Job Discussion Forums

[artemisia]

[Hod]

This company is doing the right thing checking out candidates this way. Teaching jobs in Germany with a real contract are non-existent now. And they�re paying quite a bit more. Mainly, though, teaching in-house is just about the toughest job going. There won�t be a staffroom with wall-to-resources and other teachers to bitch and moan with. You�ll be there in the company forty hours a week sat amongst the students and the others. We�ve all been in staffrooms with unprepared colleagues shouting at photocopiers and being a pain. You can�t do that in a company.

[artemisia]

The company is checking out candidates in this way because they can. It is really hard to get a proper teaching job in Germany so any company that offers one can pick and choose. With the global downturn, it's an employer's market just about everywhere now and in many fields. Thus they can make applicants jump through a lot of hoops.

I agree that in-house teaching is really tough though - so probably not all teachers are going to go the distance with a contract. Not having that regular contact with colleagues can have its good points but it's quite a lonely way to work - just you and whatever company you go to.
If you get a position like this you really have to build up professional contacts locally in other ways.

[Minny]

It was quite obvious to me that it is an established recruitment policy and procedure not something that changes on the whim of the economy. They weren't just making it up as we went along to see what new tricks I could do, they were organised, everything had a purpose and they knew what they were looking for.

I guess to most people in the EFL industry this recruitment process does seem excessive but I can assure you this type of recruitment process is common outside TEFL land.

[artemisia]

I have also worked outside of "TEFL Land" and apart from the UK have not undergone such a rigorous interviewing system but I suppose that will depend on the field you're applying in or position applied for.

I am sure this company has a well-developed interviewing policy not based on whims and that they offer decent contracts. I think they've been around for a long time (?). My 'jumping through hoops' comment was applied to employers in general in an employer's market. If the EFL market in Germany suddenly boomed (unlikely I know) and as a result there were hardly any English language teachers available because they were being snapped up everywhere, quite possibly this company would still continue to have the same recruitment policy.

To be honest your initial post came across to me a bit like you were a recruiter for the company but that's obviously not the case.

[Minny]

One look at my length of membership and my other posts would make it clear I am not a recruiter for this company nor am I a troll.

[artemisia]

A fair enough comment!

Well, then it really is good to get a glowing report of a good place to work. Unfortunately it's not that common in Germany, therefore, as with your experience, it's obviously worth persevering with the lengthy recruitment process.

[Minny]

Understandable on these forums it is sometimes difficult to sort the trash from the treasure.

[Yorks Lad]

I'm a serious EFL teacher with a DELTA and like the sound of working for InCorporate. Their ads quote a salary of �2900 per month. What would that be after tax? (I haven't worked in Germany before). Also, it does sound like a good deal financially - am I right? (I expect that they and their clients would have demanding standards but as I said, I'm a serious teacher and I'd expect to deliver as well). Thanks.

[Minny]

I'm not really great at navigating the German tax system yet. But I found this calculator and when I plugged my income in it gave me a fairly accurate answer.

With 2900 it is telling me 1.823,66 euro per month. But this answer comes with a disclaimer

Give it a go yourself.

http://www.parmentier.de/steuer/steuer.htm?wagetax.htm

[Hod]

Yes, I get the same figure using that link.

This assumes Yorks Lad:

is Tax Class 1 - single, no kids
will pay some sort of pension/unemployment insurance (might be able to avoid this)
pays no church tax (you don't have to, it only means not ticking one box)

Health insurance is mandatory in Germany. Over a certain salary, employees can pay for private insurance. The salary quoted isn't high enough to allow this. Therefore, 15% of the salary is taken by a public health insurance company, but the employer will pay half of this.

[Yorks Lad]

Hi,

Thank you very much for your help. Is �1800 per month a good wage for a German city? It seems OK to me (though I'm shocked at how much goes in tax/insurance). Thanks again.

[Hod]

Taxes are high, but pretty much every German does a yearly tax return to claw back some money for travelling expenses, insurance costs, etc. Health insurance looks painful, but you will get excellent cover.

You'd have a good time on that money. At my company, a graduate engineer with one or two year's experience gets a net monthly income of about �2500.

I really doubt many teaching positions in the EU will offer a guaranteed �1800 a month. Presumably this includes five to six weeks holiday a year.

[Minny]

I overheard a guy on the train the other day who was excited about getting 1200 euro nett for his first job he was an IT graduate. (No I'm not nosy I'm participating in real time listening training.) I think that is probably a bit low but anything above 1500 euro nett you can have a more than comfortable life here.