Jobs of the Week September 8, 2013

Back from Vacation

For all you job hunters out there with questions upon questions about reputable EFL employers, I am back and at your service.

GOOD

1) Ray English Recruitment – China

Provides (as always) a good number of positions available with reputable employers. Good for noobs with no years of experience.

Testimonials

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2) Shane English School – China

Up front about contact hours, salary and accommodation ranges and curriculum. Though, they did mention a sixth day of work that could be added as a bonus into your salary or to accumulate as time off later in the contract. Sneaky, sneaky, but worth a shot. 

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BAD

3) Assumption College, Bangrak, Bangkok, Thailand

The contract on offer is more than decent considering standard pay is about 60,000 THB. However, these people would disagree.

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4) Westgate Corporation – Japan

Not a bad gig, though the contract dates are an issue. A friend of a friend who used to work for this company said that yes accommodation was supplied, but upon the final day of the contract you had to vacate the abode. For him, that meant leaving the country because Japan was so expensive for him. And that also meant Westgate did not reimburse him for the flights. If you are going to inquire about a job, check with the company to see if they’ve changed their policy about accommodation. If you get a job, be prepared to vacate on the final day.

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NOT WORTH IT

5) Teachers for Primary School – Phnom Pehn, Cambodia

$150 / month for 25 contact hours! Yes it’s Cambodia, but I mean, the school at least has to provide flights or an allowance, or else teachers with 0$ to their name will never be able to save enough money to fly home!

Job hunters beware.

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6) B & A International Languages – China

B & A International Languages you had me at ‘hello,’ but then lost me when I read teachers had to supply lesson plans one week in advance.

Holy shnikes! According to the post, there’s no mention of a set curriculum. Me thinks you will be creating from scratch, and that’s a tall order without having to provide the plans a week in advance. It’s a tough cookie, and I would save myself the headache of doing so. There are other jobs that have a set curriculum and don’t require you to provide lesson plans in advance.

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Jobs of the Week June 23, 2013

Some good pickin's to finally whet my appetite. And in case you’re wondering, I don’t work for EF or English First. Good huntin’ to the lot of you.

GOOD

Hopefully this will be you

1) EF English First Yuci – China

Comprehensive package on offer: accommodation, salary, bonus, flight allowance. Quite generous for noobs fresh out of University. Though, no mention of contact hours.

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2) Golden Bridge Training Center – China

Low pay, but what can you expect for 0 years of experience and working in China? From the post, I gather there’s solid support for new teachers, provided accommodation, generous holidays on offer (though one could expect to be teaching for Winter Camp holidays, and if you are paid for it is another question to ask in the interview) free Chinese lessons.

Give it a go.

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3) English First – Hefei, China

Good package for noob teachers, but does require a TEFL cert. The pay is quite low for candidates with a CELTA. Don’t they know it costs around $2,000 for that training?

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4) EF English First Swara Group – Indonesia

No mention of salary or even a range. ‘Accommodation assistance,’ which means you will not be provided an allowance. Flight allowance (return ticket, though from where? You home country, hopefully.) No mention of contact hours or number of students in class. As well, you have the choice of working in Jakarta or the outskirts. Be careful of a bait and switch, as Jakarta differs drastically from the countryside.

I would apply, but ask many, many questions.

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5) Oxford House College – UK

If I was going back home this summer, I’d apply. Low pay, but provided meals and accommodation.

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6) SELECT EMPLOYMENT – Turkey

Good pay...for Turkey. But you’ll be paying for rent out of your take home salary. Flight allowance. No mention of contact hours, though I’m sure they will differ depending on what age groups you’ll teach. Expect more hours for young learners. Job post requests teachers have 1 year experience + CELTA.

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BAD

Choose where to send your C. V. wisely!

7) COMPASS Education - Vietnam

While not entirely bad, as the presentation of the post is helpful and straightforward. The only inference worth noting is the pay and accommodation. If you are paid hourly and your contact hours drop, you could make substantially less money. Makes things difficult, such as ensuring you have enough money to pay rent at the end of the month.

I would look for a salaried position.

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8) Meten English – China

Not too bad. Yes the flight is reimbursed, along with the visa and medical costs, but are you provided with an outgoing or return flight? 40 hour week with 25 contact hours is not too bad. But using the other 15 hours to learn about Meten’s methodological approach could mean a very tiring work week. I would understand this if your teachers were noobs, but the job requires the teacher to be TEFL certified.

Could be promising if you ask the right questions: salary? accommodation allowance?

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NOT WORTH IT

Choosing this job is just as terrible a choice as the tats above.

9) Kidz-n-us – Hong Kong, China

Good salary, but you’ll be paying for accommodation. It can be quite expensive in Hong Kong.

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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 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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National Careers Service

A comprehensive website devoted to the job-hunt. The site provides advice in regards to anyone seeking any kind of career or employment.

What I found useful was the C. V. section. There is a C. V. builder, advice for what to write (and leave out) in each section, as well as explanation of what some key words mean when you come across them in job adverts.

A great, useful tool, especially for fresh graduates looking for that first job, but have loads of questions about the hunt. 

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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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?

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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.

English Teacher: Uncle Lion English Academy (South Korea)

"You do want a job?"

"You do want make impression good on youth of style for improvement?"  

Please no rhetorical questions to 'hook my interest.' I'm only interested in the details of the job. Give me those in a straight-forward manner and you've got my interest.

You can read the entirety of this post here from www.tefl.com.

This redunkulous grammar structure is enough to make your head spin. But, that's why I actually like this post - it's hilarious!

A word of advice to Uncle Lion English Academy: Get a native speaker to edit/ proofread your job post before you submit it for thousands upon thousands of native English speakers to view.  

This is a cringe-worthy job posting. The pay is reasonable, as well as the contact hours, but the posting is enough to turn me off of this job. There's no quality in the presentation. So, dear job hunter, why should you believe this company would be good quality?

Things of note:

There's no mention of reimbursement for the medical check and visa costs. Most likely, they will not reimburse you. 

The medical insurance: yes, the company pays for half, but that means the other half is taken out of your paycheck each month. It's a common practice in Korea.

If you have to pay for the apartment, it is not mentioned. But methinks, you will not have to pay because they are stipulating you cannot smoke in the abode.

Here's an example of a good posting.

It's direct, provides necessary information about the job and, best of all, gives me a website to look for further information (in the complete posting). Well done! As well, there are no idiotic rhetorical questions that make me want to rip out my fingernails.

But as with any job in Korea, make sure the contract they send you in your home country matches the contract they ask you to sign once you get to Korea. If it doesn't match, don't sign. First, show your employer the differences, then negotiate, if need be. Second, if all else fails, you can always find another employer once you are in-country. You may have to do a visa run, however, to start a new contract.

Keep on high-alert for crap postings like this one from Uncle Lion (what a name for a company!) Spread the word of this shlock-fest, and hopefully employers will have to improve…at least with their job postings.

Do good English search for job make fun!

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!