Job Discussion Forums

[BeckyBen]

Just wondering if there is any news from anyone.....
My application is still at the Assessment Board stage for another 2 weeks as I phoned the other day.
Just seems to have gone very quiet...is everyone just really busy...or just chilling about it?

[hkteach]

The EMB has issued the list of schools requiring NETs and lots of NETs here have been attending interviews.
These are the people who want to shift from their present school or whose schools have not renewed their contracts.

This doesn't mean that all jobs will be taken. Far from it.
Some schools are contacting and interviewing but others will wait until after exams, graduation ceremonies, school concerts and the like. For some, this will mean July.

My previous school started receiving cvs in May but didn't act until almost the end of the school year.

[BeckyBen]

Oh I finally heard about that my qualifications are OK and I am going to be passed on to schools for selection.
Phew!! How exciting, has anyone heard from schools yet?

[YellowHair]

I too was informed today that my documents have passed their examination via the Assessment Authority. I have now graduated to the "Waiting for an offer" phase of the waiting process.



YH

[ironopolis]

Ditto becky ben & yellowhair - I got the same email yesterday.

A couple of questions to anyone out there who might know:
firstly, what actually happens when schools contact you? Is there likely to be a further interview by phone with someone from the school, and if so, is there anything other than the obvious stuff that they'd probably ask? Or does it sometimes happen that everything related to the offer is conducted by email?

The other thing I was wondering about is the contact between the EMB people who've had our files for some time and the schools they now say they'll be passing our files on to. Up till now, I'd been under the impression that successful applicants were put into a pool, from which schools would contact whoever they liked the look of most. This would suggest that stronger looking candidates would be contacted first.
However, the wording of the email I've just received made me wonder if the EMB decide which school to match you with and that it's then up to that school whether to contact you quickly, slowly, pass on your file elsewhere or put it at the bottom of a pile and forget about it. If this is the way it works, then it looks like you'd be totally at the mercy of the level of speed and efficiency of the particular school you'd been matched with, irrespective of how strong a candidate you are or aren't.
Can anyone confirm which way it works?

[hkteach]

When I was in that situation, I had a school email me to say they'd telephone me later in the week. They did and two people were on the other end - the PanelChair and the SET (interestingly, not the principal... and I realise now that I'm probably lucky not to have taken that job).
A couple of days later, a second school contacted me by email and communications went back and forth between me and the Panel Chair - never any involvement by the principal.
I ended up taking that school and in the wholetime I was there, the principal spoke to me twice!! He left everything to his PC and the SET.

So, a bit of advice............ If the principal is not involved, perhaps exercise caution (If he/she doesn't speak to you at the recruitment stage, he/she may not have a commitment to the NET scheme).

The EMB sends cvs to a number of schools at once. I can't say which schools they get sent to....... not sure if there's any rhyme or reason to this part of the process (probably not) but this is more practical than only sending to one school at a time.
The schools contact you (or not) and it goes from there.

In the past when I've been looking to move schools, EMB said they sent my cv to schools but when I hadn't heard all through May and half of June I asked EMB to forward it to more places. I was advised that it had been sent to 15 schools - I got 3 responses.

So, it stands to reason that if the schools who have your cv are schools which drag their feet on this, then you'll be waiting some time to hear from them. If you're lucky, your cv will be sent to schools which want to act quickly. But I think it all depends where your cv is sent.

[matesolstudent]

yeah i got a job offer for SNET...any crucial questions I should ask the principal when he calls me? (like... "am i required to work 6 days a week?")

[misutabiru]

matesolstudent: If you haven't been following the thread already, check out the last few pages of "Are Americans SHUNED..." for some gritty possible realities of SNET. It should provide food for thought in terms of questions to ask the principal.

And congratulations! I am still waiting for my qualifications assessment to be completed.

[matesolstudent]

Really, your suggestion was not helpful as I didn't find anything but complaining in the other forum thread! Look, I'm not really into the pessimism and complaining of these forums, I�d just like some useful suggestions for questions to ask.

[misutabiru]

I am not a fan of pessimism either. But if you don't let it get you down, and read through the posts with an objective eye, issues worthy of negotiation and query can be found. My apologies if you didn't see it this way; I was trying to be helpful, honest.

[hkteach]

To matesolstudent,
It's unfortunate that you find a lot of the posts "complaining" and "pessimistic".
These have been written by NETs and others who are here/have been here and who therefore know the reality - not to scare you or deter you from being a NET, but to INFORM you of some of the issues you will face. We have tried to answer questions posed by potential NETs and I think it's fair comment to say most of us have indicated that there ARE good schools where you will have a good experience and there are schools where you definitely won't. More than one of us has likened it to a lottery - it all depends on the school you get. If and when you come here you will find NETs who are very happy in their jobs, NETs who are miserable, angry, over-tired and stressed and still others somewhere in between.

If you don't want to hear about the problems before you get here, then you're likely to have a bigger reality check than those who read and use the information to help them avoid some of the problems experienced by the rest of us.

I know that the posts I have contributed have not always been positive, but in case you find my posts negative, I make no apologies. They have been written in an effort to help those with genuine questions, not those who only want to hear what they want to hear.

[BeckyBen]

Hi! Have any PNETS applying from abroad had any offers yet?
2 weeks ago some of us heard that our CV's were being circulated around the primary schools but I have heard absolutely nothing...yet again!
It is bizaare trying to deal with this amount of uncertainty!!
I can't believe that this stage also takes absolutely ages.
When do the school offices close for the summer hols, don't they need to get it sorted before then??
Hkteach et. al thanks for all your advice on here...I would have lost all hope of ever hearing without your cyber support!!

[hkteach]

Thanks BeckyBen - glad to know my comments have helped.
Don't get too anxious about the uncertainty (easy for me to say I know but I've been there, done that more than once since first applying to be a NET)
I should be used to the HK way of doing things by now but I continue to be amazed at the bureaucracy here and how something that is so simple becomes so complicated and takes so much time.

If you've been approved, it's just a matter of time before schools contact you.
As I've said in other posts, if schools get their act together they will be in touch before school finishes but if they don't, it will be later.
It could be during the holidays (many principals and staff here have minimal holidays so they're back at school while the kids are away)

Just enjoy your time wherever you are and relax, because once you get here it's a LONG and tiring road till Christmas holidays.

[ozman]

what to ask in a telephone interview....

well I'd be asking what classes / levels I'm teaching; am I co-teaching? am I just teaching mainstream like a local teacher or am I teaching a "special" programme? some snets get used as local teachers and just teach the ge lessons from the text book. some nets get to set up some sort of language arts programme or oral programme or train students for exams. you want to get this clear. I'd be asking how many lessons I'm teaching. what's the level of students? what kind of school is it?

i'd want to know WHERE the school is; how far from the MTR or KCR? this is important. get the address; check it out on the hk map. it's easy to get this information from the web. you might be happy living / teaching out in the new territories - you might be the kind of person who wants to be a bit closer to HK island or kowloon side. I'd certainly want to know if they expect me to attend canto meetings. i'd want to know how long they had the previous net and why the net was leaving. there are tactful ways to ask this.

hkteach has good advice on this forum. it is a lottery. some snets get good schools and some don't have such a good experience. I'd want to know if they expect Saturdays. personally i'm not prepared to work weekends unless there's a special event - maybe once or twice per year.

I think there's enough advice on various threads for you to put together some questions. people getting ready for phone interviews need to have some idea of what questions to ask. you might find some schools are reluctant to tell you about the "band" of the school.
ozman

[Veddie Edder]

Got an offer today from a school in Yuen Long, New Territories. Anybody know anything about the area? Overly industruial? Residential? I realize it`s out in the boondocks, but looks like it only takes about 30 minutes to get to HK island from there.