Job Discussion Forums

[JenB]

I appreciate that some of us have had bad experiences and want to warn the rest of us about applying to these places. BUT can anyone recommend some places fro us to apply to?? I�ve heard good and bad comments abt some of the places mentioned on this site and now I�m wondering if anyone is working for a company or school where every staff member is happy??? Does such a place excist or is this just wishful thinking??

[cheeky]

Jen,

Are you applying from overseas or are you already in HK? It makes a difference whether you need sponsorship or not.

[bburns]

I have actually considered this question for some time and am sorry to say that in my limited time in Hong Kong I wouldn't vouch for any learning centres or agents. I can say though that if you apply directly to Primary and Secondary schools the rules and regulatios of the Education department (EMB) and the Labour department are more than enough to prevent any wrong doing by principles and co-workers for fear of losing a spot in a field with ever-shrinking opprotunities. This doesn't mean the experience will be pleasureable but you will at least get what is lawfully yours, eg. salary,benifits, etc.

I think the point is that employment here is a crap shoot. When things are going well no one is drawn to write a posting here but when they go wrong you can see what happens. I'm sure there are good centres and I've heard that Eureka and Brilliant are alright centres but please don't take that as first hand experience or trust it one bit. In the end you will have to use your best judgement, ask others about the company (this forum is a good place), and then just pray that you get lucky.

[JenB]

Cheeky: I will need sponsorship - something that many places don't seem to like to be involved in. And I wouldn't want to risk working in HK or anywhere else without a visa.
I think the comment made by bburns is really true re: when teachers are happy they don't post positive comments up on these sites as it doesn't cross their minds. It's only when someone thinks they've been wronged that they take to the keyboard. I've been teaching in Asia for 4 years and worked in one place where the owner was constantly placing positive comments up on these sites pretending to be a teacher. And yet in another school we had a terrible teacher who was eventually fired for their bad time keeping who posted so many messages up that it looked like 20 teachers were filing complaints. So I guess the moral here is take everything with a pinch of salt and unless you hear first hand from someone that you've known a while it's not worth really believing. I'm going to keep looking and trust my own judgement but it's always good to be able to look into this site to see what's going on if nothing else it gives great ideas for interviews ie what to ask about (something I always seem to forget to do!!)