Job Discussion Forums

[scottie1113]

Don't know about Stairway but I'm in my third year at Bell Gdansk. Very good school.

[Mr.Engrish]

hey scottie, did you need a trinity tesol and or degree to work at bell?

[scottie1113]

I needed to show the originals of both my university degree and CELTA to work at Bell. I needed copies of both when I first applied for my karta pobitu (residency card).

[keithwkrakowie]

Jessica, getting back to Krakow: right now the market's pretty stagnant in Krakow. i was talking to my boss today and she said it's all about demographics: there just happens to be a shortage of people in the 18-25 year old age range that makes up 80% of the students in Krakow. i know a lot of teachers at other schools who are in the same boat as me, with fewer lessons per week than they had hoped for. Krakow really is a tough place to break in to the scene in Poland, especially without experience, BUT if you're on the ball and a bit lucky, it can be done. a lot of schools are looking for people to start in February. that's when the second term starts and it often happens that a lot of teachers are fired or quit after the first term, leaving schools to scramble to find replacements. timing is really important. i suggest you try contacting schools in January. Lincoln is a good school to work for. there's loads of good schools, loads of bad, and quite a few in between. look around this site, and you'll soon find out. i've been in Krakow for 8 years now (from Canada) and can't find a reason to leave. good luck!

[keithwkrakowie]

oh, and Mr. Engrish, regarding the CV/resume thing: teaching in Poland, you'll be teaching British English, so i suggest you study up on it, and get used to using words like 'pavement' (sidewalk) and 'chemist's' (drugstore). you'll save yourself a LOT of headaches that way. i'm serious.

[dynow]

and phrasal verbs.

my first few times teaching CAE/CPE, I got caught on a few phrasals that I simply couldn't translate, or simply wasn't sure of the meaning. very often British english uses different phrasals than americans.

if you can get your hands on a CPE book, I'd recommend scanning through it one night, or at the very least, when you have to teach CAE/CPE, make sure you go through the book before every lesson to avoid being stumped.

students at that level expect you to be perfect.

off topic, but figured it was worth saying.

[Mr.Engrish]

Thanks for the advise so far guys:)

So by Feb I will have my papers for sure. Are there any tips on what to put on a cv that you people found of use? Are there any tips for handing a cv to the school? And since Feb is the start of the 2nd semester when would be an ideal time to start handing out resumes? Considering I will try to do this in Warsaw and I have no teaching experience.

Thanks again guys this information will no doubt help me and anyone reading these forums:)