TEFL Internships in China

Read this job post in its entirety here at Dave’s ESL Café.

Ok, so at first glance, everything seems good. You, the new graduate who’s just received his/ her BA in whatever, decide to go into teaching. You’re serious about it, thinking it could be a worthwhile profession. But you don’t know the first thing about teaching English. So you browse Dave’s ESL Café, where you find the posting linked above. You send your CV (resume) and interview for the internship. Lo and behold, you’ve got the internship! But you have to pay the program fees! The what? That’s right.... surprise, surprise.

If I hadn’t done some snooping on the company’s website, TEFLinternships.com, I wouldn’t have uncovered the hidden little tidbits of information they were withholding from its prospective internship applicant.

You have to pay the program fee of: $888.

On the company’s website, TEFL Internships, it touts the TEFL certificate as something worthwhile. Instead, after researching, the certificate is more worthless than the paper it’s printed on.

The TEFL online teaching website, http://teflbootcamp.com/, promotes itself as being an international member of ACTFL, IATEFL and the College of Teachers. These are worthless assertions. Anyone with a credit card can join these organizations. By placing these organizations on their webpage, it’s leading prospective consumers to believe these are accreditation bodies. This TEFL online certificate is not accredited by the British Council, University of Cambridge, Oxford, hell- not even Kaplan! 

It is, however, accredited by the Better Business Bureau (BBB) which any company can get, but only if it honours its guidelines and pays the membership fees. The main guidelines are that members of the BBB don’t lie to consumers, disclose physical address of their company, and refund customers their money if customers aren’t satisfied. So not one – absolutely NOT ONE – educational body has accredited or endorsed the online TEFL certificate. Rubbish. Absolute rubbish.

Aside from this advertising which provides customers with an opportunity to misinterpret the institutional bodies as endorsers or accreditation bodies, the website looks so schlocky. The online 'class' was created by a single man (not the plural tutors the website would have you believe) with yes a Masters in Education and a PGCE in TEFL and with over 15 years of experience, but those qualifications alone do not warrant his ability to write meaningful teacher preparation textbooks. Instead, this fella created some e-books with little to no content inside them (I bought his TOEFL, TOEIC and IELTS test preparation textbook four years ago and found only content which could’ve been gleaned from a friggin’ Google search.)

Don’t waste your time with this company. Remember: never pay a recruiter for anything. Let alone the $888 this whack-o company is demanding to place you in an internship and give you a worthless online TEFL certificate.

And yeah you can find legit jobs on Dave's, but you have to sift through job postings like this. Don't take the job posting as absolute truth. Research by checking the companies involved websites. 

Stay far, far, far away from TEFLinternships!

Greenheart Travel Job Posting from TEFL.com (South Korea)

You can read this job post here.

Usually this company, Greenheart Travel, charges teachers for the program. However, for this job in South Korea teaching in public schools, there are NO CHARGES.

Greenheart Travel does offer a TEFL certificate, but I wouldn’t go for it. First, you’ll have to pay for it ($480), and I doubt the quality would be very good. Wait until you’ve worked two years in Korea, and then do the CELTA (Certificate of English Language Teaching to Adults). You don’t need any experience/ or any certificate to step foot inside a Korean public school classroom. The first week is difficult to adjust, but there are loads of resources available to help you online. Just do a Google search.

The one drawback to this post, and any teaching post in Korea, are the seemingly insurmountable hoops you’ll have to jump through in order to teach in the country.

The government now requires an FBI background check, which takes 3-4 months. And Greenheart Travel, nor does any employer in Korea, reimburse you for the cost.

A CLEAN CRIMINAL RECORD is a must. Just as the posting says, not even an underage drinking misdemeanor charge when you were 20 years old. The government of Korea is very restrictive and are just looking for an excuse to turn away a Waegukin (Korean word for ‘foreigner’.) The best teachers have made mistakes, but use them as a learning experience. Don’t even apply for a Korean teaching job if you have a questionable record. Apply to a different country that’s not as strict.

The compensation is similar to other good jobs on offer. With no teaching experience and no TEFL certificate, you’ll be on the bottom rung of the salary scale. Don't listen to the warnings: if you're savvy enough and careful enough, get some private tutoring on the side to supplement your income.

30 days of paid vacation is good to start with.

You’re not working in a Hakwon, or language institute, but a public school where you’re paid on time, and the working conditions can be predictable. (There are exceptions to this rule. If given the choice, I would choose a public school over a Hakwon any day of the week.) Furnished apartment, severance pay and flight allowances provided. Though you’ll have to ask in the interview with Greenheart Travel whether or not you’ll have to pay for apartment utilities.

Remember: You are using a recruiter. Make sure the contract you sign for Greenheart Travel matches the one you’ll sign at the public school on your first day. If they don’t match, or there are any surprise clauses that were suddenly written in, don’t sign and call the recruiter. Be firm with your public school employers. If they see you are weak willed, that your spine will break under their pressure, soon enough they’ll want you to work extra hours, possibly on Saturdays, teach a faculty member English for free, design textbooks etc. And then you’ll find yourself working 60 hour weeks at the same salary stated on your contract. If you don't mind being pushed around, then I guess you are a jellyfish. For others, don't let them take advantage of you because you are young and inexperienced. There’s nothing wrong with being assertive, but do it in a polite way.

For newbie teachers, give it a go. But don’t forget to ask some thorough interview questions. 

Horizon Recruitment ESL Jobs in China

Read this post here from the ESL Employment website.

Read more about Horizon Recruitment here.

There are a lot of jobs to choose from, but if you are just starting out (i.e. you just graduated with a BA) I would suggest applying for one of the jobs in a university. Specifically this one here:

The salary is quite high in relation to the other university gigs in China. 16 hours is stated as the maximum, but in the interview make sure to get that stated in the contract. Also, make sure the contract the recruitment company sends you matches the one the university will want you to sign once you are present in the country. If they don’t match, don’t sign, and call your recruitment contact in China.

3 to 4 hours of teaching per day is a great way to get your legs wet, so to speak. You’ll have enough time to plan your lessons fully before each day begins. You’ll have enough time to research what to do in the class, that is, if you are greener than grass.

In the interview ask:

1) How many office hours will I have to keep? What is the total number of hours I have to be on campus?

2) Will I be required to perform other duties? (Ones related to teaching English, such as running clubs, ESL tutoring for Chinese teachers, writing supplementary materials and/ or textbooks)

3) Is pay salaried, or if I teach less than 16 hours will my pay go down?

4) What is the tax rate for my salary, and am I, or the university, expected to pay it?

5) What amenities are included in the housing?

6) Am I responsible for paying utilities?

7) Will I have to share housing with another teacher?

8) Will I have to pay for internet access, or does the university provide that for me in the furnished housing? (No matter if internet access is provided or not, if you want to have free-wheeling, unblocked internet access to the fun websites as you would in the USA, make sure you buy a VPN and set it up BEFORE you enter China. Go here to read about VPNs.)

9) Location of the housing?

10) Are plane tickets bought for me? Or are they reimbursed? When will I be reimbursed? When will I receive the money to buy my return ticket back home?

11) What about severance if I complete my contract?

12) What is the recruiter contact number in China? Name of contact? Email address? Location? (Before you leave on the plane, check the contact information by sending an email and calling on Skype, which involves a minimal cost. If the contact info. doesn’t work, tell the recruiter. If problems start, walk away from the job. You don’t want to be stranded in China without help.)

This is just a taste of the questions you should ask. Think of others that relate to your personality (Cultural issues, free Chinese classes, monthly train/ bus passes etc.) to ensure you have a comfortable stay.

Once you arrive though, things could change at a whim. But you’re taking a calculated risk here. Get all the answers you need before, and then deal with the problems once you arrive. If the work/ cultural situation is not to your liking, you’ll still have some piece of mind knowing that you were as prepared as you could’ve been. Curveballs will come from places you weren’t expecting...no matter how prepared you are.

The most important part during this phase of job recruitment is to research and ask questions to start off on the right foot.

Newbies, give this a go: apply for this job. Good location, high pay, minimal hours at a university. It’ll look great on a CV, and give you the experience you so desperately need. Be firm with the recruiter if they try to change your mind by suggesting a different city.

If you don’t like the answers to the questions you ask, always, always, always walk away. Don’t agree to something if you see red flags waving all over the place.