15% pay cut from private sector to teach in Polytechnic

Poly teaching is a good mid-career job especially going into 40s where with a wealth of working experience and industry links, one would be in a better position to contribute.

If a person is interested in teaching as a career, poly is an attractive option compared to MOE schools. There is definitely better control over the subjects that you teach, and less scrutiny by external parties who are not subject matter experts. Lecturer can even decide on how to assess a subject that he is in charge of - so as many, or as little, marking as he wishes - provided he fights for his case and can make convincing arguments, of course.

The only advantage that MOE teachers have is that they possess a valuable PGDE cert, and teaching experience that is valued outside, e.g. by tuition centres, and also recognised overseas. Poly lecturers have no standardised subjects between the different polys and also no formal teaching qualification cert that is widely recognised.

Work-life balance is aplenty compared to private sector, in general. Occasionally have to teach night classes or do weekend events duties - but no 24-hr on-call urgency like some private sector jobs.

Of course sometimes have to take a pay cut to join poly, but consider the working hr / salary ratio - and also consider that with the fixed schedule, it is possible for the lecturer to use the time to earn more, e.g. teach tuition, look after investments - or learn something new; a hobby perhaps, that could be turned into a side-line.

Basically give-and-take, pros and cons - naturally - else the poly would be flooded with applications by now, wouldn't it?

The cons are of course, a person can really stagnate and get 'stuck' after years in the poly. Can't even think of returning to industry once a certain 'sell-by' date has passed.

Another thing to get used to is also the slow, overly cautious pace of working, especially by the support departments, and the fact that a lecturer will be communicating with immature youths for most of his working hours - and that's something not everyone can handle.

This is one of the more sensible post that I have come across. Objectively articulated!

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Poly teaching is a good mid-career job especially going into 40s where with a wealth of working experience and industry links, one would be in a better position to contribute.

If a person is interested in teaching as a career, poly is an attractive option compared to MOE schools. There is definitely better control over the subjects that you teach, and less scrutiny by external parties who are not subject matter experts. Lecturer can even decide on how to assess a subject that he is in charge of - so as many, or as little, marking as he wishes - provided he fights for his case and can make convincing arguments, of course.

The only advantage that MOE teachers have is that they possess a valuable PGDE cert, and teaching experience that is valued outside, e.g. by tuition centres, and also recognised overseas. Poly lecturers have no standardised subjects between the different polys and also no formal teaching qualification cert that is widely recognised.

Work-life balance is aplenty compared to private sector, in general. Occasionally have to teach night classes or do weekend events duties - but no 24-hr on-call urgency like some private sector jobs.

Of course sometimes have to take a pay cut to join poly, but consider the working hr / salary ratio - and also consider that with the fixed schedule, it is possible for the lecturer to use the time to earn more, e.g. teach tuition, look after investments - or learn something new; a hobby perhaps, that could be turned into a side-line.

Basically give-and-take, pros and cons - naturally - else the poly would be flooded with applications by now, wouldn't it?

The cons are of course, a person can really stagnate and get 'stuck' after years in the poly. Can't even think of returning to industry once a certain 'sell-by' date has passed.

Another thing to get used to is also the slow, overly cautious pace of working, especially by the support departments, and the fact that a lecturer will be communicating with immature youths for most of his working hours - and that's something not everyone can handle.

Ask you guys a question.

For ITE lecturer job, for someone with 5-6 years industry experience (accounting), what can be the expected salary?

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Ask you guys a question.

For ITE lecturer job, for someone with 5-6 years industry experience (accounting), what can be the expected salary?

PAX 5 I guess around 5-6k

Its
The
End

Originally Posted by Unregistered

PAX 5 I guess around 5-6k

You don't sleep?

why the polytechnic employ many Research Scientist? how much are they paid

Originally Posted by Unregistered

why the polytechnic employ many Research Scientist? how much are they paid

Nowadays many polys have research centres doing some R&D work trying to get their name in the papers. Which means more publicity for them, which attracts students and is a good marketing tool, which also means more brownie points for the senior management.

The research projects are mainly too 'deep' for the poly students hence is mostly run by dedicated research staff, since the poly lecturers themselves are usually too tied up with the usual teaching/admin duties to devote time to such serious project work.

Bear in mind though that research scientist KPI will very much hinge on the success of the project... and in my mind, the job is not so stable - since the main mission of a poly is still producing diploma grads, not cutting edge research. Who knows what may happen once the project is completed, or the centre is down-sized owing to lack of student numbers in the supporting diploma?

I guess it's a useful way for new PhDs to build up their research credentials, so it's okay as long as one doesn't look at the long term prospects of the job, but rather a stepping stone to a serious, proper R&D position.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Nowadays many polys have research centres doing some R&D work trying to get their name in the papers. Which means more publicity for them, which attracts students and is a good marketing tool, which also means more brownie points for the senior management.

The research projects are mainly too 'deep' for the poly students hence is mostly run by dedicated research staff, since the poly lecturers themselves are usually too tied up with the usual teaching/admin duties to devote time to such serious project work.

Bear in mind though that research scientist KPI will very much hinge on the success of the project... and in my mind, the job is not so stable - since the main mission of a poly is still producing diploma grads, not cutting edge research. Who knows what may happen once the project is completed, or the centre is down-sized owing to lack of student numbers in the supporting diploma?

I guess it's a useful way for new PhDs to build up their research credentials, so it's okay as long as one doesn't look at the long term prospects of the job, but rather a stepping stone to a serious, proper R&D position.

you are not 100% correct.. there are research scientist in the oldest polytechnic who are not PhDs. Their job is to delegate task to the research engineers under his charge

Civil sector pay adjustment liao... our turn too?