Job Discussion Forums

[Natovican Storm]

I joined this forum specifically to warm people against this "international" school. I don't work for this school, nor do I ever expect to work for them: I just want to tell people my story, and then they can make their decision to whether they would ever work for such a school.

Looking for a new job in Beijing led me to an interview with Amanda Chen. She got in touch with me, saying she was interested in possibly hiring me for a chemistry teaching position, for their IB program. Being aware that I am not a certified teacher, she lured me down to her lair with a very vague prospective salary, nine-thousand yuan to fourteen-thousand yuan. I make ten-thousand yuan at my current school.

In an e-mail, the school gave me directions to their in-the-middle-of-nowhere campus. I had Amanda�s phone number, and she told me to give her a call when I got to the western gate, leading me to believe that this gate would be easy to find. My adventure started:

This story is set during one of the coldest days of the Beijing winter, with splintering winds stripping the heat from my body. I took a taxi to the closest subway station, approximately a ten-minute drive, took the subway to Longze station, got on a bus, rode the bus for an hour, got off at the school, and proceeded to try to give her a call: she had turned off her phone!

Can you believe that? She turned her phone off in the middle of the working day; so I proceeded to ask people how to find the western gate, a question to which many students and teachers didn�t know; in fact, no one knew!

After asking many students, a few of them took me under their wings and tried to help me; the students were college-level students, who treated me with respect and were much more helpful than the school�s staff, but they didn�t know exactly what I was talking about at the beginning:

They kept talking in Chinese to each other, �Western Gate, where is this western gate?�

Eventually, we found people that knew what we were asking, the English kindergarten teaching department. But the Chinese teacher told the students that were helping me not to help me, because it is too cold, and the gate is too far away.

At which point, I started to lose my temper. I told her that I live next to the Wangjing Hospital, so it took me more than two hours to get out there in the first place. At this, she told me to calm down, and the students took me to the gate, which was about a five-minute walk.

We talked to a guard, and he called Amanda�s LAN line, not the other switched off number I had. When I talked with her, it was immediately apparent that she had completely forgotten about the interview; it took her a few moments to figure out who I was. Once she figured out who I was, she told me she would be there soon.

She came to pick me up at the guard�s station. No questions were asked of whether the place was difficult to find or any such inquiries. She brought me to a dusty, devoid-of-books room, lacking everything that an institution of higher learning should have, and started to try to give me the third degree, obviously trying to make me feel like I am worth less.

During the interview, she started explaining to me that my resume is not written very well, and it doesn�t read like it was written by a native speaker, which is interesting because I have NEVER heard that from ANY of my chemical engineering professors, all of whom were doctors, and most of whom DID get on some of the students� cases about writing better.

At one point she asked me why I wanted to teach chemistry, and I said �I know chemistry, but I would like to teach it.� At this point, she became confused; but to this day, I am not sure why:

She exclaimed, �Wait, wait, wait, you can�t learn chemistry; you have to teach chemistry. You can�t learn it while you�re teaching it!�

I thought this was amusing, so I repeated myself several times. She still wasn�t listening carefully enough, so she still didn�t understand. After a while, I got fed up, and I told her in Chinese, and she understood.

I find it interesting that this woman�who was putting my resume up to critical review, like a composition teacher�can�t even tell the difference between know and learn, which sound nothing alike.

To make a quick wrap-up to this story, I�ll tell you what she was prepared to offer me and my family:

if I wanted to be hired for the current position, my family and I�my son included�would have to move out of the dormitory, at my present employer�s campus and end up in the middle of nowhere in a one room apartment with a bathroom, instead of living in Wangjing, where I have a small kitchen, living room, bedroom, and a bathroom.

If I wanted a job in September, I could move into a similar dorm to where I live now, the only difference being it would be in the middle of nowhere. For all of that, I could possibly get 1,000 extra yuan per month. She wanted me to say yes to 10,000 to 11,000 yuan per month to teach chemistry. When I explained that this was not possible, she spoke with hubris:

�Thank you for visiting us here at Huijia International School,� and we parted. I wasn�t escorted out or anything; I was just left�once again�by myself, in the cold, to find my way back out of the labyrinth that their campus is.


Certified teachers and uncertified teachers should stay away from this school, unless you are absolutely destitute. I haven�t worked there, so I can�t speak from experience; but most likely, it is the plague of international schools. I haven't heard many good things about them since I started to do some research and asking around.

I told a friend of mine of my experience, and he told me right away:

�You don�t want to work for them. I have heard nothing good about them.�

He then asked me the next question:

�Is Amanda Chen still working there?� When I explained that she had forgotten about the interview, he said, �Yeah, that�s Amanda.�

To all the prospective employees out there, try them if you like, but if they turn out to be the disaster I think they are, don�t say you weren�t warned.

Below this, if you want to read more about this �school,� you can go to this link; they don�t have too many good things to say:

http://forums.eslcafe.com/job/viewtopic.php?t=80008

My wife, a Chinese national, also did research about this school when I told her that I had an interview with them, and she said that the Internet had very few good things to say about the school. She didn't say anything until after my horrific experience. She said that all the Net basically said was that the school just steals the money from the students and gives them an inferior quality education, so if you have a friend that can read Chinese, they can also do a search for you, and I am sure that not too many good things will come up.

I guess since I am not certified, they figured they could get me to lower my price to a very low value.

Anyway, this is my story. I hope that it helps people avert a potentially bad situation.

[frenchfrydoggy]

Sorry, but in my opinion you are nitpicking. Turning off their phone? Dear god, no! Ever hear of phone running out of power? Chinese people sleep for 2 and a half hours at lunch time, turning off their phone.

Sounds to me like you are finding some reason to complain when they didn't send the limo for you.

This is China. This is simply how it's done. You clearly didn't do any proper research. You are complaining it was cold? Seems to me that you're one of those folks that is going to blame everything on China, including the weather and lack of preparation on your part. Maps, online maps, taxi drivers. You didn't even know where you were going?

Resume issue... 97% of foreign teachers can't read, spell, write, or focus on the necessary details, so I'm little surprised she found your mistakes and lack of professionalism as well.

Sounds to me like you're looking for a scapegoat.

In the future, use the internet and forums BEFORE making an effort on a job; not after

[kev7161]

My only comment is this: Why-oh-why do people hop from job to job all the time? From what I read in your OP, it seems like you have it pretty good in your current situation. Sure, with a family you could possibly stand to earn a bit more money and I'm guessing that's where the desire to interview at another school comes in. How long have you been at your current school? Do you do a good job for them? Do they (or will they) give you a pay increase with every new contract you sign?

[7969]

[west2east]

Reading the OP's 'complaint' is seven minutes of my life I'll never, EVER get back.

[choudoufu]

"lured?" to her "lair?"
"vauge" prospective salary?

let's see. she said 9 to 14 thousand. seems like a pretty
specific range there.

i would guess 9k for those with no experience and the minimum
qualifications. 10-11 k for a bachelors degree. maybe add a
little more for an online tefl certificate, 12k for a masters, and
maybe up to 14k for a doctor.

she probably deducts from the starting salary if you can't follow
directions, don't wear mittens in the winter, and after a given
time in china, don't know the standard operating hours.

so, uh, why didn't your wife warn you?

[Natovican Storm]

I am sorry sir, but I am NOT nitpicking. She forgot she was having an interview with me, had me go out of my way for four hours, turned her phone off when she told me that she was going to pick me up, and I am nitpicking?!!! I am sorry, sir, but you are crazy.

I don't think you ate your Wheaties today. Did you even read the entire story?

You said, "Sounds to me like you are finding some reason to complain when they didn't send the limo for you."

She forgot about me. Did you understand that part, or is that too difficult to comprehend? Then you say that I am unprofessional? You are crazy, my friend.

Then you said that this is China, and that's how it's done.

No, sorry, it is not how it is done. I have lived in China for four years, and I have never, ever, ever had this done to me. In fact, I have had a relatively good stay here in China, but this school--as is evident from most of the posts on the Net--is not good.

Then you said this: "You didn't even know where you were going?"

Yes, I did, at least up to where I should have known. I followed her directions, as was clearly stated on the post, and when I got to the spot at which she was supposed to pick me up, she couldn't, because she had turned her phone off. Did you miss that part too, or was that too complex as well?

And then you wrote this: "Resume issue... 97% of foreign teachers can't read, spell, write, or focus on the necessary details, so I'm little surprised she found your mistakes and lack of professionalism as well."

She forgets about the interview; I travel four hours, out of my way, and I am unprofessional? You obviously didn't read what I wrote:

Forum issue...97% of people posting on the Net don't take the time to read the post before commenting.

And the final statement: "In the future, use the internet and forums BEFORE making an effort on a job; not after [/quote]"

Yes, I agree; I will. This was a big mistake. Thank you for the obvious 20/20 hindsight.

Anyone reading this thread, if you want to believe whatever this nut is saying, that's your Prerogative, but I assure you, this is not how it is done.

Maybe this person writing has just had a really horrible time, and has accepted that this is how people are treated here, but if you read the other links I have led you to, you will see that I am not the only one that is unhappy, and the legacy of unhappiness goes back many years. Many of the disgruntled people ARE former employees, so they can tell you much more than I can.