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miss_betty
Joined: 05 May 2005 Posts: 41 Location: Hermosillo, Mexico
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Posted: Mon Jun 27, 2005 2:06 am Post subject: Please help-are these requirements comensurate with benefits |
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I am looking at Bell International for my very first teaching position.
I am woman, recent CELTA grad. I'm not sure if the job responsibilities match the pay. Can you please advise
Main responsibilities:
* work as required and to timetable specified by the Director of Studies. This includes administrative tasks and ensuring the day to day upkeep of classrooms and resources.
* teaching EFL up to 21 hours per week, plus cover if required
* preparation of lessons
* marking of homework and classwork
* preparation, administration and marking of placement, progress and achievement tests.
* assessment and reporting of student performance
* development of supplementary materials for core syllabuses or for special courses
* contributing to the in-service training of Bell colleagues through presentations and workshops
* attending staff meetings and/or workshops arranged by senior staff
* assisting with the running of public ELT examinations
* playing a full and active part in the life of the school
And here are the benefits:
Compensation
You can expect:-
* one-year (12-month)or two-year (24-month) renewable contract
* up to 21 contact teaching hours per week
* gross salary range (dependent upon qualifications and experience) of between 37,600 - 46,000 Thai Baht per month (degree + Cambridge CELTA), or 41,000 - 48,000 (PGCE in relevant area), or 49,000 - 53,000 (DELTA).
* one single economy airfares for staff recruited outside of Thailand (1-year contracts)
* two single economy airfares for staff recruited outside of Thailand (2-year contract)
* end of contract completion bonus
* 8 weeks paid holiday per year, plus public holidays
* health and medical insurance cover in-country
* visa & work permit
* a commitment to providing you with in-service training and support in your continued professional development
All advice is appreciated. |
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sigmoid
Joined: 21 Jan 2003 Posts: 1276
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Posted: Mon Jun 27, 2005 3:27 am Post subject: |
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Dia is Muire dhuit f�in!
It's always good to see some Celts on the ESL cafe.
I'd say it is fair especially if you can get the top end of the pay range [46,000 Thai Baht per month]. It's a bit much for less than that, especially at the low end [37,600].
However, much of it is just normal routine teaching duties:
* work as required and to timetable specified by the Director of Studies. This includes administrative tasks and ensuring the day to day upkeep of classrooms and resources.
* teaching EFL up to 21 hours per week, plus cover if required
* preparation of lessons
* marking of homework and classwork
* preparation, administration and marking of placement, progress and achievement tests.
* assessment and reporting of student performance
This part is where they start to go overboard:
* development of supplementary materials for core syllabuses or for special courses
* contributing to the in-service training of Bell colleagues through presentations and workshops
* attending staff meetings and/or workshops arranged by senior staff
* assisting with the running of public ELT examinations
* playing a full and active part in the life of the school
Especially the last one... What does it mean? It seems rather open-ended. Most people prefer a full and active life OUTSIDE of the school. Otherwise, why bother coming to Thailand when you can make more money elsewhere.
One thing I will add is that Bell Int'l advertises frequently. |
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Sheep-Goats
Joined: 16 Apr 2004 Posts: 527
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Posted: Mon Jun 27, 2005 3:18 pm Post subject: |
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Bell typically leeches into some of the better schools in Thailand when those schools aren't quite ready to run their own foreign teacher setups yet. The conditions you described are all well above par for Thailand and it sounds like a great starter job to me.
Bell is notorious in Thailand for a heavy paperwork load, and for having you in every other or every third Saturday for some stupid sport's camp. But for 46k and airfare reimbursement it's worth it -- especially for a newbie. |
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miss_betty
Joined: 05 May 2005 Posts: 41 Location: Hermosillo, Mexico
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Posted: Tue Jun 28, 2005 2:38 am Post subject: |
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Do you have any suggestions in how to negotiate that higher range of 46,000bhat with relatively NO teaching experience.
I have a lovely personality and am quite charming .......does that help??? |
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sigmoid
Joined: 21 Jan 2003 Posts: 1276
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Posted: Tue Jun 28, 2005 8:37 am Post subject: |
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Well, remember officially it's 'baht', not 'bhat'. Sometimes Thais spell it 'bath'.
Anyway, you might set a range of 40 - 44K [approx. 1000 - 1100 USD] instead of going for the top rate. That would seem more reasonable as you have no teaching experience.
Emphasize any office, adminstrative or public speaking skills and experience that you have.
What about academic achievements or community service?
Emphasize the fact that you're a woman, especially if it's a job teaching kiddies. Do you have any child-care/girl scout experience?
Have you ever travel/studied/lived in countries other than the US to show cultural adaptability?
In short, you have no teaching experience, but what experience and skills do you have that are related to living and teaching in a foreign country for a year?
And sure, mention your ability to work well with other. It's a skill that many in the TEFL industry lack. |
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Sheep-Goats
Joined: 16 Apr 2004 Posts: 527
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Posted: Wed Jun 29, 2005 2:02 pm Post subject: |
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miss_betty wrote: |
Do you have any suggestions in how to negotiate that higher range of 46,000bhat with relatively NO teaching experience.
I have a lovely personality and am quite charming .......does that help??? |
"I listen very well to the guidance I'm given by my superiors, take great pride in my personal appearance, and love kids. On a previous visit to Thailand an English teaching friend there told me that women were in short supply, and as a woman I feel I can help broaden the types of exposure my potential students get to learning English."
Compliance, appearance and gender will be the cards to play. Bell has a lot of trouble with people telling them to stuff their goddam paperwork into this or that orifice, so if you sound like you're happy to do what they tell you you'll come out ahead.
Bell knows what it's doing, though, and it won't be easy for you to get to 45,000 being overseas and inexperienced. But give it a shot. If you can get 40k (on a Monday to Friday schedule) and airfare you'll have done better than 80% or so of the teachers in Thailand. |
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sojourner
Joined: 28 Jan 2003 Posts: 738 Location: nice, friendly, easy-going (ALL) Peoples' Republic of China
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Posted: Thu Jun 30, 2005 12:19 pm Post subject: |
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So, with Bell if you hold a DELTA certificate you'll get more money than if you 'merely' have a PGCE ! How long does it take to complete a DELTA course - the equivalent of 3 months f/t training ? And, how long does a PGCE take to do - 12 months f/t ? Why the discrepancy in pay rates ?
Peter |
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Masterjazz
Joined: 16 Feb 2005 Posts: 50 Location: Dublin, Ireland
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Posted: Thu Jun 30, 2005 1:44 pm Post subject: |
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That sounds good! (not that Im that experiened). Best of luck with it and let us know how you get on! Im going to THailand after xmas to live and teach and I too was gonna try Bell. So again-Good luck!
Ps- Betty are you really Irish?? |
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Sheep-Goats
Joined: 16 Apr 2004 Posts: 527
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Posted: Sun Jul 03, 2005 3:47 pm Post subject: |
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sojourner wrote: |
So, with Bell if you hold a DELTA certificate you'll get more money than if you 'merely' have a PGCE ! How long does it take to complete a DELTA course - the equivalent of 3 months f/t training ? And, how long does a PGCE take to do - 12 months f/t ? Why the discrepancy in pay rates ?
Peter |
IMO this if fair as the PGCE is not specifically focussed on English teaching while the DELTA most certainly is.
Most teaching credentials have the practical aspects attached as windowdressing -- generally in the form of internships for a specific period of time -- to an otherwise theorhetical base. I've talked with two people who both took a TEFL course and later got an MA in TESOL, and both said that the stupid little TEFL course gave them more tricks to employ for the in-classroom trenches. Maybe these guys were oddballs, or maybe they didn't get as much practical use out of their MAs because they got them after they had some teaching experience (while the TEFL generally comes before that) but they seemed sane enough to me.
DELTA folks also have an advantage in that they won't slip out of Bell for a international school job the first chance they get -- which is exactly what's on most PGCE holder's mind.
Also, the fulltime aspect of the DELTA is a little bit more "full time" than the PGCE -- you're in a classroom for 8 or 9 hours a day.
For reference, I don't have a DELTA and don't plan to get one any time soon, nor am I affiliated with the program any further than having gotten a CELTA three years ago. |
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miss_betty
Joined: 05 May 2005 Posts: 41 Location: Hermosillo, Mexico
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Posted: Sat Jul 09, 2005 6:13 am Post subject: |
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okay folks.
I took the plunge and applied at Bell.
They replied to my CV in one day! As we speak, I am filling out additional paperwork......
I am sooooooooooo nervous, but in a good way. |
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sigmoid
Joined: 21 Jan 2003 Posts: 1276
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Posted: Sat Jul 09, 2005 8:02 am Post subject: |
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Quote: |
I took the plunge and applied at Bell.
They replied to my CV in one day! |
Like many schools in Thailand and Asia they probably need someone in an urgent way. |
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miss_betty
Joined: 05 May 2005 Posts: 41 Location: Hermosillo, Mexico
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Posted: Sat Jul 09, 2005 3:14 pm Post subject: |
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Is there a teacher shortage in Thailand?? Or just a lot of competition among all the schools? |
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sigmoid
Joined: 21 Jan 2003 Posts: 1276
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Posted: Sun Jul 10, 2005 3:46 am Post subject: |
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Well, you're in California, right? If they need to recruit from overseas then there must be a problem locally. |
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massivegeoff
Joined: 16 Dec 2004 Posts: 43 Location: thailand
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Posted: Mon Jul 11, 2005 9:45 am Post subject: DELTA vs PGCE |
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in my experience, even modern foreign language pgce qualified people are not really very up on specific EFL/ESL type stuff. for example, i remember a french and italian teacher at my school who was unaware that there were two pronunciations of the letters 'th', as "think" and "that".
i think a pgce is pretty full on as well, but a DELTA is quite specific to TEFL, whereas a pgce teaches you about a lot of other things. i also met a guy who did a pgce (in post compulsory education) and a CELTA, and said he learnt far more about teaching from the CELTA!
anyway...i work for bell and i have few bad things to say it. i don't think the paper work is excessive. things like schemes of work and syllibi may seem like a lot, but they are designed to help you know what to do. as to working on all those saturdays...at sriracha we went through a phase of doing a few more than the "occassional" saturday as stipulated in the contract. but as half the teachers worked tuesday to saturday anywya, it didn't really affect them - they went to a ceremony rather than teach.
the salary you get is pretty much the best for efl in thailand, other than the british council or some (not all) of the international schools. and certainly the conditions (resources, training, support, holidays) are far better. if you get a job with bell in thailand fresh off your celta, as i did, i really think you'll find you've landed on your feet! |
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Sheep-Goats
Joined: 16 Apr 2004 Posts: 527
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Posted: Thu Jul 14, 2005 6:51 am Post subject: |
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miss_betty wrote: |
Is there a teacher shortage in Thailand?? Or just a lot of competition among all the schools? |
Right now Thailand is a teacher's market due to the Thai govt. having decided to try to pull more people into their schools and because the booming economy there is being spent on education by a lot of folks.
Don't be nervous if Bell replies in a day -- that's a good sign. Bell has a lot of teachers under their wing, and it could just be good luck that you hit them when someone else dropped out.
Oh, and there are non-Bell jobs that aren't in international schools that pay what Bell does, but they are rare.
Let us know what they offer you, please! |
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