Connect Great Inc

Having the Right Expectations:

1)         A lot of our candidates go to China for the culture and experience enrichment, not necessary for the immediate financial gain, other than (Approx. $300- $1000 monthly savings). They treat the experience more as a long term investment rather than a short term gain.

2)         For people with business experience and want to do business with China, teaching in China will help them know more about China’s culture and business environment, and treat the China teaching position as a business trip with the airline ticket, housing and accommodations paid for.

3)         For some other candidates, it is a dream they want to fulfill in life, so you can treat the China teaching job a dream accomplished with the round trip ticket reimbursed ( most of it) and free housing and accommodations.

4)         If you have a lot of financial responsibilities in the US even when you are in China, then going to China may not have immediate financial gain for you. You need to make sure you have enough funds to cover your expenses in the US or wait until the time your financial responsibilities decreases.

We want to make sure your expectation of the Teaching In China position matches what the opportunity can offer before we pursue to the next step! If going to China is a dream you want to accomplish in life, then let’s get prepared together to help you fulfill your dream! It may not be right away, but as long as it is in your wish list and we work on it together, we will make it happen!

Understanding the Salary, Benefit and living cost:

China’s currency is called RMB (Ren Min Bi) with the sign ￥.

The currency exchange rate between Chinese currency and US currency is between 7.5 to 8. Which means $1 = 7.5 RMB to 8 RMB.

Teaching In China Salary ranges from Chinese Yuan ￥4,000/month  to ￥8,000/month, (which is Appox. $500/mth-$1000/mth) based on position, region and qualification. This is middle income per Chinese living standard.

For 1 year contract Paid vacation. Free Housing and most of round trip ticket reimbursement (the reimbursement amount varies between schools.

For Half a year contract,  paid vacation. Free housing and one way ticket reimbursement.

Most utilities are paid. It also varies between schools.

Health insurance also varies between schools. But the overall standard is the school will pay for the major medical insurance premium for the foreign teacher to cover the time when the teacher teaches in the school.

Other living expenses total around $150- $200, so the job can potentially help teachers to save $300 to $8,00 a month.

Earning extra income:

Through working overtime: In most school’s contract, there is a clause on working over time, the pay will range from ￥80/hour  to ￥120/hour (Approx $10 to $12/hour).

Part time Job: If you have extra energy after you finish your full time job, we can help you to get a part time job that pay you by the hour. The pay will range from ￥80/hour  to ￥120/hour (Approx $10 to $12/hour). If you work 15 to 20 hours, you can potentially double your income and save $500 -$700 more a month.

For safety reasons, in most school’s contract, there is a clause on getting a part time job with the school’s consent. Because if something happen to you while you are doing the part time job,  the school who sponsor your work visa will not be reliable for it.

Understanding the Regulation, Age Guideline And Degree Requirement

Regulation

Hiring foreign expert is regulated by the State Administration of Foreign Experts Affairs (SAFEA),

P. R. China. The schools not only need to meet the criteria and get authorizations from SAFEA or its local subsidiaries to hire foreign teachers, for every foreign teacher they hire, they also need to get approvals from SAFEA or its local subsidiaries and apply the Work Authorization (WA) for the teacher.

Age Guideline

SAFEA has an age guideline on the Foreign Teachers due to medical insurance and health liability issues. Connect Great has no control over these guidelines, and has to work under these guidelines.

1)         If the teachers are between 18 to 60 years old and physically healthy, it is generally easy to get the WA.

2)         If the teacher is between 61 to 65, and carries its own medical insurance to China, the schools may be able to hire the teacher and get WA. But this is handled on a case by case base. It will not be easy to find a position.

3)         If the Teacher is 65 and above, SAFEA will generally not approve the WA. Unless the teacher work under as an Volunteer basis. Under the Volunteer category, the school will provide housing, utilities and reimburse airline ticket, but there will not be salary and health insurance.

            If a teacher fall under this category, it will be difficult for Connect Great to find you a

position.

Degree Requirement

SAFEA has a Degree Requirement guideline on the Foreign Teachers. The general Minimum

requirement is a Bachelor Degree. In some regions and under some circumstances,

Connect Great may be able to help a teacher without a Bachelor degree to get a teaching

position. Again, this is handled on a case by case basis. Please keep in mind that it is not easy

to find a teaching position without a Bachelor degree.

Understanding the Time difference between US and China

China is 12 hours ahead of US Eastern Standard Summer time, we have limited time to communicate with China,  mainly at night (which is day time in China) and occasionally in the morning, which is China’s night). With the winter time, the time difference is bigger and more challenging. Here in the USA, our work schedule is tailored according to the China time zone. We work on some weekends too.

Occasionally we need to contact you early in the morning or late at night. That is why we like to

get your permission to call you at the nontraditional hours and days find out  when is the

earliest time in the morning and the latest time at night we can call you.

Financially Prepared to Go To China

To go to China, you need to be financially prepared to go to China.

1          The following are some upfront expenses you need to prepare:

1)         Air Line Ticket:

Although the school will reimburse most of the ticket expenses after you fulfill your contract in China, when you book the ticket in the US, you still need to pay the ticket upfront first. The round trip ticket from US to China is around $900 to $1400 depending on region and season, one way ticket going to China is around $500 to $700, the return ticket to US may be more than $500 to $700.

2)         Getting a Chinese Visa is around $150 to $200

3)         Getting a passport is $97 to $157 (If you use a passport Expediter, they have other service fee too)

4)         Connect Great also has a service fee of $300 -- Off course, if we can not find you a teaching job you like, there is no Service Fee!

2        Consolidate all your bills and rearrange your expenses in the US while you are in China

            Connect Great also provide help in this regard to our clients free of charge.

You just need to ask for it!

Why Connect Great Has a Service Fee from the Teachers:

For Teaching In China placement, agencies adopt one of the three ways to service the teachers and the schools:

1          Offer free services for Schools and only charge the teachers. Since the schools do not have a financial commitment, they are not that serious about getting good teachers. Since teachers need to pay high service fees, it is harder for them to make the trip to China. Some teachers come to Connect Great for this reason. They went through other agencies before, the high Service Fee for teachers prevent them from going to China.

2          Offer free services for teachers and only charge the schools. If  Schools need to pay high service fees, they are not able to get more teachers. If they do not pay high fees, then the agencies may not be able to provide good services to both teachers and schools.

Providing good services takes both time and money.

Here is usually what happens:

For this type of agencies, email is the usual way of communications, and they are not familiar with the regulations, logistics and laws outside of China. And thus can only provide limited guidance to help teachers to get prepared to go to China. The trip to China needs careful planning and arrangement, from understanding China’s culture, China’s work environment, Schools’ offer and signing the contract, to getting passport, visa, ticket and packing to go to China. These are closely linked chain events, if one link in the chain did not go through, the whole chain events will not happen. When working with this type of agencies, the teachers, are on their own to handle everything. Since they are not familiar with China, they can be thrown into dark and fall off the chain.

Since teachers do not have a financial commitment, the schools and agencies can not be sure if the teachers are serious about Teaching In China. Some teachers change their mind after they sign the School Contract. Schools are thrown into the situation that the semester starts and no teacher arrives to the positions to teach. The agency can not fulfill its promise to the school and ruin its reputation with the school.

3          Charge both the schools and the teachers, but only with reasonable service fees. That way the financial burden is not solely on one party, and every one is committed and serious. Agencies can provide better services for both the schools and teachers. Everybody is happy and everybody wins.

Connect Great chooses Method 3 to service the teacher and the schools.

We are an US based company, and are familiar with both China and US.

We conduct our business complying to the American law for the part that happens out side of China. Teachers are required to sign a Service Agreement with Connect Great.  

We also comply to the Chinese law for the part that happens in China.

Teachers can reach us easily by phone both from USA or in China. Although many teachers have strong desire to go to China, before you make the decision, you may have tons of concerns and questions,  we hold your hands to clear out these concerns and questions and  get prepared. After you arrives China, you can still access us by phone easily.

Connect Great believes in Services &

will service clients that value our services!

Make arrangement and Set a prepared date to go to China

We understand going to another country is a big change in life. Timing is very important for this big change to happen. You may have many commitments and you need to make the necessary arrangements before you go to China. We would like you to clear all the hurdles and make all the arrange on your financial , community and family commitment before you tell us you are ready and prepared to go! For example, you may need to address issues like apartment lease, children at school, communicating with spouse, selling your house, or a job or contract commitment.

We would not like to see the situation occur that we spend the effort to find you a job, then you tell us you are not prepared to go! We can only work with prepared candidates! Once we work on the job placement, we may find you a job quickly, sometimes in several days!

Please put a realistic prepared date in our online application form under the field: What is the earliest date you are prepared to go to China? We will do our placement based on your earliest prepared date!

Because Teacher recruitment is a very seasonal task. In China, the Fall Semester starts the 1^st week of September all across China. Spring Semester starts within 10 days to 2 weeks after the Chinese Lunar New Year. The Lunar New Year is different every year, it happens between late January and mid February. For 2008 ,The Chinese New Year is Feb 7 (Thursday). The Spring semester may begin around the last week of February in 2008. If your prepared date is in October, then your chances of getting a job that starts in Fall semester is slim. You have a better chance to apply for a positions that starts in Spring Semester.