English and Skype Online Teaching (Russia)

This posting is already displayed in its entirety, but if you want to check, you can read it here at Dave's ESL Café.

 

 

I hate these types of job postings. No, I'm not being a cranky new mom because some little baby was keeping me up all hours of the night. Let me explain…

The name of the company just grates on my nerves. 'English and Skype?' This screams to me, 'Me and my friend started this company who know nothing about ESL or education. We wanted to maximize profit by using an already established program that is free. Whoopee for us! We're super smart.'

However, if you were a teacher who had bad experiences teaching online with Skype, then you would know there is no Whiteboard option on Skype, where a teacher can write notes that are also visible to the student on his/ her screen. Also, Skype does not allow you to record the lessons, which is invaluable for students who want to review the lesson on his/ her own time. Skype is good for talkie-talk with friends, relatives or significant others, but not worthwhile for conducting online English lessons.

If this company was as exclusive as they tout themselves to be, they would've developed, or at least purchased, software conducive for teaching.

Also they want teachers to work a lot of hours which translates to they don't have teachers...most likely any teachers. Requesting upwards of 20 hours screams it is a start-up company.

This is what chaps my…kisser. The exclusivity of this crap company is evident in this posting. They think their … don't stink. But their posting has the opposite effect. You obviously can tell (you're a discerning prospective employee) that the presentation of the job posting is utter garbage.
 

They don't hire non-native English speaking teachers. Fine, whatever,  a company can require that.

The pay is dismal $10-13. 45 minutes....I could get a better hourly wage working for a Chinese company.

Personal experience...

The application process is just as retarded as this company's name. 

You click on the link here and you are brought to this application form which has a laundry list of questions related to grammar and your teaching expertise. So I wrote more than the word limit to answer the question items comprehensively. I attached my resume, and a few days later was granted a phone interview. 

The kicker...

The phone interview was nothing more than a grammar quiz! I thought I had already answered those retarded questions on the online application.  Even if you are an inexperienced teacher, you would've felt disrespected because the interviewer was speaking in this sing-songy pre-school teacher voice.

'Okaaaaaaaaaaaaay,' she said. 'What is the verb tense of this sentence: John goes to school.'

'Are you kidding me?' I asked. 'I thought I already answered this on the application!'

Their response: 'Well, we get a lot of applicants who lie on their resume. So we have to double-check.'

If this company is worth their salt, they would be able to weed out the liars from the pack by examining CVs. And if your company's name is English and Skype, why didn't they conduct the interview on Skype rather than via a phone call?

 

Don't waste your time. Don't even 'dare' to send your resume. Even if you do get hired, this company, which is so retardedly named, will not be around long enough to get and retain students when there are numerous other companies in Russia that provide a better, more quality online learning experience.

Crap! Crap! Crap!