Job Discussion Forums

[laurac]

hi, i am a british citizen about to begin my TEFL course and am begining the daunting job of checking out schools, companys etc where i want to go. I am mainly looking towards China and was wondering if anyone could tell me about Powerhouse or ESL Elite?????? they seem similar to English first without the 40 hour working week!!!!!!!

Also, i want to go somewhere between Hong Kong and Shanghai maybe in the Guangdong Province, any advice please???????

[Voldermort]

My first advice would be to stay clear of any and all "language mills", sure they may have smaller classes and be grouped according to their English level, at your expense though.

I would recomend you find short term position and get a feel for teaching first. You will start to know exactly what you want and what is more suitable for you.

I have worked in both "language mills" and "public schools", I would choose the latter anyday.

[laurac]

Thanks for your advice Voldermort. what do you mean by: "at your expense though"???????????
ESL Elite ( Buckland Group) place thier teachers in either private language schools or public schools from what i can make out from thier web site.

Has anybody got any experience with them that they could tell me about??

Thanks

[Indiana Jones]

Laurac, I know how you feel. I'm getting my TESOL certificate end of March, and I hope to be flying to China with a job waiting for me in August. I have no idea what schools to look at who's good, who's bad -- I hear one thing and then the opposite, you begin to wonder who to believe.

My advice -- and this is the advice of a newbie! -- apply for a few jobs that check out ok, and if you get one, take it. The rest will sort itself out when you get there -- you can always look for a better job. If the going gets tough, just scream for help on Dave's ESL forum! Seriously, just worry about getting a job and a Z Visa, the rest you can sort out once you're there (unless you're going to the boonies where people think your iPod is a futuristic cigaratte packet).

Now excuse me, I must look for jobs in Beijing (and practice what I preach) ...

Good luck.

[Voldermort]

Indiana Jones,

as good as your intentions may be, your advice is flawed. If somebody get's stuck in China it is not a simple matter of posting a 'help' message on these forums.

I had big problems with my first school which took me eight months to straighten out. Even now I have a permanent scar on my working history.

Laurac,

Read through this forum, there is plenty of advice available on what you should do as a newbie. Find a school, speak to other FT's, ask lot's of questions, speak to more FT's, research the school, speak to more FT's. You get the picture?

If you are still unsure what to do, think about coming to China with a recruiter. That way you can see the school, give a trial lesson and get a feel for the place all before you commit yourself.

[Roger]

Now I see where you got your outlandish name of Buckland; I replied to your query on that other thread.

Basically, I suggest you go along with them because Owen is the most extroverted agent you may meet, and what's more, he is really doing all he can to satisfy you although not necessarily on the salary front.
He will put you in charge of a school far away from Yangshuo, but he will ensure you get your dues by means nobody else employs, including asking the school to stump up the royalties before they lord it over you. This way, if they turn nasty and force you out of their service you have your income available from Owen who will also house you in Yangshuo until further notice.

The idea you should tentatively accept serveral job offers simultaneously looks somewhat disingenious to me, and the reality is that many westerners who have done this have indeed disappointed many CHinese employers. This may be a reason why it is getting ever harder to line up a position firmly enough.

I think you must take a certain risk. I took it too, many years back, and my first job was a disaster; still I survived unarmed and have been doing well ever since.

You will need a little start-up cash - say, euro 1000 to tide you over the first couple of months. You may very well do with far less, though.

[Mouse]

1000 euros will tide you over for a few months?! *Cough* *Cough* Really?! That's amazing! (Considering I work in Europe and I know how much that will buy you here) -- Is that including things like rent, Roger?

[Roger]

1000 euros will last you long enough to find a position, why not? Of course, I was trying to be as modest as possible.
Let's see: 1000 euros is about 13'000 yuan;
you stay at a hostel, paying RMB 50 a day: you can stay a month for around RMB 1500.
Food: I spend between to RMB 30 to 50 a day - cooking at home; this includes beef, wine, coffee. One month = 1500.
You can get cafeteria food in universities for 3 to 6 kuai a pop, = below 20 yuan a day, or less than 600 a month. Our cafeteriasd are accessible for the general public... Many streetside restaurants sell equally cheap food, though theirs is not my cup of tea.
Transport: most urban buses now charge you 2 kuai a trip, non-aircon buses - those old bangers - cost 1 kuai. Long-distance: negotiable. I recently travelled 560 kms for 60 kuai (Shunde to Yangshuo). Trains: hard-sleeper Guilin-Guangzhou, over 1000 kms, around 180 kuai, more if you sleep on the bottom bunk, less if you sleep on the top.

Do your own maths. Each according to their own needs. If you are in need of cheap accommodation, check out the youth hostel website. They are now located in manymajor cities and tourist places. Besides, you can often find affordable guesthouse accommodation in schools. Most run a guesthouse.

[Old Dog]

1000 Euros are, according to xe.com as of now, worth 10,823.98 RMB. It's not 13,000 but you'll still survive quite well for some time.

[Mouse]

Thank you Roger (and Old Dog) and may I say... Holy Moly! I've taught plenty of Chinese students abroad, and even have a couple of friends from up north, and they'd all told me that the cost of living (and life, too, maybe) was very low, but I'm... impressed? Incredulous? Maybe lots of other "i" words, too.

While you're dispensing such useful advice, would you mind offering your two cents on whether China really is as polluted as I've heard (i.e. very)?

[Old Dog]

In a great number of places, sadly, yes.

[jenjen]

I would find a summer job teaching TEFL in a city you want to go to. If you like it, they usually look for a few teachers they like to stay on. This way you can "try China on" before making a one year commitment. Many people have an image of what China is before comming and are sometimes dissapointed.
Ex.Pollution, stench, people not covering their mouths when they cough, "snot rockets", kids using the street as a bathroom, and the morning sounds of people hacking up coal-filled mucus from thier lungs. The obsession with vinegar makes places smell like as_.
That being said, I would not trade my nearly 5 years of teaching in NE China for anything.

Some things to look for:
1. If the school has teachers from a few years ago still working there that is usually a good sign. The exception is when they have only 1 teacher from the year before.

2. How old is the school? If it is under 2 years old ask lots of questions.
Sometimes schools get reported and they simply go bankrupt, buy a new name for the company and have the same lousy management.

3.Before signing on the dotted line say you want to talk/phone 3 people who worked there in the recent past. If they so, "Oh they are traveling" or some lame excuse. drop them.

I prefer teaching at the Uni level. Uni's usually pay less (almost 1/2 the private schools) but you don't have to deal with all the "extra" things like comming into work on your day off, folding 10,000 paper orgami birds for hospital wards in a publicity thing to promote the school. Also, you can make up the money difference in editing and one-shot projects like making English tape recordings. Private English lessons go for 100 rmb an hour.

Don't forget:
1.your deoderant (they sell Fa at Carefour[sic] but it is very mild)
2. Spray'n wash stain stick( they have Tide but the water for the washing machine is almost always cold so if you really want to get out those greasy,sooty stains you are going to need some heavy duty stuff)
3. If you are over a size 2 you need to bring everything over---from the skin out--- before arriving. Esp. good quality shoes you will be doing a lot of walking!
4. your sense of humor, if you don't have it you won't last a day on the mainland.
good luck

[laurac]

Jenjen,

Thanks for your advice.
Yes i have been thinking about a summer job as a good way of getting to know things. i suppose more of these kind of jobs will be advertised in the next couple of months.???

Being a newbi, i have lots of questions and decisions to make over the next few weeks, so much information to gain, and to be honest i am not 100% sure if China is the place for me.
I am also interested in Thailand and i have posted a topic on thier board but noone has replied!!!! not as many people seem to use it compared to the China board. I dont suppose you have ever been there and have any advice for me, or anyone else who is reading this (read my posting)

Thanks