Job Discussion Forums

[dezza]

Hi folks,

I was 'hired' by the EMB for a PNET position after my interview in Toronto in July.

It's an interesting system they have here: you are hired by the EMB but it's up to principals to choose you off a list of eligible candidates. So in effect, if no principals like your resume/profile then you wont' get hired and you'd be waiting for quite some time. Do I understand it correctly? I'm willing to head to HK to wait it out and settle into HK life and even look for other teaching positions if I have to.

Perhaps I'm just getting antsy to head over but I'm worried no principals will pick me up even though I passed the 2 rounds of interviews.

Any input would be much appreciated, many thanks.

[Zero Hero]

Are you currently being paid by the EMB? Are you on contract to them? Are they named as your immigration sponsor? If not I fail to see how you can claim that they hired you.

As it is ultimately a principal's school in which any NET is placed, it stands to reason that the final decision will be made by that authority, especially when there are so many different types of school, all with differing degrees of autonomy.

There is no shortage of reasons as to why principals will choose not to select certain candidates. In very much the same way that making the grade on minimum qualifications and experience required in no way guarantees an applicant a place on the (high-paid) NET scheme (a point which for some unknown reason seems totally beyond some), being placed on the EMB's list of candidates in no way is equivalent to securing employment at an individual school.

[dezza]

Fair enough, but why do I even need to be interviewed by the EMB then? Why don't the principals just interview me since they are the authority?
Why not cut out the EMB then?

[Zero Hero]

Anyone who had completed any studies worth their salt will know fully well that, in any area of life, you are always going to encounter difficulties with 'why' questions. The reason, of course, is that any answer to such a question (or non-question) is going to have some degree of teleology therein. 'Why do birds fly south for winter?' 'Because it is warmer' is such a satisfying answer! But then so is 'because it is too far to walk'.

Principals are the authority at the level of the school. I doubt very much if they have the knowledge (let alone resources) to advertise and recruit on a global scale, check references, qualifications, and work records, liaise with Beijing, conduct training sessions, publish an annual syllabus, etc., etc.

Strange as it obviously seems to you, HK does not revolve around you (or any other hopeful applicant), and things are not geared towards being convenient for you. You rhetorically ask why the EMB is not 'cut out'. Why, pray tell, because it happens to inconvenience you, your Highness?

As it happens, there is nothing stopping you applying directly to schools. Perhaps then you could do us all a favour and desist with your incessant whinging and whining.

[hanuman]

Hi Dezza,
Don't mind Zero, he does like to sit on his high horse.
Anyway, yes - the EMB process is ridiculously long drawn out and inefficient.
However, u should be fine. Could be that they're still verifying your documents or something. There is a shortage of NET teachers and u should have no problem getting a job so long as you've passed the interviews.

[dezza]

what's your problem zero? i was asking a few questions about the process that's all. i'm not whining or whinging about the process, just trying to figure out how they do things since they're not very clear about it in the first place.

i'm not as knowledgable about the NET program as you are. god forbid you have some questions in the future about something work related and get a *beep* badmouthing you on here. so shove it, your royal highness told you to.

thanks, hanuman for your response.

[saroq]

The EMB and many local schools are useless. Contact the EMB directly and press your case. It is likely that someone has lost your file and you'll need to jog their memory. Are you Chinese Canadian? There local schools are funny about hiring people who don't have the white foreign face parents expect.

[Eddie]

I also interviewed in Toronto in July. It is my understanding that they are still in the process of document verification and we should not expect to hear from HK until next week at the earliest. You could call or email the person who organized your interview to confirm this. If anyone who interviewed in Canada in July has heard differently let us know?

[well-travelled]

I dunno, but it seems to me that if you � at your own expense in many cases � go through two interviews and are told that you have passed those interviews, then an offer of a job would be a fairly reasonable expectation.

Dezza had the impression he was �hired� by the EMB � a fair enough response it seems to me, especially as it�s not stated anywhere beforehand, as far as I�m aware, that passing the interview (or two) is no guarantee of an actual NET post. New teachers �accepted� by EMB only become aware of this after the event.

ZH states that �HK does not revolve around you (or any other hopeful applicant), and things are not geared towards being convenient for you.�

I would have to agree with that, but ZH twists it into a negative reflection of dezza whereas I see it as a negative reflection of EMB itself. Why shouldn�t EMB, as a recruiting agency, try to make things as convenient as possible for potential new employees?

The fact that EMB doesn�t appear to be doing this creates a negative impression from the start, and the uncertainty created can be pretty stressful for those teachers who may be venturing abroad to teach for the first time.

Based upon the negative experiences of people I�m close to who have been involved in the recruitment process, I agree totally with hanuman and saroq with regard to EMB. If they were a private recruitment agency as opposed to a government agency, they would have long since been hauled over the coals for their general incompetence.

However, on a more positive note, as hanuman, saroq and Eddie note, there are plenty of unfilled PNET posts and the verification process is still ongoing, so there is no need for dezza to be pessimistic just yet!!

You just need to be patient and email EMB (politely) every so often to remind them of your existence.

Way to go!!

Well-travelled

[Zero Hero]

[dezza]

Zero: a bit short sighted aren't you? Make it difficult for prospective employees to get a job with your organization and sooner or later they won't be applying and you will have problems hiring employees. I hope you don't start your own business in the future..you'd be a one man organisation.

Job application matters may seem trifle to you, but most of us have to work to live so it's not as trifle as you think.

Now that I know what I know about the HK NET program I'm not surprised they have teacher shortages and problems hiring. News and information travels fast in this day and age it can positively or negatively affect your organisation in the long term.

Thanks well-traveled for your comments.

[Zero Hero]

Actually, for your information, the reason they can afford to be so blas� with applicants is precisely because they have more applications than they have posts to be filled.

I guess this is what happens when the minimum monthly income on the scheme is some $27,500 HK. That is what some poor souls earn on the Mainland in a year.

[dezza]

That's not what the EMB rep told me, they have unfilled positions and will be recruiting year round from now on.

They're also hiring teachers with credentials less than their ideal preference mainly a teaching degree so your argument that they have too many applicants for positions sounds fishy to me.

Guess one of us has the wrong information, eh? I wonder what other info you've given to others here is wrong....

Do you work for the EMB? Perhaps you're one of these incompetent fools the others speak of?

[Zero Hero]

There is no call for that. This is an adult discussion forum, not a playground.

You are the one trying to secure employment in HK, not I. If you can not handle that which has already come your way then I can assure you that you are not suited to HK, the NET scheme, or the EMB.

Considering your scepticism regarding everything else the EMB have told you, I find your faith in their information regarding recruitment levels, etc., curious to say the very least. I guess we will all just have to accept that you are just another wannabe who believes what he wants to believe when he wants to believe it.

[dezza]

On the contrary, i'm not sceptical about what the EMB has told me but rather what they haven't told me and especially what YOU have told me.

What I said was less an insult towards you but rather I was trying to figure out why you're continually defending the EMB's trivial pursuit aka teacher recruitment. You also keep saying to others that people won't be suited to HK, the Net Scheme or the EMB so you make it sound like you're an authority figure on the whole subject but in reality the statements you've made here are incorrect.

I've lived in HK before and I have family members in the HK civil service including the departments of justice, immigration and the police force. My dealings with other HK departments were dealt with efficiently and pleasantly. Compared to other HK gov departments, what the EMB is doing here is a disgrace to the rest of the civil service and people like you who defend their incompetence and poor attitude are supporting mediocrity, which HK doesn't stand for.

You can continue to badger people with your useless rants but if you provide 'information' for others they'd be best to take whatever you say with a teaspoon of salt. You have over 800 posts in 5 months so it's obvious you have a lot of hot air to share up there on your high horse.