Part-Time Salary Expectations/Career Advice for a Polyglot

[Kankun]

Hi GeoExpat community!

Having read many other similar threads consulting on salary/hourly rates for tutoring and teaching, and after seeing how immensely helpful this community is in addressing those questions, I thought I'd ask the same.

I'm trying to figure out what sort of salary I can expect/negotiate for part-time work related to teaching language, especially English. But seeing as I'm also a fairly recent grad, if you have any advice on lines of work I haven't even considered, I'd greatly appreciate it!

Since I'm turning to you all for help and I understand you're all much more busy than I am at the moment(job hunting), I'll try my best to communicate myself and my goals as clearly as I can.

Myself in a Nutshell
-Recently finished my 1st year of full-time teaching at a vocational training college in Hong Kong as part of a recent grad scheme followed by a 1-month summer camp for advanced secondary-school students

-Permanent HK resident so I don't need a work visa.

-About 3-years of tutoring native English speakers and non-native Asian speakers in Canada arranged privately or through post-secondary institutions.

-Chinese-Canadian English native speaker, near-native Cantonese speaker, B.A Japanese-
Chinese double major so I speak Mandarin and Japanese quite fluently (my writing leaves something to be desired, however). I also know French from 10+ years of immersion education but because of lack of use, it's been reduced to excellent reading but mediocre speaking and writing.

-Some coursework and volunteer experience with translation into English. I have a certificate in translation studies for both my language majors. I have an online TESOL certification (nothing compared to a CELTA, I know).

-I am passionate about languages and am a drama kid at heart, which makes me either very outgoing or eccentric depending on how you take that

My Work Goals in Hong Kong

-At first I wanted to tutor privately a main source of income, but after factoring in transportation/prep for each student, I think something Regular and Part-Time would suit my needs more and be more stable.

-Because I lack any technical background other than languages, I feel like my best choice for income while I pursue other side interests is still teaching English (although it's not my career goal). Is this true?

-My experience has shown me that I might be weaker with teaching primary/kindergarten students, so I feel more inclined to teaching secondary students/adults.

-I'm based in Hung Hom and would prefer to stay within 30-40 minutes each way for commuting.

-My last full-time salary was $15,000 before MPF and based on my research into the tutoring market, I pegged my hourly tutoring rate at about $350-450/hr while trying to be competitive and being fair to myself. Based on some of the prices I see tutor agencies charge their students and by speaking to other part-time tutors, is it unreasonable to expect a ballpark of $250-300/hr for part-time work with my experience?


Hopefully I've given you a good idea about what I can do and what I'm looking for. I'm always open to any advice about work/careers, however direct or blunt, so I really do appreciate you taking the time to help!

[carang]

$250-300 might be pushing it at a tutorial centre. I might offer that salary to someone with more experience.

As for teaching privately... your $350-450 again might be a little on the high side without much experience teaching English. (I am assuming that your 3 years of experience was not tutoring English, as you were teaching native-English speakers... but I could be wrong on that.)

[Kankun]

Hi Carang,

Thanks for the quick reply! While I've definitely heard my fair share of attractive numbers with regards to private tutoring and tutorial centres, it helps to have more perspective on what is realistic/competitive. I suppose based on your experience, would $175-225 be more reasonable for part-time?

The three years I mentioned in Canada was specifically related to English, including the native speakers. I tutored continuing education (essentially my provincial high school curriculum) to native adult speakers.

Thanks again for your advice!

[carang]

If that is the case, then I would say try for $250/hour in a centre, and $400/hour private.

[Kankun]

When including my salary requirements in e-mail, I usually include a range. For those numbers you've mentioned, I'll definitely be open to negotiation since I figured it's probably better to start at a (reasonably) higher price and work down as opposed to going too low from the beginning.

[carang]

i would say those would be the top end for you right now...

i taught privately for 13 years. when i quit 4 years ago, i was charging $400-450/hour. if i were to be doing it now, i would probably charge $500-550... but i have 17+ years of experience teaching in HK. I have also run 3 playgroup centres.

I think for the experience you have you are charging too much.

i think $175-225 might be better, but keep in mind not all centres are rolling in the dough. centres are very costly to run and unless you can get all of your classes with 7+ students, often times classes are losing money or barely breaking even, especially if the teacher is charging so much....

[carang]

also, what you might find is that if your number is so much higher than what employers are looking to pay, they won't even call you.

ie) if my budget is $150/hour for a teacher and you are charging $250, then i wouldn't even bother to call you... but if you were $175, then i might.

[Kankun]

Thanks for the honest assessment. I hope didn't come off as being greedy so much as ahead of myself or out of the loop with the market! The range of 150-225 is actually very satisfactory for me to live off of, as I'm not a big spender and don't plan to become one anytime soon.

However, I do want to ensure that I find a position where I am compensated according to my skill-set/experience and the market demand. I don't mean that just because I'm a native English speaker, I deserve to be paid a small fortune(although some might brag about this), but rather not only am I a native English speaker, I have a skill-set/experience that complements my ability to teach English. Or are skills less relevant versus years of experience?

On a side note, perhaps with your experience you could help me put a couple myths (and concerns) to rest. I hear some very unsubstantiated claims that there is a difference in treatment (either from a salary or workload standpoint) with respects to Asian native English speakers vs. Caucasian native English speakers. Is any of this true? I see Hong Kong as being pretty fair about this and both groups being very well represented, but again, my experiences working for agencies is lacking.

As for language centres, I certainly wouldn't doubt that not every centre is a Wallstreet English clone in terms of presence in the market. With the number of centres popping up all the time, it must be very competitive. If you don't mind my asking, what are reasons people choose to start education centres amidst so much competition? What about the biggest threats to these start-ups?

Sorry if I'm flooding you with questions, but as the saying goes: "æ—è§€è€…æ¸…ã€ç•¶å± è€…è¿·" and I'd say you're a very knowledgeable "旁觀者"

[carang]

i am also a white woman who can read chinese at a kindergarten level...

Sent from my GT-I8150 using GeoClicks Mobile

[Kankun]

Oops! Sorry about that. Basically the saying means: "The person on the outside looking in sees clearly while the person in the situation is lost."