Job Discussion Forums

[pinkextra]

Hello,

I have recently been offered an international teaching job. Currently I am in the process of obtaining the necessary documents and so forth.

Not too long ago I asked the Director of the school (who also telephone interviewed me) if I could be in touch a few past and/or present teachers.

Basically I was told no. According to this Director�s story the teachers don't have time to address the questions of incoming colleagues. I know that international teaching can be time consuming BUT not enough time to address a few questions? They must work 26 hours a day then!

The other reason was that teachers don't feel comfortable being contacted by people they don't know (i.e. the future teachers going to work at the SAME school they are or were working for).

I was then told that I should simply have faith and trust that the school would take good care of me and that questions should be addressed only to the school management.

In summary, I was made to feel like I should just go with the flow and deal with it.

In the past I have had access to the email addresses of other teachers who were very helpful and happy to help me. Additionally, I have made myself available to others concerning schools, organizations, internships and much more. This explains why I find the Director�s response a bit unusual.

I still would like to work at this school (been looking into other options as well).

What do you think? Have you had similar experiences? All insights are appreciated!

PINK

[naturegirl321]

Is it realy an intl school? try internationalschoolreview.com you might be able to find out about it. If the director won't let you get in touch with teachers, I'd pass on the job. It means that they're not happy.

[pinkextra]

Hey NG,

Thanks for your insight!

I am actually a member of the internationalschoolsreview site. That school is not listed. I have noticed not all international schools are listed on that site. It is, however, a legit school though.

I totally see your point! A Director preventing teachers from networking does raise a red flag and just doesn't sit well with me! I would be kicking myself if I arrived to the school and regretted ever wasting my time or energy. I am in contact with other schools so hopefully something else will materialize!

We'll see what happens at the end of the day.

I'll keep you posted.

PINK

[denise]

Yes, that raises a HUGE red flag! What is the director trying to hide? I'd stay away from a place like that.

d

[livinginkorea]

Definitely stay away. Maybe try doing a search on the net to see if you get anything. Nobody is too busy to take a 10 minute call from a potential co-worker. Very fishy to me. Perhaps the director is hiding something?

[MikeySaid]

Definitely a no-go.

Tells you a lot about the way you'll be treated as an employee if they are reluctant to let you talk to current teachers there.

ESL attracts shady people sometimes, teachers and administrators alike.

[Chancellor]

I can't imagine why teachers would want their employers giving out their names/e-mail addresses to anyone.

[BenE]

Best approach is to seek advice from local expats in that area about the school.

Here in Hanoi most of the larger teaching institutions are well known and many teachers talk to each other in the bars and pass on information about what's good and bad about places. A school that is dubious quickly becomes known.

[naturegirl321]

[denise]

[Justin Trullinger]

I sort of agree with NG and Denise, Chancellor.

I would never give a teachers contact details to ANYONE without permission, obviously. But I always ask teachers on staff if I may share their email addresses with prospective hires, and also ask leaving staff if they'd be willing to receive emails from future and potential teachers.

It's not unlike when teachers ask me if they can give my email as a reference.

Why would they want to do this? Well, they're clearly nice, helpful people, but I think it goes deeper than that. Those who are still do have a stake in the hiring process, as the people I hire are going to be their colleagues. They want a prospective hire to have all the information and not to make a mistake.

It may be a bit more altruistic with former teachers, but I also think it's a question of what goes around, comes around. Many are willing to take some minutes out of a day occasionally to help a teacher considering a move- just as they hope someone will for them.

I wouldn't consider working where the administrators are afraid to put you in touch with current teachers. Maybe there are a lot of benefits, BUT there clearly aren't administrators who trust their teachers to present them in a good light. Makes you wonder what the work atmosphere is like.

Best,
Jusitn

[Chancellor]

[johnslat]

Are we talking about a "private e-mail address" or a "work e-mail address" here?
I assumed that it was the latter, but it seems that some of Chancellor's objections would be more applicable to a private/personal e-mail address.

I've also been asked by the administration to answer questions posed by prospective teachers, but the correspondence was always conducted using my work e-mail address, and there were never any adverse consequences.

Regards,
John

[Justin Trullinger]

[Justin Trullinger]

Short response to Johnslat-

A lot of teachers I know don't keep much of a distinction between private and work email. Many prefer to use one of their private accounts for work purposes.


Best,
Justin