Job Discussion Forums

[jg]

I worked at the Web in People's Square and the Pudong Web from last November - early January. I was only there part-time for about two months, and they always paid on time. No tie required, and in fact some teachers showed up looking a bit scruffy, no one seemed mind. I interviewed with Wall Street and Kai-En.

Wall Street seemed okay but they only wanted fulltimers, and when I asked about salary he asked me what I made at Canilx: I pulled out a number and he matched it immediately, so I guess that you should shoot high because I hear (perhaps incorrectly) they offer much more in Shanghai, and the figure we arrived at was 12,500, which is decent for Shanghai, but if you've got talent you can do better.

At Kai En the interview went well (I thought) but when I followed up with a brief email I was told I didn't fit their teacher profile - despite not being asked to give a demo class. When I wrote to the interviewer asking for further reasons why I wasn't chosen, he gave more vague doublespeak.

I went to Web's People Square branch based on my previous experiences with the center manager, Andrea. I had worked under her briefly at Canilx, and I liked her personality and management style. She called me and asked me if I was interested in coming to Web, I said yes.

Big mistake. Perhaps for a fulltimer there is more security - in fact, I am sure of it from my conversations with the fulltime staff - but twice they cancelled my schedule and told me they would call me when they needed me - the classes I was supposed to teach they offered to new fulltimers to get them on board, despite having already scheduled me. Even worse, in my opinion, I had no inkling that I was just fill in till they found someone fulltime, I was under the impression that I was a regular albeit parttime worker.

It kind of hurt me, as I liked Andrea personally and had only the fondest of memories of my time working for her at Canilx, before I transferred to another branch of Canilx. When relating this story to the other teachers at Web People's Square, two seemed a bit surprised, as they didn't care for her. One of them was a catty sort though, so it may have been his own thing.

Web in Pudong was fine though, the students at both branches were attentive and sharp, but the pay was only 120, and I think at language mills in Shanghai you needn't work for less than 150 an hour unless you go totally full-time. The other FT'ers were a nice and helpful bunch, and the Chinese staff was pretty friendly. They gave me freedom in my English Corner topics, and I am one of those freaks that actually likes English Corner when the students are animated and cool, like they are at Web. They didn't make me hang around all day either, waiting for the evening rush. I came in to prep for my classes, taught and left.

Hope at least some of that info is useful to you.