Job Discussion Forums

[YakTamer]

re: my Warsaw thread. I mentioned that I intended to lean more towards in-company work versus the standard language schools.

I was just wondering if any of the experienced teachers out there have advice/comment on this choice.

My thinking behind concentrating on in-company stuff was because my background might make them more interested in hiring me. But I wonder whether it's better for an inexperienced teacher to go to a generic language school in terms of development (ie exposure to different student levels, wider range of topics, etc). As long as I earn enough to live I don't mind.

I'm a little worried that in-company clients might have far higher expectations from a teacher and expect someone who has a mastery of the subject, rather than a newbie who has to check what the second conditional is before he attempts to teach it to someody else.

There's a good chance I could end up doing in-company stuff anyway, so doing something different initially needn't preclude me from moving on to ESP work.

[Grrrmachine]

I think having experience in a school classroom, with the resources available and other teachers to grab for advice, helped me a lot before I went in to in-house teaching, where the classes are much "looser." With a fixed-length school year you get disciplined into following a plan, covering the grammar and other areas neccesary for the level of your students without distractions.
I don't have much experience of other countries, but in Poland the workers sent to a classroom by their bosses (rather than paying for it themselves, like the ones who enrole in schoolroom classes after work) need more motivating, and you'll need some experience and professionalism sometimes to achieve that.
Once the company twig that you know what you're doing, they're more enclined to continue the contract over the summer months when your school classes have run dry too.

[Alex Shulgin]

Easy rule: in-company for (at least) one school in the morning, afternoon groups (for at least) one other school in the afternoons. When schools know that they can not give you any sh*t because you will just walk away and still live just fine then there are no problems. Put 100% of your income in the individual hands of some school owners and they will milk every single last drop of that power they can. Let them know that it is far more hassle for them to replace you than for you to replace them and you'll get on just fine.

[cezarek]

Broadly true. Some in-company providers have really good relations with their teachers over many years. They tend to bit a bit more laid back and higher quality than schools. Any they are companies rather than would-be institutions so don't give so much bullsh it.