Job Discussion Forums

[geosmiley]

I'm thinking about a switch to online work. I've interviewed with 6 Chinese companies and I've found then to be poorly organized with even poorer material. In other words, big hats but no cattle.

What I'm looking for ideally is a position teaching adults who have a real reason for learning English, e.g., study abroad, immigration etc. I've reviewed some mostly dated threads on this forum and they were helpful to a point.

If anyone has had or is [b]currently[/b] having a good experience please let me know.

[jimpellow]

I have written about this before. I dealt with Mainland Chinese schools for five years in China, and worked for one online subsequently and vowed never again. This refusal included a $30 an hour gig for 10 hours a week teaching Business English.

I now work for three schools (Japanese, French, and Saudi) all teaching adults. It wasn't easy, but I am to the point where I am giving up a non-ESL income source as I am so busy with the French and Saudi schools. All three schools treat me very well and the pay averages about $16 an hour.

As I have stated before, most fail with the online route as they have zero business acumen. They just expect someone to hand them an online ESL gig that will support them with 2k plus a month. Further, a fair amount seem unable to follow a schedule if they are not forced into a physical school environment.

There a ton of online opportunities teaching adults to be had. Go out and find them and string a few together to start. Best to contact the schools directly and find gigs on non-esl job boards. I am somewhat fortunate as I mark IELTS papers when I do not have a class scheduled, so I can keep productive during a block of time. Best to look for one job of this nature as part of your strategy.

[geosmiley]

Money isn't the object with me; I should have made that clear. There are lots of lists with companies from all over the world and they are easy to find. However, what I am looking for is a company with some integrity. I want a company that actually has some idea of how language is acquired and can answer a basic question such as, "What is the difference between the GSL and the AWL?" Maybe that is too much to ask in the slimy world of ESL no matter the type of organization. Finally, I guess it all depends on how you define opportunity and a good experience.

The one thing interesting about your post was that you are working for three different companies. Is that to protect yourself or for some other reason? You can PM me if it would be easier.

[jimpellow]

The three schools, along with a couple non-ESL income streams, were part of the strategy to clear 3k USD plus per month.

Although all three of my schools are concerned about quality of instruction, integrity etc, only one could answer your sample question.

In short, I think if you avoid the Chinese schools, you will eventually find that some of these schools offer what you seemingly seek.

[simon44]

A few days ago, I had an initial interview with a Chinese online school that is apparently 'the biggest in China...' (alphabet letters in their name).

The interviewer was 20 minutes late.

I was unable to access the online classroom for a training session, because the interviewer had given me incorrect log-in details, and I was marked as late for not entering the classroom on time.

After the training session, I was then locked out of the classroom, and therefore unable to practice and familiarise myself with the functionality, prior to my demo lesson with a real student.

My 3 emails to their teacher support to urgently request access to their online classroom were ignored.....

I sent an email to the company declining to progress with their teacher recruitment programme, explaining that professionalism has to work both ways, and their 'set-up' definitely wasn't professional, (although I've no doubt that it is financially very successful for them).