Job Discussion Forums

[laura1d]

Hi all,

I am looking at a job with the Creative Youth Academy in Athens. They are offering a one bedroomed apartment which is furnished.

The basic salary offer is 1150 Euros per month.

What do you think? Is this ok for Athens? Do you know the company?

Any advice would be really appreciated.

Thanks !

Laura

[niko60]

This is a very good first offer. Is there overtime potential?,Private lessons?
Sounds good, but do your research well before you accept.
N.

[laura1d]

Hi,

To be honest, the whole deal makes me very nervous..

I don't think I am going to follow it up.. Experience and knowledge makes me back off. If anyone else wants to risk it I will give you the details. It totally sounds cowboy to me but ..... if you want it I will give you the details.. Let me know.

Laura

[niko60]

I've been living in Athens for a long time, and I've never heard of this outfit. How did you find them? Do they have a web site? I tried a search and came up with nothing. Funny!! Let me know.

[laura1d]

This is the offer

Dear Laura,
welcome to creative academy.

About the school,location and offer

Brief History:
Creative youths academy was founded in january
2004,the school was a long dream of a famous
teacher,DR.FREDICH BREMER,who has taught in so many
schools both in Europe and Africa.It was out of the
experiences he incurred during his teaching
days,coupled with the enormous love he developed on
childern and youths,that he was able to settle with
creative academy.The dream came true in january 2004
after undergoing different processes.One of the motifs
of the organisation is to assist in educating the
underpriviledged ones among us,that is why the school
gives scholarships to such ones.Today many people from
diffrent schools are trooping in to study with us
because they consider us better.

Creative youths academy is situated in the centre of
Athens.Athens is a beautiful old city with a large
population . The town is large enough to offer a
cosmopolitan atmosphere and a ready range of nightlife
and places to see, but small enough that it�s normally
easy to get around on foot � whether from the school
to your apartment or from the local bar down to the
nearest beach.

Whether you�ve come looking for the fantastic food,
culture, friendly people, weather, stunning scenery,
nightlife, peace � or just a chance to start out
afresh somewhere new and face a different kind of
challenge in life � you can find it all in here in
Athens. There are numerous job opportunities through
Greece (with nearly 100 language schools ) the cost of
living is very low and the pace of life relaxingly
slow.

The weather is mild throughout the winter and normally
warm enough to sit outside the caf�s in shirtsleeves
all through the year. During the summer the
temperature can rise to 40 degrees Centigrade (100� F)
but the fact that you�re never far from a palm-fringed
beach helps to make this a little more bearable.

There is almost no rain at all between June and
September. However, whilst the winter is not exactly
wet, one does get the occasional thunderstorm between
November and March.

During the winter it can get a little cold at night
and a coat or jersey of some sort is recommended.
During the summer t-shirts and shorts are more
suitable. For working as an English teacher in Greece,
smart casual clothes are normally expected.

THE WORKIG DAY
During the day we will normally commence classes at 9
am and terminate 3pm.Exept on fridays that classes
close by 1 pm. Lesson preparation times normally run
from 4 pm or at your leisure before retiring to bed.

Weekends are free except,you have enough time for
outing,visiting friends,beaches etc.

SALARY:

1150 Euro is the basic monthly salary,hoever there are
weekend allowances of 25 Euros,totalling a monthly
allowance of 100 Euro.Teachers are free to open
accounts in order to keepsafe their salaries,they are
still free to wire their funds to their foreign
accounts.There are no taxes for teachers,whatever you
earn belongs to you ,no tax deduction,it has been
taken care of.

STUDENTS:
The students age vary from 6 to 12 years for the
primary,12/13 to 18/19 for the secondary.Most of the
students are foreigners.They are earger to learn as
they have been trained to be attentive and have
maximunm respects for their teachers.

ACCOMODATION:Teachers live in one room private
apartment(Just 1km away from the school
compound),properly furnished with nice resting chairs
,bed,study tables,internet,etc.both in their sitting
rooms and bed rooms respectively.The apartment
consists of private toilet and kitchet to enable the
teachers prepare food for themselves at their leisure.

WEBSITE:Our website is still under construction,we do
hope it will be ready within the year.Feel free to ask
questions wherever you are confused,this is our first
time of inviting foreign teachers,we will make sure
that these pioneer foriegn teachers receive the best
treatment from us,and we inturn wish that you will do
your best to assist us.

Therefore having sent yourC/V, demonstrating your
willingness to work with us,scan and send as an
attachment your school credentials,recent passport
photo,proof of health fitness and references,through
our email for review.Since you will be joining us in
august,try to maintain a constant communication in
order to keep you abreast of the developments.

Good luck,
Joseph Shumaik,
Director for programs and employment,
Creative youths academy,
15 Aitheros,11,364,
Athens,Greece.

[eo-nomine]

Hi,

I don't want to sound paranoid, but this letter sounds very, very suspicious to me. I'll second niko's advice... try to find out more about those fellas before accepting anything.

All the best,

EN

[niko60]

Hi again,
I don't know where the person who wrote this very " Prosaic" letter lives, but it's a different Athens than the real one. Athens is not a quaint small little town, it is a huge metropolis of more than 5m people, the beaches although beautiful are no where near downtown, and they are not " palm fringed" ( must have been thinking of Alexandria, Egypt). This whole thing sounds very suspect, I've never seen or heard of this type of job offer, or this outfit. Out of curiosity, and principal I'm going to take a ride by the address to see what the story is. I'll let you know what I find out.

N

[laura1d]

Niko,
Thanks!

I have already decided that it is far too suspect. The whole email looks like it has been pasted from many different places.

They advertised the job on idealist.org...

I would be interested in if they actually exist. If it is a wind up I will send an email to Idealist to tell them.

Also, thanks to everyone for their responses!

Still job hunting...... Laura!

[niko60]

Hi laura,
There are 2 streets named Aitheros in Athens, I went to both, The first one was an apt. building with private residents ( I did not see Joseph whathisface name on the bells), and the second one was a supermarket. Send me this jokers e-mail if you wish so I can let him know he's about to be blacklisted on most EFL sites. I teach in The Middle East, but I have some contacts here, let me see what's going on in the job front and I'll get back to you.

Regards.

Niko.

[laura1d]

Hi Niko,

Here is the email address:

"creative Academy creative Academy" <[email protected]>

I am not sure how to go about getting them blacklisted on the sites - any ideas?

Thank you for taking the time to go and check this out, I really appreciate it. It makes me so angry when people do this with jobs, unfortunately though it happens all too often doesn't it.

Laura

[scot47]

This sets all the alarm bells ringing.

[susu]

Hi,

I have also been emailing back and forth with the Creative Youths Academy. I am supposed to call them morning of Feb 11th. Has anyone else heard any more about this school?

[pirateinpanama]

if it sounds to good to be true..... (well you know the rest).
I agree with most here, this sounds like a classic scam. Somewhere along the line you can bet they'll be asking you for some $$$.
...And speaking of money; the salary sounds waaay too good to be true for Athens.
Best of luck!

[susu]

Hey all, Susu here

I have also posted this message on the other Creative Youths Academy page from susu.

Good idea pirateinpanama!!! Niko? Laura? Pirate? Anyone interested in a PI firm??? Sent links for this page and Laura's previous page about Creative Youths Academy to Idealist.org. Also sent them a copy of most of my pertinent emails with Joseph Shumiak. Idealist has read all of this, thanked us, and taken the hoodlums off of their client list. Funny too, that Joseph and Africa never sent back the paperwork to Idealist that they were supposed to for authenticity. Guess they really are the shlepps that we knew they were. Niko, I believe you will have Idealist backing for whatever complaints or postings you make. [email protected] who is Content Manager is the contact who sent me the email. Hope this helps!! Let me know about PIing.

come back now, susu

[niko60]

Susu,
You want to stir up a hornets nest, don't you? Good. I love it. Greetings Pirate in Panama, your name, and location alone means you're a man of mark.
Laura, where are you? You were the start of this Broo Hah, hah. (justly so as it turned out). So you should definitely be a part of this idea.
So ladies, and gentleman ( only you pirate so far, except me ). Susu want's to get a PI thing going. Great idea in theory, but have any of you given any thought as to how this would work?
Please find my initial thoughts on this operation set out as follows:

1) Name of org. SBOELS, ( scam busters of English language schools)??

2) So far we have Pirate in Latin America, Laura in Asia, Susu in North America, and me in the Middle East, and Europe. Good start geographically.

3) How do we coordinate info, and data?, and who to direct it to? Another words, on the net? Printed press? etc. etc.

4) web site will have to be created. ( no problem with that. I can do it).

5) Verification procedures, and protocol. ( so we don't get our asses sued from now until eternity for Libel).

6) Networking from all involved to identify, or exclude potential S'ers, ( Scammers).

7) Apart from personal satisfaction, I'm really not sure how to make money out of this, but I do have some ideas which I'm working on.

I hope Scot 47 gives us some feedback on this, because I personally like his way of thinking.

So people, if you are serious? give some thought, and some ideas, and if this goes any further we will change our mode of communication, because I do not want Dave be in a bad position.

Bring it on!

Niko.