Jobs of the Week June 30, 2013

GOOD

Wrinkly Gus is happy with these jobs!

1)Earlybirds – China

jobs@earlybirds.cn

Sounds like a sweet deal. But other than the name of this recruiter, is the sentence at the bottom of the post that really grates against my kisser. You claim you are not a recruiter, but what you describe IS what the job of a recruiter does. No matter if you have ‘personal’ relationships with universities. You are sending out job posts in order to recruit teachers for those specific posts.

It’s like a pig dressed up as a woman, saying it’s not a pig.

Insulting to my intelligence, but still sounds good.

Job details

2) Semyung University – Korea

ktw5797@semyung.ac.kr

Alright! 4 day work week! Low number of students and contact hours! Though, a position more suitable for (somewhat) experienced teachers with qualifications.

Sign me up! But negotiated wisely for adequate pay. Remember: you’re an educated person, don’t let them lowball you.

Job details

3) Kangwon National University - Korea

langcntr@kangwon.ac.kr

Low pay for the type of qualifications and experience this place is looking for. With that in mind, low contact hours, ample vacation time and partly-furnished housing. No mention of flights...

Give it a go if you’ve got at least a year teaching experience with BA or MA...though, I’d negotiate for a minimum of 2.5 Won/ month.

Job details

BAD

Angry or pooping? Or pooping angrily?

4) WithAble Recruiting – Korea

withable3@gmail.com

I’m sketched out by the gmail address. But with that in mind, this recruiter has a range of jobs for your perusal. Different locations with salary between 2.0 – 2.7 million Won. However, some of the contact hours reach upwards of 30 (for kindy, no less) and require you to work 10 hours in one day. Will you lose your sanity teaching kindergarteners 6 – 8 contact hours per day and remain in the office for an addition 2-4 hours? Salary is pretty low for the work demand.

Keep looking.

Job details

5) Orange Education Co - Korea

eduorange@hotmail.com

If a stable, reputable recruiter for the last 11 years, why are you still using a Hotmail address? The website offers suitable information about aspects of the job (contact hours, pay, holidays, etc). Be careful though, since Orange Education Co. is a recruiter, the demands of the director/ principal of language institutes may differ than what is stipulated on the OECo. website. For most of the jobs, there seems to be high contact hours with low pay and are looking for Kyopo teachers (F visas) and E2 visa holders already inside Korea.

As well, misspelled words and grammar errors proliferate on the job posting.

Beware.

Job details

6) ACE Recruiting Agency – Korea

acecareer@hotmail.com

Go to the ACE Career website, under Recruiting Info, and you will read about teacher’s home leave after signing another contract.

I don’t like the unpaid 14 day home leave for teachers who will re-sign. That’s how you pay back your loyal teachers?

I find that extremely offensive, especially when most other institutes pay you for vacation time.

No thanks.

Job details

NOT WORTH IT

[witty caption redacted due to the image speaking for itself]

7) Expertise Education – Beijing, China

hr@expertiseedu.com

No mention of contact hours. Salary is disgustingly low. Look elsewhere. Also, this company should think about renaming it since it sounds so much like the disreputable Education Experts in Saudi Arabia.

Pass...

Job details

8) China TEFL Network (CTN)

admin@helengroup.com

This post is sloppily presented. Reading it makes my eyes hurt, and my heart as well when I read the range of salary offered at the different schools.

White space is important when reading. Organize the information into salary ranges. Learn how to write links in your job post. It's much cleaner...unorganized noob.

No thank you.

Job details

9) Korea International School Beijing – China

 kisbwj@gmail.com

You had me at the salary! But then made me think twice about a small detail you tried to sneak past me.

Yes, 20 contact hours per week is good. Yes, the housing and pay are great too.

But... you have to submit weekly lesson plans. Any good teacher has a lesson plan, but I think you will have to submit highly detailed plans for approval. If you are making the curriculum from scratch, you’ll easily be working 60 hours per week in preparation and teaching.

Go sit on an egg.

Job details

10) British Academic Centre – Moscow Region – Russia

recruit@bc-english.ru

No mention of contact hours. No mention if provided housing is shared or not. No mention of the amount of vacation time. Pay is little more than slave wages. Also, it’s located in the Moscow ‘Region.’ You could be out in the boonies.

Likewise, go sit on an egg.

Job details

Why I hate the forums on Dave’s ESL Café

I was doing some research about writing a blog posting about BKC-International House (IH) Moscow, when I came across this retarded forum on Dave’s ESL Café.

For what started out as a straight forward post about this noob chronicling her honeymoon period at the said organization, the other members quickly lambasted her, and the forum became nothing more than a back-and-forth that was the equivalent of ‘You’re a liar!’ ‘No, YOU'RE a liar!’ for 6 goddamned pages that spanned 2 f&^king years.

Someone glued my hands to my face and it hurts!

Mysteriously enough, at the beginning of the post there was a mention of a lawsuit filed by the member against BKC IH Moscow. When I clicked on the link to the blog where I could read more about the context of the lawsuit, I saw the following picture.

This is why I hate the job forums on Dave’s crap website. Not only does he let any crap employer post any crap job advert that may prove to be misleading or downright false, the members to the site do not know how to control their emotions. Rather than getting ticky-tacky, remember you are there to share information. 

Other than the pettiness, I was struck by the candidness the member expressed in detailing information about her first impression at BKC-IH Moscow. Usually members only get specific in private messages (PM), which leaves other members who might have the same questions in the dark. Transparency people, it’s what’s for dinner…every goddamned night of the week. And that’s a good thing. 

No one likes pettiness for dinner every night

BKC International House (IH) Moscow

I’m not one for cold weather, but hey, it’s Moscow. It’s Mother Russia. It’s shit money, but a helluva cultural experience nonetheless. Visiting on vacation is one thing; living there is quite another.

You can read the entirety of this job post here, at Dave’s ESL Café. You can also read another post here that through my research brought about my own understanding of why I hate Dave and his nipple-twisting-annoyance-of-a-café.

Anyways, not all International Houses – despite being part of the same franchise – are not created equal. Director of Studies (DOS) have different personalities; some are curmudgeonly, others are as happy as Richard Simmons. 

Bedazzler will do that to people

What I cannot say is that this BKC-IH is not great and not bad; I can only lay claim to what I know. And that only comes by analyzing the job posting.

The things that scare me, yet I can live with: the salary, the shared accommodation, the contact hours and the contract length.

I researched the cost-of-living index for Moscow on the website Numbeo. I was floored with how expensive the city is. When I researched the BKC-IH website, I found this nice, little tidbit that charmed the panties right off of me.

This pleases me outright as a manager of an educational institution. This organization is addressing the critiques head-on and offering another interpretation to the perception of the expensive European city. It all depends on life style. Frugality allows one to save; luxury…well, you get the picture.

I need your address Jonny to send you my panties.

The shared accommodation? Well, it is Russia – land of extremes where you get beautiful people and those who suffered a tremendous beat down via the Ugly Stick. You could get lucky and get a roommate that looks like this.

Learn me English cowboy!

Or this guy.

This could be your roommate and your DOS. 

Either way, you’ve got to share your living space with her/ him. I’m not a fan of sharing anything…not even with my husband or child. Are you like me? Then flee from this job possibility…look elsewhere.

The contact hours and the contract length are not generous by any means. 30 hours for $1150 and only for 9 months? No paid summer vacation? Trick, please… Ditto for the 24 hours and 6 months...

However…

I would gravitate to this job either as a fresh noob teacher, or someone who wants to experience the Russian culture. If you need to pay off student loans, look to Japan/ Korea. 

For 6 months, maybe saving a few hundred dollars each month, or simply drinking my money at the club, then yeah, I would go for it. If you're just starting out, be poor. It will teach you the value of hard work. You will appreciate the money you slaved for. At the end of the contract, you can always find another job to stock-up on the cash flow. Who knows you might actually enjoy working at an International House school. You could get transferred to another country that’s not as godforsakenly cold as Russia in the winter time. 

Maybe I’m partial because Russia has always transfixed me with its perceptive writers, natural beauty, frigid weather, communism and its bad-ass Kalashnikovs. After all this guy comes from Russia...

And he beat up this giant Korean...

Respect...