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Teaching at PNET as an entry point to International schools?
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Perilla



Joined: 09 Jul 2010
Posts: 792
Location: Hong Kong

PostPosted: Fri Jun 01, 2012 6:37 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

My wife is at a high-end Band 1 English-medium school, and she has it somewhat better in the 'job satisfaction' and 'interraction with students ans colleagues' categories, but otherwise Joshua's summary is accurate and applies to the vast majority of NET schools.

HK is a numbers game - bums on seats, examination marks and money.
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GreenCardigan



Joined: 05 Oct 2006
Posts: 50
Location: Japan

PostPosted: Fri Jun 01, 2012 8:31 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thanks, guys. I appreciate the honesty.

When it comes to applying, is it best to be in Hong Kong or do they consider individuals living in Australia? Thanks.

Any age biases that you can tell? Do they want folks straight out of university?
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Perilla



Joined: 09 Jul 2010
Posts: 792
Location: Hong Kong

PostPosted: Fri Jun 01, 2012 9:37 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Most NETs apply from abroad and attend interviews in their home countries. It might be to your advantage if you were actually in HK, but I'm not sure about that. Perhaps others will comment.

Regarding age and experience, no they don't want fresh graduates - they prefer experienced teachers. My guess is that the average age of NETs is probably about 35-40, and there are plenty in their 40s and 50s. From what I can gather there are very few SNETs who don't have at least a couple of years of relevant post qualification experience, but apparently they aren't quite so fussy about PNETs, with some relatively inexperienced teachers taken on.
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oxi



Joined: 16 Apr 2007
Posts: 347
Location: elsewhere

PostPosted: Fri Jun 01, 2012 11:23 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

GreenCardigan wrote:
Thanks, guys. I appreciate the honesty.

When it comes to applying, is it best to be in Hong Kong or do they consider individuals living in Australia? Thanks.

Any age biases that you can tell? Do they want folks straight out of university?


As long as you can get to an initial face to face interview the EDB don't mind.

After acceptance on the scheme, schools will then have the chance to approach you for a second interview. Some want the convenience of another face to face, but most are ok with a Skype or phone interview. In other words there is a small advantage to being here.

Most NETs I've met are over 40 and had been teaching in their home country for a while before shifting to HK. Lots of Aussies and Kiwis
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oxi



Joined: 16 Apr 2007
Posts: 347
Location: elsewhere

PostPosted: Fri Jun 01, 2012 11:33 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Joshua2006 wrote:
ozman wrote:


challenging and fulfilling?? yes for first; no for second.
depends on the school you get and what they want you to do.
Depends if you get Band 1 EMI school; Band 2 or low Band 3 where you can expect "challenging" behaviour with students who have little interest in learning plus lots of students classed as "SEN".
Band 3 CMI....like mine.
Challenging? No.
Fulfilling? No.
Enjoyable teaching experience? No.
Stressful? No.
Rewarding? No.
Easy teaching? Yes.
Discipline issues with students? Yes
Take any work home with me? No.
Heavy workload? No.
Happy with the pay packet? Yes.
Working for money and not for the love of the job? Yes.
Do I want to change schools? No, unless it was a top school.
Would DSS pay more? No.
Would there be a better career chance in a DSS? Yes.
Would I recommend it to others? Yes.
Why? Money.
Are there better paid teaching jobs with this little stress? I sincerely doubt it.

Currently on about 34k. That's going up by nearly 2k with this pay rise. I also get a point increment in July. I get 3 k extra a month....what for? Well, no extra work and no extra stress and no extra hassle. Then add the housing allowance. It's all good and I really don't any other jobs that involve this little work for this much money.


[/quote]

Yep. Mostly.

I actually quite like my kids and colleagues.
My ongoing justification:-

they might sleep, or ignore me, but they don't get up and tell me to f%^& off as they might do back home

(you can guess whether I mean the kids or colleagues)

There are mini-challenges and successes. Getting one or two more F5s a pass in the exam - turning some of the '2s' into '3s'. Managing to avoid teaching/testing dictation for a whole month. That sort of thing.
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ozman



Joined: 12 Jun 2004
Posts: 133
Location: HONG KONG

PostPosted: Sat Jun 02, 2012 7:26 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Joshua2006 wrote:


Nice collegaues indeed....but you are still usually quite insular if you have been used to working in a foreign staffroom full of, well, foreigners such as yourself. There isn't quite the same 'commradery' (sp)....Kids....mixed bunch in a Band 3 CMI...very mixed bunch. How many times a day am I told to, well, duck off, in Chinese? Lose count by 8.30 am. PD? No. Seminars? No. Train new SNETs? Definitely no. Came from an international school. 50% extra in pay packet now. See 'Money' above....


ditto all the above.
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GreenCardigan



Joined: 05 Oct 2006
Posts: 50
Location: Japan

PostPosted: Thu Jun 14, 2012 12:50 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I've seen quite a few SNET (and PNET) positions advertised on the South China Daily online. I imagine then that it might not be too difficult to get an interview with NET program and begin mid-stream, say, late November.

Oz, Perilla, and others, once we are assigned a school to teach at, would that placement be permanent? I mean, could we transfer to a different school, to a more academic school, if and when a position becomes available and/or we're unhappy at our currenty school? Or does the SNET bureaucracy prohibit any transfers?

I assume that SNET positions that become available mid-stream are more likely to be at lower band schools and involve more challenging situations; otherwise, their teachers would not have left.

I'm fine with jumping to a lower-band school, putting in time, but it would be great if the door was always open to moving to an academic school down the road.

What do you guys think?

Thanks.
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Perilla



Joined: 09 Jul 2010
Posts: 792
Location: Hong Kong

PostPosted: Thu Jun 14, 2012 10:27 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I think you'd have to be here for mid-term vacancies - doubt they'd fly you in for interview.

Whatever, once employed on the NET scheme the contracts are usually for two years. It's tricky getting out during the contract but it can be done - usually at the end of the first year. Most NETs see out the two years and then switch if they feel the need to. But it's a gamble - you have to tell your employer you want out, but there's no guarantee you'll find a better school, and it's possible you'll end up with no school.
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GreenCardigan



Joined: 05 Oct 2006
Posts: 50
Location: Japan

PostPosted: Thu Jun 14, 2012 2:22 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Perilla, when applying to the program in their February hiring phase, do successful candidates have any say in where they are placed, or do public servants simply place you where they feel you'll be a good fit?

I guess you'd be kind of unluck to get a Band 3 school, with kids swearing at you in Chinese. Smile

I guess what I'm getting at is "would it be better to wait until the recruitment phase in February or move to HK this November and hit the pavement on my own?" In the latter case, I'm more likely to end up at a lower-rung school. (which I'd be okay with as long as I knew the option of moving to another school where there.)

Thanks,
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Perilla



Joined: 09 Jul 2010
Posts: 792
Location: Hong Kong

PostPosted: Fri Jun 15, 2012 3:58 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Hi GC. IMO, you'd be very lucky to arrive in November and breeze into a NET job. A more likely scenario would be that you come in November, find as good a job as you can - maybe with one of the better private language schools - and apply for NET positions as they come up. Also of course, apply for the main NET recruitment exercise when they advertise (BTW, I think they advertise here in late Nov/early Dec, not Feb).

If you pass the main NET recruitment interview (Feb/March I think) your name is then made available to the government schools, and it is up to them to get in touch. You are then interviewed all over again by the individual schools (this often takes place over the phone if the prospective teacher is in their home country). Final NET positions are often not confirmed until well into August, and few get sorted earlier than late July.


Hope this helps.
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GreenCardigan



Joined: 05 Oct 2006
Posts: 50
Location: Japan

PostPosted: Fri Jun 15, 2012 4:47 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Perilla, thanks for the pointers.

A couple of technical questions: Once sponsored by another language school would that rule us out of any NET benefits, like housing allowance? I would hope not. (although, I imagine they wouldn't reimburse you for the flight. Okay with that.)

The other point I wanted to make was that I read somewhere that in the recruitment phase those applying in Hong Kong were interviewed last.

I was wondering then whether it would be more advantageous to apply from outside the country. Or do you think it really makes any diifference at all?
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Perilla



Joined: 09 Jul 2010
Posts: 792
Location: Hong Kong

PostPosted: Fri Jun 15, 2012 7:07 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Hi GC,

Working for a private language school woul have no effect on NET benefits, because you have to stop working for the language school in order to become a NET ... so no problem. Airfare - no, I don't think you'll be reimbursed for that if you're already in HK, but that's not much of a loss!

I have no idea whether applicants in HK are interviewed last, though I can't see why that should be the case. And I couldn't say whether it's to your advantage to be in HK or outside.

I suggest you become a Guest Member on the NESTA forum (ie. the official NET forum) and take these Qs there:

http://nesta.hk/newversion/index.php?sid=
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GreenCardigan



Joined: 05 Oct 2006
Posts: 50
Location: Japan

PostPosted: Sun Jun 17, 2012 4:35 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thanks, Perilla. Smile
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GreenCardigan



Joined: 05 Oct 2006
Posts: 50
Location: Japan

PostPosted: Tue Jun 19, 2012 2:43 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Perilla, how active is the Nesta site?

Signed up last week, but there's a technical glitch with the site, so it doesn't allow me to enter as a guest or access the forum. Sent a couple emails days to staff and haven't heard a peep.

Would they be on holidays now? Smile
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Perilla



Joined: 09 Jul 2010
Posts: 792
Location: Hong Kong

PostPosted: Tue Jun 19, 2012 3:19 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Not sure, I've only used it a couple of times. It seems the last post was last Friday. My last post there took three days to get a response. Summer hols haven't started yet - still about 3 or 4 weeks away for most NETs. But you should be able to access the forum just by clicking the above link, no?
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