Job Discussion Forums

[mikesaidyes]

So I know that there are horror stories and success stories. I am willing to take all of them with a grain of salt but proceed cautiously.

They offered me a job after one interview. I guess that's the "place a body in a room" approach, huh? I mean I'm qualified and comfortable with the idea, but....

I was just told my contract would be signed upon arrival. Furthermore, I don't want to start until August so they don't have an exact school for me yet.

I'm working with a man named Hendra. Any scoop? Seems odd, but again, this could just be the way it is there, no?

I've requested that I have SOMETHING before I get all the way around the world.

Anyone else recently place with them in Jakarta? I know it all depends on the school, but just curious to know if this is the norm on placement.

[Gajah Oling]

Hendra. This must be either EF Solo, Jogja, or Semarang. I posted a couple years back about EF Solo, you can find what I wrote by doing a search on these pages.

Any other questions I can answer if you want to PM me. It's been a while since I worked there, so not sure how much has changed. Probably not too much.

[mikesaidyes]

I'm still too new to PM you. I was told the schools were all in Jakarta. I just find it odd that they claim that everyone they've hired doesn't sign a thing until they get there.

How did your process work with signing/arriving/visas?

[extradross]

Never known any EF, in fact any school at all, to proceed with the hiring process prior to your arrival. Probably British International etc do when they hire teachers from overseas but EF? Always involves a month or so working illegally before you're dispatched to Singapore.

[Gajah Oling]

What extradross says is my experience. I arrived on a tourist visa and worked for a month (illegally) before being flown to Singapore to get my work visa completed.

If the school is in Jakarta, it's probably a different Hendra.

[mikesaidyes]

Thanks for the info. You know us crazy Americans and how we operate job wise. It'd be unheard of to take a job here and not sign anything like that. But again, this is the experience of applying aborad. Well that's definitely reassuring, though, to know that the contract signing when I get there is normal. I would've thought otherwise, but hey, I guess not.

EF seemed legit but I just wanted some extra assurance.

Ah so I get the 30 day visa, cool. I guess I should play it safe and only book a 30 day flight to avoid being haggled by immigration, huh? I'd be flying over on Korean Air so I'm allowed a change of date on my inbound (leg home) free of charge.

[mikesaidyes]

Gajah,

Did you enjoy your work there? I know it all depends on the school, but the rumor mill says Jakarta schools are okay. How was your experience with the agency itself?

I mean all I did was one Skype interview and bam, hired. So crazy!

[Ragil]

You can, if you want, extend a 30-day Visa on Arrival, ONCE only, within the country with your homeward flight booked accordingly (I mean, it would you give you that extra breathing space). Your prospective employer would, in any event, arrange and pay for the extension.

[Gajah Oling]

It was a mixed bag. Overall I enjoyed it. The company was straight with me: they paid me on time, reimbursed me for my flight, and basically lived up to the contract. Their number one consideration (and I'm sure this applies to just about any private school in Indonesia) is making money though, and this sometimes caused friction. A common issue went something like this: TOEFL test prep courses I think were the most expensive courses offered at my school. Unfortunately, hardly any of the students who wanted to take these courses were no where near close enough to the level of English ability needed to take them. The school would try to encourage them to take the requisite English courses before taking the TOEFL course, but most just didn't want to. So the school would fudge the students' placement scores so that they could get enough of them to make it worth while to have a TOEFL class. Of the TOEFL classes I taught, I had one student who might have come close to passing. They would do this with other courses as well. It wasn't horrible, but it made it difficult when you had several students who clearly weren't at the level they should be in your class.

Pay wasn't great, but I was able to make a living there and live comfortably enough.

If you can, you should try to talk to the school's DOS and/or some of the other teachers before you go. That will give you the best idea of what kind of work environment you're getting yourself into. At the time I worked there, EF Solo had an excellent DOS (the head of the school was scared of him) and a great crew of teachers, and that made the difference between having a potentially horrible experience in actually having a pleasant one.

[KopiKopi]

I worked at an EF, had a fine time, but a year before I worked there two teachers were deported for working illegally. So, SOME EFs are fine, but working without a KITAS, is not a good idea. I work for an international school now and visas were taken care of well before any teaching duties.

I actually got my KITAS well before teaching at EF, also. So, be careful. Immigration in Indo can be rough.

[Tudor]

Wise words. As has been recently reported on a popular expat forum, a new law has been passed (or, at least, will be shortly) whereby the maximum penalty for working illegaly is five years imprisonment. Whilst that may be the absolute worse-case scenario, and many strings can be pulled and palms greased before that eventuality, it is nevertheless food for thought.

However, working on a tourist/business visa whilst waiting for a KITAS does seem to be the norm at many language schools so, as long as you're aware of the potential (albeit unlikely) consequences, it's your call.