed number of slots. If it is an agent visa then they get some cash back if they cancel it because it frees up the large company's slot for future fleecing. In the latter they should not make you pay full price as they are getting cash back.

F Visas are intended for people doing Business but employed in their home countries. You are not allowed to work on these but many people do and get away with it for many years. There is a risk, the regulations here fluctuate and occasionally (especially during big events - i.e Olympics/World Expo)they have crackdowns. If you are caught you will be deported. The only way to get these is through agents as you require an invitation letter which most schools cannot issue, if they could then they would issue a Z visa instead. Your choice. (I have worked on Fs before and almost got caught but got away with it because I happened to have business cards for my side business on me when the school was raided. I told them I was studying Chinese there.)

4.) Rent and Housing

If you a FT contract includes housing, you need to make sure that you are sent pictures of the exact apartment they are providing. Find out about utilities, heating, elevator times (older apartments stop running at 23:00 and start again at 06:00). You should always insist on individual housing as contracts such as these generally have lower salaries and if it is shared housing then it is not worth the lower income.

Rent in Beijing is on a massive sliding scale depending on the age, size and location of the apartment. For a decent shared apartment in a reasonable location budget for 2000 to 2500. For a decent one bedroom in a newer building budget from 4K+.

Here is a brief list of areas which have good subway connections, amenities and a large foreign population:

Shuangjing
Nanlouguxiang
Dongzhimen/Dongsishitiao
Tuanjiehu
Wudaokou

Additionally, rent is normally 3 months in advance with a 1 month deposit. Your deposit might be withheld at the end if your landlord is an ass so take lots of photos at the beginning of any problems and show them to your landlord. When he makes claims later on you will have a defence. THis is also a deterrent.

One final word on finding housing - never pay an agent's fee, that is the landlord's job.

4.) Final Tips

While it is true we have a weaker legal position as foreigners, that does not mean you should lie down and take it. Always have leverage, always have back ups. Even if you have a stable Full Time job, keep creating connections, searching adverts. Use your part time work as a spring board to better job offers. While your current job might be great it may not always be that way. Never become complacent, always hope for the best but plan for the worst.

If you think your company is going to not pay you, raise the issue early while you still have classes with them. That means you can walk out and leave them in the lurch which gives you power. Once you are done teaching, you have no power or recourse.

No matter what you think of your job or your situation, try and develop a good relationship with your boss. If they like you, they are less likely to screw you on a whim.

This is the most important part of this post. Many people view teaching as just some fun for a few years before starting an actual career, and as such do not take it seriously. The best way to earn more money and not get screwed? Be damn good at your job. I mentioned at the beginning of this post how many schools view teachers as homogeneous, so differentiating yourself is the greatest weapon in your arsenal. If you are an exceptional teacher who is reliable and always on time - you become invaluable. You command much more respect in negotiations and your employer will not throw you aside like he would others.

How to be a good teacher? Treat it like any professional job and don't listen to the multitude of fly by nighters who joke about getting drunk before class and skip whenever they want. Never believe you are a good teacher, there is always room for improvement. Listen to your students, analyse your performance and see what works, what doesn't. Develop a teaching intuition, learn to get the feel of a class. Last but not least, prepare for a class. I am not talking about sitting and planning a minute by minute game plan. I mean take 10 minutes, familiarize yourself with the material and think about the flow of the time and what the students will get out of it and what they need to get out of it. Don't forget that your boss is not the end user of your services. Your students are.

I hope this as been useful to you, and if any of the old hats have any suggestions on things they feel differently about or things that should be added, please let me know.

If I get a strong enough response to this post I will do a teaching techniques guide later so please let me know what you think.