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Tricks played by Russian schools, what to look out for...
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ancient_dweller



Joined: 12 Aug 2010
Posts: 415
Location: Woodland Bench

PostPosted: Wed Jun 15, 2011 10:54 am    Post subject: Tricks played by Russian schools, what to look out for... Reply with quote

I thought I'd create a post to share some experiences for newbies. Some of these are mine, some I have heard about and even read about on this forum.

Recruitment

People put up with a lot more when they start up because they want to get their foot in the door. They lash out their CV's and more often than not, they get invited to interviews. But, before that, they have probably been asked to send a CV with photo attached. Now, for you Westerners that is something new. You are thinking... Im applying for a modelling job or something? No, in Russia, how you look plays a big part in your ability to teach (so the theory goes). So expect to be asked for photos. (Luckily i am very hot.. therefore I am an exceptionally good teacher Cool )


What happens when you get to an interview? Well, if you have been invited you might draw on that interview experience you gained back home. Competency, how youll fit in to to the culture... bla and you have probably prepared some questions to find out about those things. Well, you'll be disappointed. Questions are way more personal. Remember how important your physical appearance is when sending a form? Well, questions range from 'are you married?', 'do you have a partner?', 'where do you live?' (not for travel purposes - just pure judgemental purposes), 'what do your parents do back home?', 'what car do your parents drive?' etc... i would love to hear more examples. I have lost count of the number of interviews where the focus is on my personally as oppose to the job at hand. Of course they ask some basic 'experience' questions but rarely ask you to expand on it. Just so you know. Apparently, these questions are because they have some personal interest in you themselves, perhaps trying to set you up for their friends, or they are jealous etc...


Also, as i found out, many recruiters are on a power trip and invite you to interviews when they actually havent even read your CV, and have no jobs available.

So, you got invited back, (usually its quick if you are). If your not invited, they won't tell you. They just ignore your calls/emails. They put some silly piece of paper in front of you, tell you its legal etc... and then ask you to sign it. Sometimes, i have been lucky and got a little more than they offered, but in general, they are pretty forceful with their figures.

working

So, you are through the door! You have a job, you get your timetables and so on.

Expect incompetent administrative staff. This is the most common problem. Schools do not tell you about cancellations. (Well, sometimes they do but usually they don't). The problem is rife with individual students who won't provide you with their number and won't call you on your number. But think calling your school is enough. Of course, if you are hourly paid, then you just wasted a whole load of time. Some schools offer a last minute cancellation consolation by paying you an academic hour. They get around this by saying to you 'the student won't pay the academic hour you are asking for, unless you waive it, they wont continue'. The astute among you may see the injustice in this. The contract between you and the school really has nothing to do with the student but they trick you. Also, the student pays the school on their contract anyway...

Another thing is that schools promise, seemingly, an infinite number of students and hours. They call you and email you night and day offering students. This makes you feel wanted - until after a few weeks/months, you have 10 academic hours a week and you were promised... erm - infinite.

Also, schools are paranoid. They always think you are trying to steal their clients. They therefore treat you awfully if one of your students leaves for a legitimate reason.

Another thing schools do is lie to students about your qualifications, experience etc or they are just generally incompetent. I went to one class where i was apparently a 'retired banker'. I'm in my 20's. The student lasted the one month she had paid for. It was marred by disappointment.

text messaging. This has to be the worst thing in russia at the moment. Since when does a professional person, in a professional setting send a text message regarding business. The staff are too embarrassed or whatever to talk on the phone so they ignore your calls but reply to your txts... Great if you love trying to cram what you need to say into 168 characters or whatever and are prepared to allow an hour of back and forth.

I had this situation, i was working with one school, who had, after a period of working promised to review my salary. So, I called several times, to no answer and then sent a message saying, i'd like to talk to you about agreed salary negotiation... OOOoo instant txt reply saying something in agreement. So i called again on receipt. No answer. So a few days later i get a call saying 'your student is here'. That's nice, i replied and added that i thought our arrangement was over at the point where you refused to answer the phone. It wasn't the first time, I'd had to put up with that schools mal-administration for a while. Unfortunately, as one of Aesop's fables points out, if something isn't good in one place, it's not going to be better in another. Which is right. So, tip, be aware of it, and try to control it. That experience was in my early days, now i humour those people and take things less seriously. Seems to work a treat.



Another thing pointed out on this forum is the school holding passports. Never do that.

Another thing is getting paid. Whenever you get paid, it's not always right. Especially in schools that have a central office to collect salary. It's conveniently never the problem of your central office that the school administrator has incompetently left out some of your classes because they were more interested in icq and vkontakte.

These experiences are based over seven different schools over Moscow. They are not all my experiences. And on a good note I have made some really great - hopefully longer lasting professional relationships.

You just have to be aware that some people view foreigners as a walking chicken that lays golden eggs for them.

I hope others can come out and share a few experiences!
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Sashadroogie



Joined: 17 Apr 2007
Posts: 11061
Location: Moskva, The Workers' Paradise

PostPosted: Wed Jun 15, 2011 12:58 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Pretty solid information all round there, Ancient Dweller. Agree with nearly everything written above, but not so sure about the photo part. I've never been asked for that myself - not sure if many other TEFLers are, though. But as regards job interviews outside of TEFL, yes, correct info again.

In fact, job interviews are worse for locals, especially for females. "Are you married?" ; "planning to become pregnant?" ; "We don't want a girl who is going to get pregnant in a couple of years" ; "Where were you born? Are you really Russian?" ; "We don't hire people who want a high salary, but we expect you to work all hours". The list goes on...
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Sashadroogie



Joined: 17 Apr 2007
Posts: 11061
Location: Moskva, The Workers' Paradise

PostPosted: Wed Jun 15, 2011 1:06 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Another trick to watch out for is the old academic hour vs 'astronomical hour' ruse. Make sure you know how many real minutes you are to teach, and is that is the same number of mins you get paid for. I.e. be careful of being told you get 700 rubles an hour if that hour is 60 mins, not the usual 45 mins.
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ancient_dweller



Joined: 12 Aug 2010
Posts: 415
Location: Woodland Bench

PostPosted: Wed Jun 15, 2011 1:30 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

ah ye, the academic/astronomical hour trick, forgot about that one!
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Sashadroogie



Joined: 17 Apr 2007
Posts: 11061
Location: Moskva, The Workers' Paradise

PostPosted: Thu Jun 16, 2011 7:36 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Probably the most important trick of all is the threat that schools like to make about cancelling visas. They have no legal authority to do this, but they like scaring teachers. As mentioned earlier, there is precious little they can do without holding your passport. Contact a lawyer if things ever get that bad. Surprisingly strong labour law here.
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Sashadroogie



Joined: 17 Apr 2007
Posts: 11061
Location: Moskva, The Workers' Paradise

PostPosted: Thu Jun 16, 2011 7:37 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Registration is another trick. Employees are not liable for the costs involved with this, despite what your employer may say.
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Sashadroogie



Joined: 17 Apr 2007
Posts: 11061
Location: Moskva, The Workers' Paradise

PostPosted: Thu Jun 16, 2011 7:39 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

An IPT special is the promise of a full-time contract with lots of benefits, that then quickly gets downgraded to part-time work and no frills - once you've been inveigled into signing up with them.
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Sashadroogie



Joined: 17 Apr 2007
Posts: 11061
Location: Moskva, The Workers' Paradise

PostPosted: Thu Jun 16, 2011 8:26 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Contracts. English language contracts are not legally valid. Only Russian language, with or without an English translation running down the side. However, it is important to be aware that just because you sign a document with a school that is being referred to as a contract, does not mean that this is really your contract. What is important is whatever document is submitted to the immigration authorities, which you may not have even seen let alone signed. As for as the law is concerned this is the only valid contract.

Would be interesting to see what would happen in a labour court if a company was asked whose signature was on the 'contract' if the teacher denied it was theirs...

In any case, it is important to be aware that this is a favourite area for all sorts of chicanery.
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Sashadroogie



Joined: 17 Apr 2007
Posts: 11061
Location: Moskva, The Workers' Paradise

PostPosted: Thu Jun 16, 2011 12:38 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Paid holidays. A favourite trick is to claim that you are not entitled to them, as you are a) not Russian, b) part-time. Both clearly untrue under Russian labour law. Do not accept this as an excuse.
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Sashadroogie



Joined: 17 Apr 2007
Posts: 11061
Location: Moskva, The Workers' Paradise

PostPosted: Thu Jun 16, 2011 12:41 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

It can be important to keep a record of how many hours you have taught. Not for the obvious purpose of payment of but in order to establish that you do in fact work for your company. Hours taught can be used to calculate holiday pay, but don't depend on your company to give you accurate info after the fact. Photocopy registers, preferably with the company name on them... though, surprise surprise few schools have any identifying info on any documents that teachers deal with....
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ancient_dweller



Joined: 12 Aug 2010
Posts: 415
Location: Woodland Bench

PostPosted: Fri Jun 17, 2011 10:40 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Amazing!

Nobody except Sasha and I have experienced (or heard of someone experiencing) any trickery from Moscow schools!

You lucky people!
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Peg Leg Pete



Joined: 12 Feb 2010
Posts: 80
Location: Moscow

PostPosted: Fri Jun 17, 2011 2:00 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

"The woman who does the pay is at the doctor's"

"The woman who does the pay is at the hairdresser's"

These and other excuses can be used to avoid paying the teacher. Or, even better: Salary is paid after the 19th. But how long should one wait? One company was arguing that the 20th of the following month was after the 19th....

Basically, many dodges to avoid paying the teacher. Advice: don't touch Parlex or Megapolis- they simply don't pay. Do your research as best you can. Seek advice and information from those who may have gone before you.
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Sashadroogie



Joined: 17 Apr 2007
Posts: 11061
Location: Moskva, The Workers' Paradise

PostPosted: Fri Jun 17, 2011 2:33 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Anyone do Cambridge testing in Moscow? One of the McSchools likes to deduct tax from Oral Examiners' payment. Would not be such a problem if they actually paid the tax to the government instead of pocketing it themselves. But they don't pay, surprise surprise. Cheapskates. Hard enough to get even a cup of tea when examining and then they cheat you on top.
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westbrook1



Joined: 11 Jun 2011
Posts: 45

PostPosted: Sat Jun 18, 2011 12:55 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I don't like threads like these. They do nothing but scare off potential teachers who have an interest in Russia.

Crying or Very sad
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Sashadroogie



Joined: 17 Apr 2007
Posts: 11061
Location: Moskva, The Workers' Paradise

PostPosted: Sat Jun 18, 2011 1:16 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Really? Sorry you feel that way. But I don't see why you would. Forewarned is forearmed etc. Better than being scared into leaving Russia after being burnt by dodgy employers and not knowing what was happening. All too common here.

That tends to leave a bad taste in the mouth much more. which is a pity, because Russia is a great place to be in, once you know the ropes.
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