Quote: (08-06-2014 11:25 AM)Global_Cocksman Wrote:
I'm guessing you're in Korea now. Didn't think it was possible to make that type of cash there. Did you have teaching experience and a TEFL prior to your job?
Anyway, I found a job that offered to pay me 12,000 RMB a month in China, but it's out in the sticks. Good enough pay for me, but not sure I'd want to live in a place in what I could only assume is almost the equivalent to the American South.
Yeah, I'm in Korea. I've been here 3 years. Thailand 2 years before; so I do have teaching experience. After uni in 2008, I randomly did a TEFL cert in 2009 and then went to Thailand. After that it was clear to me that money was to be made in the ELS industry. However, there are a lot of artificial barriers to entry for that big cash. A lot of time it is simply a matter of your visa and your contacts and also believing said contracts. Contracts are just pretend papers that a boss likes to use ONLY when it suits them. Thus, it is possible to make good money all over Asia if you can get someone to help you finding the students. The demand is there, and the supply is limited to those who are willing to stay within shitty contracts because of their ignorance or false belief that said contracts have any legitimacy in law, thus if you can see reality for what it is, you can make really decent money just by hustling.
As for your China job, 12,000RMB a month is good if you factor in the 4-5 months of paid vacation and the low work hours. Your actual hourly rate is pretty high. 2k a month for 80-100 hours work a month is $40-50 an hour, I know the math looks off at first glance but it's-more because you're gonna be on vacation for a good portion of the year. Also, please don't let old hats make you think otherwise. While speaking from authority, the ESL industry has changed quite a lot in the past few years simply due to the mass influx of liberal arts degrees flooding the market. This makes average wages much lower, especially advertised wages. Supplement this with private classes and you'll be fine.
A lot of old-hat advice remains true however, for instance, having the 'right look' remains true. So as to your question, it's up to you. I'd even suggest thinking about posting a job for someone on a craigslist type site that can be your 'assistant' in finding private classes. If you post a job for 2000 RMB for just being a facilitator to your private classes then you'd see a bunch of responses pretty quickly. Obviously weed out who you choose to fulfil such a role based upon your interaction with them. The money you make, in reality, really is up to you. No-one is gonna deport you for teaching ABCs, at worst you have to move to another town, at best you make a killing.