Job Discussion Forums

[Nemesis]

[rach24]

I worked for a larger Aston school (in Jinan, shandong province). I had a pretty good experience overall, they're not perfect but accomodation and support was good and always paid on time etc. However, they're first concern is always making money.
This was not a franchised school, i have heard some bad things about some smaller franchised schools (i.e. owned by locals) but don't know how much is true. I would work for Aston again as they are a proper company who are what they say (some others will rip you off), but would stick to a bigger one with more ft's and not a franchise i.e. Jinan, Dalian etc.
Hope this helps

[SnoopBot]

My suggestion if you have little experience and medium qualifications , teaching at a chain school is a good start as long as that particular school isn't a dodgy one.

If you have experience with some ESL qualifications I would steer away from the chain-schools and look for employment contracts on your own. This might mean actually looking around the areas that you wish to teach at.

[LongShiKong]

I'm into my 3rd non-consecutive year as an Aston Assistant Manager/Teacher in yet another city--one I'm about to leave for a variety of reasons. Bigger schools like Xi'an, Jilin, Dalian are safer bets. Aston's kids books, written and published within the past year or two, are better than most in the market but HO neither provides, nor even encourages the sharing of much needed photocopiable resource materials (understandable once you know how frugal Chinese management can be.) My advice overall: if you choose a smaller city, get current and former FT contact info.

[vikuk]

[inchinanow]

I worked at Aston in Shenyang, China from July 2007 until February 2008. I cannot recommend this school. Although I did get paid on time, I had many experiences which were extremely uncomfortable. I always felt off-balance, never knowing what might happen next. If you work for Aston, don�t count on much support from their headquarters in Dalian China. If you have a problem or issue with your local manager, you are on your own. They are not very responsive at all. Here are just a few of the problems that I encountered:

� Living quarters were small, hot, dirty and full of cockroaches.
� Classrooms are very hot in the summers and are very noisy. They are smoky, because of the market located nearby. All the smoke from the cooking comes right into the classroom!
� Parents stare through windows outside the classroom, gawking at you while you are teaching.
� The manager was extremely rude and abusive to me, often yelling at me when I would simply ask a question. She also had the habit of lying to me.
� When I complained to the head office, they were weak and unresponsive. Not very willing to get involved to improve my situation.
� When I finally had enough, I gave 1 months notice as required in the contract. The manager threatened that if I left, she would not give me a release letter.
� Once it was clear that I was intent on leaving, she tried to sabotage my stay in China, by writing some negative comments on my release letter. These negative comments were basically lies. She was just trying to make things difficult for me.
� She fired me retroactively, so they would not have to pay me the full month�s salary for February 2008.
� They often threatened the Chinese teachers that they would lose their jobs if enrollment did not increase. They threw the task of recruitment onto the backs of the Chinese Teachers.
� They gave me a 3 day notice to vacate my apartment once I had turned in my letter of resignation. I had the courtesy to give them a 1 month notice, but they repaid that courtesy by being abusive to me and trying to bully me.
� If you decide to work for Aston, all I can say to you is GOOD LUCK!!!!!!!!!!!!!
� I did finally find a new position with another school, which I am extremely happy with!!!!!!!!!! I am happy in China now!!!!!!!

INCHINANOW

[YankeeDoodleDandy]

In Xi'an they have several foreign teachers who work part-time. I believe the pay is 100-125 RMB per hour. Dance Fever