Teaching in Harbin

[danZEman]

I am considering going to Harbin to do a TESOL training course

I was wondering what was a reasonable pay for working up to 25 hours a week.

I hear prices from 10,000 to 3000 rmb

[kdavid]

I've been here in Harbin for almost six years. I've yet to hear of anyone making 10,000 RMB/month for a single contract of 25 hours/week. (I'm sure you could do this if you were working at multiple schools and teaching privately on the side.)

What are your qualifications? If you meet the bare minimum (meaning you're young, white, and have a passport from the US, Canada, UK, Ireland, or Australia), but no teaching experience, you can make anywhere from 4,500 - 6,000 RMB/month starting. However, (and *this is important*) don't follow the salary alone. You need to look at your net compensation. For example, a school which offers a relatively low salary, accommodation, meals, transportation reimbursement, etc. is likely providing a much better offer than one which offers only a high(er) salary.

If you're new to China, and teaching, having a school take care of essentials (like finding you an apartment, paying the deposit, middle-man fee, furnishing the apartment with essentials, repairing things [when necessary], and taking care of all the headaches a potential landlord may create) is worth much more than an extra 1500 - 2000 RMB/month, which will likely come out of your salary anyway (if you're handling the aforementioned issues on your own).

In other words, there's often more to an offer than just the salary. You need to look at the big picture.

[WestTexas]

10k would be a good salary for 25 hours a week

IMO 6k would be about the minimum you should accept, but like the above poster said it depends on your qualifications. If you don't have a degree you should probably just take whatever you can find.

The northeast has lower prices than some other parts of China but also lower salaries.

[danZEman]

Thanks for responding to my post, I'm particularly thinking about what @kdavid said about accommodation I have two tesol providers in mind Will Excel and i-to-i has anyone got any experience with either, I was wondering how essential a tesol certificate is ??

[imron]

I believe kdavid has some experience with Will-Excel

[kdavid]

I'd be happy to answer any questions you have about Will-Excel TESOL. However, as a part-owner, I clearly have a bias toward our program.

I-to-I is almost entirely online, isn't it? I haven't been to their site in quite some time.

[变形金刚]

I spent last year teaching in Harbin...the highest paid teacher at my school was getting a little over 11,100 a month before taxes were taken out and the lowest around 8800 before taxes...this is with 25 classes a week, no housing provided, minimal vacation time, a crazy HR lady, and management that was generally very stingy about reimbursing for things. One of the other teachers was also working full time at a local university, making another 5500 a month plus a free apartment, though he didn't have much free time. I noticed a pretty big range in cash salaries, though as other have said things mostly balance out when you consider vacation time, hours taught, and housing.

[Kaixinguo Billy]

Hello together, I'm coming to Harbin this summer to study Mandarin. I will have class every morning (except weekends) and I would like to take writing lessons three afternoons a week(have not found a teacher for the writing yet). In my spare time I would like to offer conversation classes in either english or german (maybe french). I would love to find a circle of people with whom I could read a german novel and have discussion afterwards. What do you think? Where should I advertise my offer. I dont want to charge a lot (any suggestions for a two hour session with a tea break?) It should be fun. Thanks for your responses and inputs. Cheers, Billy