June 9, 2013 Jobs of the Week

Three jobs that tickle my fancy. I hope they tickle you noobs out there, as well. The other jobs might tickle you in the wrong spot, laugh yes, but then make you angry to know there are such crap organizations in the TEFL world. TEFL employers: get your act together! If you want professional employees, post professional, informative job postings. 

GOOD

I would like to thank Selena Gomez for personally assisting me with these GOOD TEFL job selections. You're such a dear!

1) EFL Teacher – Bell – Assumption College Thornbury in Bangkok Thailand

This is what all companies should aspire to when posting jobs. All the info I need to make a good decision whether or not to send my CV.

Why hasn’t anyone jumped on this job yet?

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2) Prime Teachers - EFL Teachers required in Shenzhen, China

This company’s all up on Bell’s quality job posting. Clear, direct information.

Apply you fool! Apply!

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3) ESL Teachers - EF English First Chongqing Schools

Hey now, English First (EF) provides a decent looking package for noob teachers. The pay is atrociously low, but so is the rest of China. Free accommodation, Chinese lessons, flight allowance.

Be careful if you don’t have a TEFL cert. already. If you don’t, you’ll have to fork out some bucks to get EF’s TEFL cert, which probably isn’t worth more than the paper it’s printed on.

If you’re fresh out of university, it’s a nice foot in the door. Hopefully EF delivers on its promises outlined in the job posting.

Apply to begin paying off your student loans (albeit at only $100 – 200 per month).

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BAD

Even the King of Pop doesn't approve of these jobs.

4) Teach, Travel and Earn Money in Russia! – Aclipse

Something is off here. The job post at Dave’s is for Russia. Go to Aclipse’s website and the only countries on offer are Korea, China and Japan. The following screenshot is from the website. There are no mention of Russian schools partnered with Aclipse.

They probably do have relationships with Russian schools, but for godsakes people, post that information on your website. If you don’t post, then what other surprises do you have in store for prospective employees? Me thinks there’s also a good reason why you don’t post package details like accommodation, flight allowances, base pay and contact hours. This is shoddy marketing at its shoddiest.

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5) Teachers Needed in Sakarya, Turkey

Adapazarý Private Enka School esunter@enka.k12.tr

Straightforward post mentioning the qualifications an applicant should have. But no mention of salary, contact hours, etc. Yes there is an email address, but that’s a mistake of the hiring personnel. Now they’re going to get inundated with simple questions that could’ve been avoided had they put basic info. like salary, contact hours, and other employment package details. No website for us to browse at our leisure?

It sounds good, but I wouldn’t expect much in terms of pay because it’s Turkey. You’ll have to query to find out more.

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6) QUALIFIED NATIVE ENGLISH TEACHERS - Ankara, Turkey

University of Turkish Aeronautical Association ssahinel@thk.edu.tr

This post from Turkey is more comprehensive. It outlines the contact hours, what content you’ll be teaching, vacation, flight allowance. As well, clearly states accommodation is not provided.

Although, no website to direct us to for FAQs.

Again, it’s Turkey. Expect the salary to be low, even though you the candidate is highly qualified with over 3 years teaching experience. In terms of submitting required documents as part of your employment application, it’s a lot. Jump through hoops, but don’t expect to jump through hoops for big salary.

At your discretion, but personally, not for me.

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7) CMT Learning Ltd – UK

First, they misspelled ‘definitely.’ Furthermore, the job posting format looks redonkulous. Other than the max number of contact hours (25), no mention of important job details like accommodation, flight allowance (though I think they’re looking for UK based individuals.)

Nice website for me to look at. 

If you’re athletically inclined and from the UK, go for it. I expect the pay to be around £250 – 300 per week.

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NOT WORTH IT

8) English-and-Skype

This old nugget of crap? They’re spending a fortune on posting on Dave’s ESL Café. They’ve got to change their game if they want to be considered reputable, or at least, halfway decent.

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9) Native ESL/EFL Teacher - Interlingua School

Ok, let me say the employment package is decent (pay, accommodation, flight allowance, etc.)

But what I really enjoy, and for all the wrong reasons, is that Interlingua School is tacking on additional duties. You get to work as an office assistant as well! Maybe it’s a blend of working in the office and teaching, but I wouldn’t think the pay would be much better. Golly gee, no thank you.

If you’re teaching 26 hours per week, you deserve more than 8,600 RMB/ month.

This is a pass.

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10) Beijing Hampson Education Training School – China

One on one teaching? It’s got its limitations. If you don’t develop rapport with the student immediately, it can quickly turn into a nightmare. You will still have to teach him/ her. Do you like pulling teeth on a daily basis for hours on end? Then this job is for you.

For the rest of you sane people, I’d pass on this ‘opportunity.’

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11) Online English Teacher (part time) – dadaabc (company name)

Pass! And a big one at that.

The posting does not provide an email address or website. How do I apply to your crummy organization? Make it easy for employees to apply. Don’t make it a game of chasing the hare.

A Google search only yielded other job postings under the same company name.

These jokers aren't worth the time or effort to track them down and apply.

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Jobs of the Week June 2, 2013

How sad the TEFL industry is this week: one friggin’ job worthy of the ‘good’ rating. I hope quality jobs start popping up in time to hire teachers for September.

GOOD

1) 3 Native English teachers needed in Dongying, Shandong Province, China

Golden Bridge Training Center

Low pay, but accommodation provided in a city somewhat close to Beijing. Ample vacation time, and free Chinese lessons. Minimal contact hours. Yes, low pay, but could be a good situation. Apply.

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BAD

2) Teach to Travel University Positions, Bursa, Turkey

Low pay and to think you’ll have to pay for expensive accommodation in or around Bursa, you’ll be just about to make ends meet though without going out or spending any money on fun.

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3) Apply Immediately for Teaching Positions in Taipei, Taiwan

Honor Roll kerryliou@gmail.com

Low pay. No mention of contact hours. Short vacation. You will have to pay accommodation from your salary. And you’ll be teaching kids.

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4) EAP tutors/IELTS teachers

Winchester School of Art/Dalian Polytechnic University

If they want such highly qualified teachers, then they should be offering a lot more money. University of Liverpool at Xian Jiao Tong starts at 16, 000 RMB.

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NOT WORTH IT

5) Teach Kindergarten in Nakhonsawan, Thailand

Yuwapat Nakhonsawan Thailand mdamulligan@gmail.com

Super low pay, even by Thai standards. Max 20 kindy students in a class? And no mention of contact hours. No thank you.

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6) Qualified Female Native English Speaking Teacher Needed in Khartoum, Sudan

Kibeida International Schools mkeebo@hotmail.com

If you’re only going to offer NET with 3 years’ experience and degree and TEFL certified $1,200 to come to Sudan, then you’re better off just hiring locals. This package is a slap in the face, even for the kindhearted individuals.

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7) ARAMCO Contractor in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia

Ballenger-Atherton Group ballenger.atherton.group@gmail.com

This contractor is taking a huge chunk of the salary. As well, they are not providing you with 14 day vacations every 4 months. And they do not provide roundtrip tickets for each vacation. Do not send your resume to them.

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8) Teach Online! - from $10 to $20 per hour

English-and-Skype

These bastards again? Read my other posts here and here.

Not worth your time. As a teacher, you deserve better treatment.

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Jobs of the Week May 26, 2013

Maybe I'm in a generous mood? I found some good enough jobs for me to recommend. And even the BAD jobs aren't too bad. Happy hunting, and good luck!

GOOD

Very good

1) EFL Teacher – KELT - Surabaya, Indonesia

Good salary in Indonesian terms, 20 contact hours, in beautiful Surabaya, Indonesia (not Jakarta). 8 weeks’ vacation per year? You’ll have to ask if that’s paid or unpaid. However, I think I’ll be sending this job on to my friends. No mention of flight allowance or flight reimbursement. As well, is there a severance for finishing the contract?

Apply for this one quick, or else you’ll lose out.

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2) EFL Teacher – Bell - TJAS – Bangkok, Thailand

Awesome base salary for Thailand. Except, no provided accommodation, or mention of allowance. That could be at least 15,000 Baht taken out of your salary each month. No mention of contact hours as well.

But, but, but, but!

8 weeks paid holiday + public holidays.

Help (whatever that means, it still sounds good) towards a flight.

A two year renewable contract! Good news

Maybe not a suitable job for absolute noobs, but if you’ve got the quals, apply!

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3) Englsih [sic....they spelled ‘English’ wrong!] Way Training Center - Shanghai

The high severance is what attracted me to this post to begin with. How did they come up with that number, which is exorbitant by China’s standards?

A decent pay, but only national holidays are mentioned. And the contact hours? Yes, only 25 per week, but it does not mention if you are allowed consecutive days off? It seems you will be teaching 6 days a week. 

Off on Monday. Free apartment! Flight money? No mention.

Worth a shot...

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(NOT TOO) BAD 

At least his undies are on...

4) English Teacher – English First training school - Nanjing, China

The posting looks presentable, and offers important information for me to make a decision whether to send my CV. Except...no salary range.

10 days paid vacation per year is low (they do work you to death in China), but one could manage if the salary was decent. But you’ll have to find out during the interview.

Still, worth a shot. Apply.

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5) Find Work Abroad – Shenzhen, China

30 contact hours and 10 office hours per week...pretty steep. But, the pay is fantastic. And they give you accommodation.

If you can hack it, I’d say go for it.

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NOT WORTH IT

6) Bai Da Wei Foreign Language School – Northeast China

Terrible pay for such a high number of contact hours. I’d apply to the Way Training Center in Shanghai over this place.

Not worth the hassle. Keep looking...

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7) Pearson Longman Schools - Shanghai, China

Low contact hours, considerable pay, but no mention of accommodation or flights.

Not too bad, but there are better out there.

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Jobs of the Week May 19, 2013

GOOD

1) Teaching Children English in China

Excellent package on offer in Beijing. But you’ll be teaching kids, and you’ll be paying for accommodation out of your own pocket. Ask about number of contact hours/ week.

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2) Native English-Speaking Kindergarten Teacher Needed in Hong Kong

Excellent package, though you will pay for accommodation. Again, ask about the number of contact hours/ week.

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BAD

3) Native English Teacher needed starting late February 2013 in Dongying City, Shandong, China

Well, not too bad...but it will be difficult trying to get a conversation out of 6-16 year old kids. Quite a rural location. Only go if you want the ‘authentic’ Chinese cultural experience. The low pay is offset by the generous vacation time, flight airfare (provided in lieu of severance – ahem, ahem) and provided accommodation. Post is requesting teachers for early February...but the posting is May 18, 2013....

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4) English Teaching Positions in Thailand

35,000 Baht per month, and you got to foot the bill for accommodation? 15-25 hours teaching per week? Classes are 3 hours each? I hope to God for the teacher's sanity there's a break half-way through. Eh, not too bad. But not the best out there. BFITS provides the curriculum for you, so prep. time is limited. 11 month contract means you don’t get paid for one of those summer months. If you is a noob, you can get this job so long as your BA is related to teaching (ie English, TESOL, Education, Linguistics, etc.)

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NOT WORTH IT

5) ESL Teaching Position in Foreigner Owned & Run Training Centre

Low pay, part of which will go towards accommodation. 30 periods / week teaching Young Learners? No. Not even close, bud. Choose another job.

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ONLY FOR THE DESPERATE/ KIND-HEARTED

6) Native English Teacher needed ASAP!

Low pay, 30 contact hours, but accommodation provided and you’re in Brazil! Waka – waka...I guess that’s South Africa (Shakira) and the Muppets (Fawzy). If you are desperate, or like to help out those less fortunate learn English, apply, apply, apply!

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5 Reasons to Research Employers/ Recruiters Before You Apply for a Job

1) Fees/ Scams

Do I have to pay a fee?

Am I being scammed?

He said I'd have a job if I sent $5,000 via Western Union

You do not want to send anyone money to secure you a job. And sometimes this information is not explicit in the job posting. You have to browse the website (if the employer/ recruiter has one) and determine if there is a price tag involved. As these employers/ recruiters do provide a service for a fee, this is not a scam. However, I suggest candidates do their own search for reputable employers that offer a comprehensive employment package without you paying them any money.

Furthermore, people will try to scam you. You should research any names of contact persons, employment organizations and email addresses. 1) Google is a highly proficient search engine, barring you enter in the proper key words in your search; 2) Use websites to check if they are scams. For instance, ScamAdviser and Scambusters allow you to check if the website is legit. Scamchecker provides a list of points to consider if the website is a scam or not. Consumer Fraud Reporting and Scamdex provide general information about internet scams. More specifically related to TEFL jobs, my blog helps you understand the strengths and weaknesses of particular jobs, sift the good from the crap, and has information available to candidates about potential risky employers/ recruiters.

2) Reputation

Is the employer/ recruiter reputable?

Not a Bad Ass Reputation

Teachers have good and bad experiences whilst working for any employer. If you discover complaints on a forum, like Dave's ESL Café, you have to determine if they are valid. What is the person complaining about? Low pay, a massive number of contact hours or personality conflicts, I think, are not valid complaints. First, you do not have to sign the contract if you do not agree to any terms therein. Second, people will clash no matter what the job is…it's life.

However, complaints like inefficiency of HR, not being paid salary, bonus or severance in a timely manner, not being reimbursed for costs, like airfare, medicals or visas, and overtime hours not compensated for, are only some examples of valid complaints.

After research, and you still question the reputation of the employer/ recruiter, do not send your resume. Look elsewhere…

3) Job Information

What are my duties?

A very important duty...deciding on which shoes the boss should wear.
But it's not  related to teaching!

A teacher should, of course, be responsible for teaching. Overtime hours must be stipulated in the contract and the corresponding overtime pay. If your duties involve extracurricular activities, including, but not limited to, organizing games, attending school functions outside of normal workday hours, creating textbooks for which will be used by other members of staff, you need to get this explained in writing. You do not want to arrive at a new job, finish teaching for the day and then your boss demands you wash her car or hit the street.

If she's your employer, well then, you should maybe think about washing her car.

 

4) Employer Information

Who - exactly - am I going to work for?

That's why you research...to avoid working for a Chechen terrorist. 

My biggest pet-peeve, one that screams the employer/ recruiter is not reputable or smart enough to invest in purchasing a website, is the use of free email accounts. Send your resume at your own risk.

Is there a website for you to research the mission, vision and goals of the employer? Are there pictures that show where you'll be working? Can you contact other teachers to ask them questions about the job?

Recruiters work on commission. The bad lot will promise you everything under the sun just to get you to sign the contract so they get paid. When you arrive to start work, you might find conditions are bottom-of-the-barrel bad. Trust only what a recruiter says if you can verify it by another source: teachers who work for the employer, message boards and unbiased reviews from a Google search. 

5) Personal Preferences

What do I like/ dislike about the job prospect?

Yes...you've got to decide!

You have to manage your expectations before sending your resume. Expect a worst case scenario, and ask yourself if you still could work there. 

Can you last a seventeen week semester if you're teaching thirty contact hours? What happens to your salary if your contact hours drop because student enrollment has dropped? After six months, will I want to flee the country? Can I live on the salary offered if a sizable chunk of that money is going towards renting a flat? What is my savings potential? Are promotions available?

These are just five of the reasons anyone should conduct research about potential employers/ recruiters. You should brainstorm other aspects to think about which may be of personal value to yourself. If you have other points you'd like to suggest, I'm all ears. After all, this blog is about helping the underrepresented TEFL teachers share information about employers, good and bad. 

Why I Hate Employers with Gmail, Yahoo, Hotmail Email Addresses

The embodiment of  companies that use free email addresses.

Because it screams they did not invest any time, effort and/ or money in producing a company/ school website. Or they are scam artists.

It is near painless to have an online presence nowadays. It speaks of laziness on the part of the employer.

You could be cultivating a quality impression instead of doing this

If you promote yourself as a reputable employer, then produce a quality, informative website for candidates to browse at his/ her leisure.

People that run scams use free email addresses like the ones offered by the above mentioned companies.

Advice for job candidates: Be wary of corresponding with anyone using those free email addresses. They are either trying to scam you, or are low-quality employers.

Use your goddamned critical thinking abilities, people!

Deplorable Jobs of the Week May 5, 2013

GOOD

1) Oxford Language Center - English Teachers Guatemala City, Guatemala: July-December 2013

The post is straightforward and provides all the necessary information for a candidate to make a sound decision of whether or not to send off her resume. The contact hours (22-25) are explicit and the number of working days (5 and a half...which is quite high for only making $500/ month.) Only a BA is required. However, a candidate needs to question the post not mentioning accommodation. If you have to pay your own rent, that’s going to take a huge chunk of your salary. You’ll be breaking even at the end of the month if you don’t adjust to the typical Guatemalan way of life. The job is requiring only a 6 month commitment. It’s a chance to experience a fantastic country, and get your foot in the door. You could query other language institutes in the area and line-up a solid Business English teaching job once you finish your contract. A good job for noobs from North America.

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BAD

2) ILA Vietnam - Summer School Teaching Positions Available at ILA Vietnam

Despite offering a well-written job post by a reputable company, it lacks some basic information any candidate would have to question. First, the salary is an hourly rate. Do they guarantee a minimum number of contact hours so that you’re not left eating your shoe by the end of the month? How many students in each class? Is accommodation provided or accommodation allowance added to your salary? Will you be required to travel to other institute locations to teach? Will ILA pay you for travel time? I do like the subsidized CETYL and DELTA courses on offer. Quite valuable, and I think worth it to help offset the costs.

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NOT WORTH IT

3) Kawader Al Tanmiah - Teachers Needed in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

No mention of salary range, vacation days, contact hours, number of students in class, or which university you will be working for. The housing allowance is vague: is that your total housing allowance for the year? As well, when they request your certificates to be verified, they need to be more specific so as to give the candidate a heads-up. In order to secure a Saudi visa, you need your TEFL certificate and any degrees you possess to be attested. It’s a long process that requires time. As well, the yahoo email address makes me wary of sending all of my personal documents to this company.

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4) Yu Chia – Taiwan Buxiban (Cram School)

What I like: 20 contact hours per week, provided accommodation despite paying a low monthly rent.

What I don’t like: Not even the typical 60,000 salary. 53,000. Where did they get such an arbitrary number? No mention of flight reimbursement. The 30,000 severance is not enough to cover a one-way plane trip back to North America. Sneaky-sneaky. At the bottom of the post, it reads: ‘Be physically fit as to work nine to twelve hour days and remain active with children.’ A 60 hour work week? That’s a lot of overtime. And yes the post mentions you will be paid for overtime. But I have to wonder, what do they consider overtime work? For instance, if you are preparing lessons or decorating the classroom or participating in extra-curricular activities, those are not teaching hours. I assume this school would only pay for overtime contact hours. It is a Buxiban. They are a business. They will squeeze every ounce of energy out of their teachers in order to get their money’s worth. Also, contact email is a Hotmail address. No website for the school. Be warned!

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5) Afghan Turk International School

Self-explanatory...

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6) TeachingChile

Never pay a recruiter to secure you a job. There are thousands of reputable jobs out there that do not require you to pay any kind of fee. Yes you may have to foot the bill for airfare and visa costs, but the reputable employers will reimburse you. TeachingChile can go screw...just like English-and-Skype.

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7) Ballenger-Atherton Group - ARAMCO Contractor seeks English and Linguistics  

Congratulations! We have a new addition to my Shit List!

Come on? Really? The pay is not ARAMCO by any means. A standard, legit ARAMCO teaching position includes a 2 week vacation every four months. You get round-trip tickets for EACH VACATION. Cost of living and accommodation allowance, which is 65% of your base pay, is given to you even if you are staying in provided, free accommodation. These sons-of-bitches are criminals, just like the other bad apple recruiters working for ARAMCO. They are skimming off your salary and paying you this bullshit. Do not send your resume to these bottom-feeding scum. Really? Gmail address? Sloppy, sloppy criminals.

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Jobs Week of April 28, 2013

Good

 Language Link Vietnam

Good, straight forward post with all the pertinent information you need to make a reasoned decision to send your CV. Pay is average range for school in Vietnam. I like how they guarantee you a minimum number of contact hours.

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Bad

Brainsmart Training & Development 

The pay is low, even by Malaysian standards. Usually the range for jobs is between 5-7,000 MYR, which is about 1,600 – 2,300 USD. No mention of a website for you to conduct your own research. I did find a short company bio here. No mention of contact hours. I’m wary of the gmail address. As you know, if the company was legit, or not a start-up, they would've provided a company email address, like someone@brainsmart.com. Just an example.... Not a good post, but maybe it is worth your time to get some answers to your questions.

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International House – San Diego

No mention of pay. No website. Still worthwhile to email your CV if you’re around San Diego.
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Not Worth It

TeachingChile

TeachingChile is a pay service. You should never pay anyone to secure a job. Even for recruiters in Korea, China, or other countries, the applicant is not responsible to pay the recruiter fee. That is the obligation of the school or institute.

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English-and-Skype

You can read my previous post about this company here. They’re obviously hurting for teachers, because this is their 7^th post just for the month of April alone. 

In a nut shell, the application is lengthy. They schedule a phone interview to ask you inane grammar questions, some of which you already answered in their online application form. Then they schedule a teaching demonstration via Skype. Then they make a decision on you as a candidate. Why can’t they interview you via Skype and ask you questions about your education and work experience and some hypothetical ‘What would you do if...’ type questions to see how you as a teacher would respond. That’s a normal job interview. Instead of screening applicants with stages, I wish the heads of EAS would just use their head and discern the truth. 

This company is not Cambridge or Oxford. It’s an online company. Stop the bullshit. Change your marketing, interview and hiring tactics. If you want to develop a good relationship with teachers, sincerely listen to them during the interview, make your decision based on what you hear.

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Teacha Language School

The pay is low, but typical for Thai schools seeking candidates with 0-1 year of experience. The kicker is they don’t provide accommodation or a subsidy to help offset the costs. You will be breaking even if you continue to have a western life style. You might save a few dollars if you immerse yourself in Thai culture, living and eating as they do. This job is not worth your time because the post provides no details about the students. Will you be teaching young learners only? Adults? How many in a class? There are better jobs in Thailand that offer better pay, lower contact hours and provide accommodation allowance. Keep looking...

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E-Communication online teaching in Japan

Similar to English-and-Skype. Their application process puts you through the ringer. This company constantly has a job advert on TEFL.com website. They must have a high turnover rate of teachers leaving and/ or quitting. Caution: if you are not Caucasian, this company will not hire you.
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Thailand

1) Prime Teachers Bangkok                                                              GOOD

If you are from the UK, you're in luck! A sweet job awaits your consideration. Despite not mentioning the contact hours, the job package is enough to make me swoon (with envy as I'm not British.)

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2) King's College of English (Thailand) Co Ltd                                   NOT WORTH IT

You want me to teach how many hours and for how much pay?

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South Korea

Week of April 22, 2013

SOUTH KOREA...lookin' damn fine this week!

1) ENI School

GOOD

Low salary for teaching kids. High contact hours. Low vacation time. Good unshared furnished apartment. 

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2) OK Recruiting  

GOOD  

Recruiter. Good variety of jobs. Just be firm with your preferences, as they may try bait and switch.

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3) SeoulESL Inc.

GOOD

Recruiter. Wary they don’t list the school/ institute name, as you can’t research info before the interview. Some contact hours are 120/ month = 30/ week.

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4) YBM

GOOD

Good salary, opportunity for o/time, subsidized language lessons, housing allowance and key money. Good fit for 0-2 years experience. Multi-locales offered in Korea.

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5) Planet People

GOOD

Recruiter. Good range of jobs. Again, specify and be firm on your preferences.  

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6) Chonnam National Uni. Yeousu Campus 

GOOD

Excellent package on offer for Native Eng Speakers with 1 year experience and Bachelors Degree. But location is out in the boonies, if you don’t mind. 

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China

Week of April 22, 2013

1) Wall Street: English                                                                   GOOD

Reasonably passable, except weekend work; do you have 2 consecutive days off, or will you only have 1? Not specified. 35 contact hours is huge for that kind of money when part of that pay has to go towards housing. 
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3)Asia Experts Network Limited (aen)                                          BAD

Recruiter. Fair job details, however, what turns me off is ‘In some cases,’ give a range or define the parameters. This makes me think everything is up in the air, and decided on a whim. Under what terms would you not receive your ‘bonus?’
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4) Shanghai Euroway Training Centre                                            NOT WORTH IT

Quality of the post is bad. Misspellings, incorrect grammar. The pay is way too low, as you are expected to use part of your monthly pay to rent a flat. Hours good, but 7 days unpaid vacation...please.
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5) Nanjing English First Training School                                         NOT WORTH IT 

No mention of salary, contact hours, visa reimbursement, or severance pay.

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6) Disney English                                                                           NOT WORTH IT 

Pay is moderate, but should be higher if teaching children. Contact hours include nights and weekends. No mention of days off in a week. ‘Deliver private lessons as required.’ This sounds to me like unpaid teaching that is scheduled during your down time. The license for Rosetta Stone Mandarin is a joke. IF they are using Disney’s name legally, they should be able to provide free onsite face-to-face Chinese classes, or at the very least subsidized. No mention of the number of vacation days that are paid. No mention of severance at the end of the contract. Return flight is calculated in your monthly pay, which is bananas. ‘Robust academic training’ means they will put you in a fishbowl and micromanage your teaching. Observations constantly.

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7) Prime Teachers (Recruiter)                                                       NOT WORTH IT

No mention of number of vacation days, contact hours or flight pay or reimbursement.

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8) Ba Zhou Petroleum No. 1 Middle School                                 NOT WORTH IT

Terrible pay, similar to local pay, but you’re a foreigner with foreign bills to pay, massive class sizes, ridiculous statement about 7 years and no ‘accusations of abuses.’ 1 foreign teacher currently. Worked with 20 foreigners, but of course, 19 of them were not retained. Airfare reimbursement, but what about outward, or return flights? Travel allowance is 30, 000 RMB which has to be a typo. No mention of number of hours you must be on campus (40 hour work week?)

With such a sloppy presentation in a job posting, what else is sloppy about this job?

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...

Gold Star TEFL Recruitment - Wall Street Institute Saudi Arabia

Oh the lovely sand dunes! Oh the boredom!

Living and working in Saudi Arabia is not for the feint of heart. One must throw expectations to the wind and prepare for a soul-trying time teaching the students English.

'But these students are motivated,' you claim after reading the job advertisement here.

Motivated or not, Saudi students are a handful. The reason being is their lack of study skills. Throughout their high school experience, they've been accustomed to a traditional classroom format. There is not much discussion in class, and there is only one answer for each question on exams. No essays where justification/ explanation is involved to highlight a student's deep understanding of the content. Students cram before tests so they can hold the information long enough to regurgitate it onto the multiple choice answer sheet. Review material is created by teachers who don't value the learning process, which means the answers to the exam are printed on the review material. So what happens when it's time for the final exam? Students regurgitate (the good ones) or the students purchase the answers from their overworked, underpaid and underappreciated teachers. This is the typical high school experience of a Saudi student.

In the classroom orientation - progressive, as opposed to the traditional one - described by Wall Street Institute's job posting, where experience and sharing is prioritized, can be quite frustrating for Saudi students because such an environment runs contradictory to their previous educational experience. Their expectations may not be met; they may not feel like they are learning. When they get frustrated, they don't come to class. Or, if they do go to class, they disrupt the other learners and make teaching damn near difficult to cover the target language appropriately. They need to learn the basics of study skills like note-taking, how to create and use study material, how to actively listen in class, and how to interact with a text efficiently and how to be respectful to the teacher, the other students and the learning process. As well, many students look upon teachers as servants who must provide them with the answers to pass. Quite a tall order for any teacher. Re-orientating students is quite a challenge and even more so for inexperienced teachers.

Why do I bring up this issue of Saudis and motivation and their learning experiences? Because the job advertised does not require teachers to have any - ANY! - teaching experience.

If you are a noob teacher, please don't jump head-on into a 2 year contract in such a difficult educational scenario as Saudi Arabia.

Do yourself a favor and apply elsewhere to get your experience. Japan, Korea, China or Taiwan are good places to start. Those countries offer government sponsored work for native English speakers.  Do a Google search for 'Gepik' (Korea) 'NET' or 'JET' programs in Japan, China and Taiwan.

You need to find out if you've got what it takes to be an effective teacher, which means you need to learn the basics of planning engaging lessons, how to pace your lessons, how to deliver them, and how to manage a classroom of students. Yes the job advert says you don't need to plan lessons, but having a solid foundation of how to do so will help you deliver the lessons more effectively. I'm an experienced teacher (a nice euphemism for being so old!) and still I need to prepare my lessons on teaching the past simple verb tense. Why? Because all classes are different, and all students don't have the same needs/ interests. Lesson preparation ensures you make yourself aware of how the lesson will go. You have a chance to predict and anticipate possible problems and curtail the information to coincide with students' interests/ learning styles.

You might find you don't like teaching in general. In an environment such as those previously mentioned countries, you can cut your teeth, so to speak, much better than in Saudi Arabia. I'm not saying all people are the same, I'm just saying you run the risk of being knee-deep in a possible worst-case scenario. Classroom management - even if it's a class of two or three students - is always an issue in the teaching context of Saudi Arabia. If you go to Saudi with zero experience, you'll face a steep learning curve.

Most people choose to teach in Saudi for the money. If you're Muslim, then it's for the experience of living in the birth place of Islam. Attending the mosques is always a spiritual experience, even for me who is not a Muslim. Yet, I could not be bothered to teach for Wall Street Institute in Saudi Arabia for such low pay.

My advice if you've got zero experience: learn the art of teaching before going to Saudi. Even for teachers that have many years of experience, Saudi learners can be quite difficult to manage.

If you've got at least two years of teaching experience, apply to Saudi universities because they offer a much better employment package than the one offered by Wall Street.

There's no mention of contact hours. Are you teaching 30 hours per week? If your contact hours drop because not many students are enrolled, does that mean your salary drops as well?

2000 Riyals is not enough to rent a furnished hotel-apartment. The going rates in Riyadh were around 2,500 -3,500 per month. Maybe you will be working out in the boonies where rates are lower. But ask yourself, can you handle the boredom?

Also: the visa fees are paid by the teacher! Extraordinary. No teacher should pay for the visa, which is required for them to work in that country. I can't believe Wall Street would be so petty.

Remember: before applying to any job, ask yourself a few important questions.

What are my expectations for the culture and/ or work?

What is my personality like? Will I be bored without having many social activities? Or do I like to spend my time doing solitary activities?

What if I don't like the culture and/ or work? Do I have a contingency plan? (like finding another job in the country, or fleeing in the middle of the night? Fleeing in Saudi is nearly impossible, especially if your employer keeps your passport. As well, if you flee, you are blacklisted in Saudi at least for one calendar year).

Do your homework, research, and ask lots of questions if you are interviewed. In short, leave no stone unturned.