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LastStand
Joined: 22 Apr 2010
Posts: 5
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 Posted: Wed Aug 25, 2010 5:38 pm Post subject: Working for the BCHK? |
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It seems to me that many posters on this forum are mainly interested in working in NET programs or other private institutions. Applying to the NET program can be a very frustrating process as some of you have mentioned. While the alternative of working at a private language centre can turn into one's worst nightmare with heavy work loads, shady management, and significantly lower pay. Another option, which I have not seen anyone mention, is working for the British Council (Hong Kong). I have checked out their web site, and they seem to provide a favourable work environment for their teachers. I would really appreciated if anyone who has worked or knows someone who has worked for the British Council could provide me with some insights.
Here are some of my questions:
How competitive are the positions?
What are the interviews like?
Is there any teacher support or professional development?
Some positions start between 21K and 24K HKD, while others start at 28K. How do they determine one's starting salary?
Is there any support for settling in HK?
What is the typical work day like?
How long is the recruiting process?
What are the opportunities for advancement?
I hope this gets the discussion started.
Cheers! |
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oxi
Joined: 16 Apr 2007
Posts: 347
Location: elsewhere
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| Posted: Thu Aug 26, 2010 1:34 am Post subject: Re: Working for the BCHK? |
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| Another option, which I have not seen anyone mention, is working for the British Council (Hong Kong) |
I'm pretty sure they're mentioned a few times if you keep going down the posts.
I was there a couple of years ago, so this is based on slightly old experience and a few comments I get from people still working there.
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| How competitive are the positions? |
Reasonable, not as tough as NET.
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| What are the interviews like? |
Based on a very standard format that you can find on their website and practise (ok, having said that I've spent 5 minutes trying to find it and can't) You can google their 'STAR' format. I can't remember what it stood for, but something like Situation, Target, Aim, Result.... think of a Situation in which you had to resolve something, what did you do, what were the Results, what did you learn?
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| Is there any teacher support or professional development? |
Yep, they're quite good on that. Especially if you volunteer to do stuff without pay.
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| Some positions start between 21K and 24K HKD, while others start at 28K. How do they determine one's starting salary? |
Qualifications and experience, funnily enough.
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| Is there any support for settling in HK? |
2 weeks in a hotel, 2 weeks salary if I remember rightly. Bit of outdated info in a starter pack. Plenty of colleagues to ask.
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| What is the typical work day like? |
My old example:-
2 easy ones 645-945pm
1 weekend day 1030am-530pm
2 splits 11am-130pm, 430pm-945pm
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| How long is the recruiting process? |
Around now they'll have a batch sorted for September. Next bunch probably being interviewed soon for November starts.
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| What are the opportunities for advancement? |
Plenty |
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Joshua2006
Joined: 04 Jan 2010
Posts: 342
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| Posted: Thu Aug 26, 2010 6:20 am Post subject: |
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And once yuo work for the BC with a reputation behind you, you will find it very easy to move around their centres all over the world.
However, the one thing I noticed about the one in Seoul is that office politics and hierarchy were very, very prominent in everything. That, however, could be very different here.
They are meant to be one of the best people to work for internationally and if you really do do some work, you can reap the rewards financially too. |
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LastStand
Joined: 22 Apr 2010
Posts: 5
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| Posted: Thu Aug 26, 2010 4:13 pm Post subject: |
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Thank you oxi and Josh for your responses. They are quite helpful.
My confusion with the starting salary ranges arose when I looked at the different positions/contracts that the BCHK had posted on their site. One position was called English Teacher, another one was English Teacher (contract), still another was English Teacher (hourly). The third position was self-explanatory; however, the first two were confusing for me. The job descriptions for all three were the same.
A few more questions:
How much would IELTS examiner status help me?
How is the distribution of young-learner (kids) and adult classes?
What are their attitudes towards hiring non-white teachers?
Is teaching English at the BC a viable career option (granted that you would have to live in the country)? |
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oxi
Joined: 16 Apr 2007
Posts: 347
Location: elsewhere
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| Posted: Thu Aug 26, 2010 5:56 pm Post subject: |
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| Quote: |
| My confusion with the starting salary ranges arose when I looked at the different positions/contracts that the BCHK had posted on their site. One position was called English Teacher, another one was English Teacher (contract), still another was English Teacher (hourly). The third position was self-explanatory; however, the first two were confusing for me. The job descriptions for all three were the same. |
Fair point actually. Have a look at the post details here:-
http://www.britishcouncil.org/hongkong-about-us-working-with-us-detail.htm
The lower paid one (and the hourly one) is local teacher status. The better paid is 'network' teacher and includes benefits like flights, medical insurance, etc. I've heard the BC are hoping to get rid of the network teacher deal eventually.
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| How much would IELTS examiner status help me? |
Enough. It'll help to show you're 'serious'.
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| How is the distribution of young-learner (kids) and adult classes? |
Leaning more to kids. New recruits being urged to work Saturday and Sunday for them.
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| What are their attitudes towards hiring non-white teachers? |
No prob at all. BC big on showing diversity.
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| Is teaching English at the BC a viable career option (granted that you would have to live in the country)? |
Yep. Usually looks good on the CV. Certainly, once in, easy to move around the world to other BC centres. Helps a bit on the way to EDB/NET jobs if that's an ambition, but still need to get PGCE first. |
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vancouver_syndicate
Joined: 09 Sep 2004
Posts: 46
Location: Canada
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| Posted: Fri Aug 27, 2010 4:04 am Post subject: |
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| how competitive is bc compared to the netscheme? |
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oxi
Joined: 16 Apr 2007
Posts: 347
Location: elsewhere
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| Posted: Fri Aug 27, 2010 4:07 am Post subject: |
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| vancouver_syndicate wrote: |
| how competitive is bc compared to the netscheme? |
Look above:-
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Quote:
How competitive are the positions?
Reasonable, not as tough as NET. |
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Joshua2006
Joined: 04 Jan 2010
Posts: 342
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| Posted: Thu Sep 09, 2010 12:19 am Post subject: |
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| LastStand wrote: |
How much would IELTS examiner status help me? |
I think I am right in thinking that the BC here does not have any IELTS examiners working for them. As far as I know they are all external. I am one, I am external, but I haven't been here long enough to be able to say that that is 100% true. I am happy to be proven wrong on that...
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| Is teaching English at the BC a viable career option (granted that you would have to live in the country)? |
Yes, it will be good on your CV whatever you decide to do and wherever you decide to go. It is one of the few internationally known jobs that everyone seems to have a certain level of respect for. |
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Perilla
Joined: 09 Jul 2010
Posts: 792
Location: Hong Kong
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| Posted: Thu Sep 09, 2010 1:51 am Post subject: |
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| Joshua2006 wrote: |
| I think I am right in thinking that the BC here does not have any IELTS examiners working for them. As far as I know they are all external. I am one, I am external, but I haven't been here long enough to be able to say that that is 100% true. I am happy to be proven wrong on that... |
Wrong! I know plenty of IELTS examiners who work for the BC in HK (I've been an IELTS examiner in HK since 2002). As to whether it would improve your chances of getting a job with BC, no, I don't think it would make any difference. BC would mostly be looking at you as a teacher. BC does make money by being a registered IELTS examining body, but whether BC teachers choose to do IELTS is totally up to them.
Something that actually mitigates against BC teachers becoming IELTS examiners is that BC teachers are often obliged to work on weekends, especially on Saturdays, and this is when most of the IELTS examining happens. So quite a few BC teachers don't bother becoming IELTS examiners. |
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Joshua2006
Joined: 04 Jan 2010
Posts: 342
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| Posted: Mon Sep 13, 2010 12:17 am Post subject: |
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Wrong! I know plenty of IELTS examiners who work for the BC in HK (I've been an IELTS examiner in HK since 2002). |
My bad....happy to hear from someone who evidently knwos what they are talking about..... |
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LastStand
Joined: 22 Apr 2010
Posts: 5
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| Posted: Mon Sep 13, 2010 2:37 pm Post subject: |
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| Perilla wrote: |
| Something that actually mitigates against BC teachers becoming IELTS examiners is that BC teachers are often obliged to work on weekends, especially on Saturdays, and this is when most of the IELTS examining happens. So quite a few BC teachers don't bother becoming IELTS examiners. |
Does that mean that many teachers have a 6-day work week?
I have heard that some IELTS examiners in HK mark over 100 writing tests a day (great cash but somewhat insane). How's that possible even under IELTS policies? |
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Perilla
Joined: 09 Jul 2010
Posts: 792
Location: Hong Kong
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| Posted: Tue Sep 14, 2010 2:05 am Post subject: |
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| LastStand wrote: |
| Perilla wrote: |
| Something that actually mitigates against BC teachers becoming IELTS examiners is that BC teachers are often obliged to work on weekends, especially on Saturdays, and this is when most of the IELTS examining happens. So quite a few BC teachers don't bother becoming IELTS examiners. |
Does that mean that many teachers have a 6-day work week?
I have heard that some IELTS examiners in HK mark over 100 writing tests a day (great cash but somewhat insane). How's that possible even under IELTS policies? |
I think BC teachers usually work a five-day week (they often have a week day free), though 'overtime' may be possible for those who want to earn extra cash.
Regarding IELTS examiners marking over 100 writing scripts a day ... I've never heard of anything like this in HK and I doubt that it's true. Most of the required marking takes place on testing days (ie. at the w/e). On average an examiner does between 11-13 speaking 'tests', followed by 11-13 writing 'tests'. There is some overspill into the weekdays (for example if an examiner had to leave early and couldn't do his/her writing scripts on Saturday or Sunday), but I doubt that any single examiner would be given more than 30 or 40 to do on a single day. Quite a few experienced examiners are available for weekday work (I used to do it myself), which also includes going over any problematic gradings, and such work is divided up - so it would be unlikely (or rare) for anyone to have to deal with such a large amount. However, in China it might be different ... |
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Joshua2006
Joined: 04 Jan 2010
Posts: 342
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| Posted: Tue Sep 14, 2010 3:19 am Post subject: |
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| Perilla wrote: |
Regarding IELTS examiners marking over 100 writing scripts a day ... I've never heard of anything like this in HK and I doubt that it's true. Most of the required marking takes place on testing days (ie. at the w/e). On average an examiner does between 11-13 speaking 'tests', followed by 11-13 writing 'tests'. There is some overspill into the weekdays (for example if an examiner had to leave early and couldn't do his/her writing scripts on Saturday or Sunday), but I doubt that any single examiner would be given more than 30 or 40 to do on a single day. Quite a few experienced examiners are available for weekday work (I used to do it myself), which also includes going over any problematic gradings, and such work is divided up - so it would be unlikely (or rare) for anyone to have to deal with such a large amount. However, in China it might be different ... |
I second this. We do on average 12 interviews followed by 12 scripts. You will usually get the same amount of each, give or take one or two. Even with re-marking, someone would not get anywhere near 100 scripts. In Seoul the most scripts I did after a weekend of insane amounts of tests and including remarks was 56. 39 then 17 a couple of days later. 39 scripts will kill even the toughest of examiners - it is insanely boring readni the same answer again and again. |
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