| View previous topic :: View next topic |
| Author |
Message |
hanjiawen
Joined: 17 May 2013
Posts: 5
|
 Posted: Mon Apr 13, 2015 5:44 am Post subject: NET acceptance? |
 |
|
Hi Folks,
Just wondering if any of you have been accepted onto the NET program this year?
If so, what kind of experience and qualifications do you have?
Thanks |
|
| Back to top |
|
 |
CEB
Joined: 30 Oct 2013
Posts: 41
|
| Posted: Mon Apr 20, 2015 2:32 am Post subject: |
|
|
Accepted into the pool of candidates or got a job offer? I'm not sure what you're asking.
It's still too early to find out about jobs. Schools don't inform the EdB whether they are re-signing their current NET or not until May. My best guess would be that most schools won't start interviewing or hiring until June....after final exams would be my bet.
If you're lucky enough to get an offer, you might not hear about it until the end of June / early July. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
hanjiawen
Joined: 17 May 2013
Posts: 5
|
| Posted: Tue Apr 21, 2015 8:28 am Post subject: |
|
|
| My question was regarding acceptance into the pool. I have 8 years teaching experience, an MEd and TEFL and wasn't accepted, so just wondering what it takes to get into the pool of candidates? |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
TeacherTim
Joined: 10 May 2005
Posts: 89
Location: Deep undercover
|
| Posted: Wed Apr 22, 2015 1:20 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| hanjiawen wrote: |
| My question was regarding acceptance into the pool. I have 8 years teaching experience, an MEd and TEFL and wasn't accepted, so just wondering what it takes to get into the pool of candidates? |
To be honest, these days, you'll probably need a lot more experience to be competitive. If you already live in HK then that also helps as most vacancies are by word of mouth. Last year there were no more than thirty vacancies. In reality there are likely to be hundreds if not thousands (I'm not making it up) already in the candidate school. What the EDB will do, if you pass the interview is to send your cv to five schools and no more.
Sorry, I can't give you positive news. I've been a NET for eight years and every year it gets tougher and tougher with as many as twenty applicants being interviewed for each NET position.
Are you qualified to teach in your home country? Most of us are, if not, quite a few NETs end up doing the local PGDE in order to move up the salary scale. Without this, you'll be stuck on the lowest pay points.
I hope this helps, sorry it comes across as negative. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
CEB
Joined: 30 Oct 2013
Posts: 41
|
| Posted: Thu Apr 23, 2015 1:57 am Post subject: |
|
|
I would think that your qualifications would have been more than enough to get you past the EdB pool interviews. I've heard that the interviewer can make a difference. There have been nice, pleasant interviewers and harsher interviewers. Maybe you didn't say the key words they were looking for or didn't go into enough detail or your interviewer was just tougher.....hard to know without being there.
I passed 3 years ago and I had 10 years of ESL experience (5 in HK) and a TEFL.
I have heard that a few people who didn't pass this year were told by the EdB that they should have more credentials (PGDE).
It's just my opinion (and shared by others) but I think the EdB might make a PGDE or BEd (or equivalent) a minimum in the future for the NET scheme.
Either way, you can still apply directly to a school and get on the scheme that way. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Jmbf
Joined: 29 Jun 2014
Posts: 663
|
| Posted: Thu Apr 23, 2015 5:37 am Post subject: |
|
|
| I understand the eagerness of some to get into the EDB scheme but honestly there are other (better) options available. If you have Permanent Residency here or are on a Dependent Visa then you can set up yourself as a private tutor. I know tutors earning over 100K / month. You can be your own boss, set your own schedule and generally have more flexibility while not having to worry about useless meetings, difficult colleagues, struggling with outdated materials / curriculum etc etc. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
CEB
Joined: 30 Oct 2013
Posts: 41
|
| Posted: Thu Apr 23, 2015 6:08 am Post subject: |
|
|
If someone makes over $100,000 per month teaching privately and charges $500 per hour then you need to have 200 contact hours a month. If you divide that by about 20 working days a month (mon - fri) then you have 10 contact hours a day! (Maybe the people you know are charging thousands per hour or tutor larger classes but $500 seems reasonable for most small classes or 1 on 1)
$100,000 may be possible but you would burn yourself out trying to do it.
I'll happily stick with the NET scheme! |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
TeacherTim
Joined: 10 May 2005
Posts: 89
Location: Deep undercover
|
| Posted: Thu Apr 23, 2015 6:58 am Post subject: |
|
|
| CEB wrote: |
If someone makes over $100,000 per month teaching privately and charges $500 per hour then you need to have 200 contact hours a month. If you divide that by about 20 working days a month (mon - fri) then you have 10 contact hours a day! (Maybe the people you know are charging thousands per hour or tutor larger classes but $500 seems reasonable for most small classes or 1 on 1)
$100,000 may be possible but you would burn yourself out trying to do it.
I'll happily stick with the NET scheme! |
Me too! The average for freelance private tutors is somewhere between 30 to 40K a month, but you have to consider travelling all around the territory which is tiring. The average rate is anything from 250-400 an hour, but I live in East Kowloon so the rate is probably a bit lower than on the island. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Jmbf
Joined: 29 Jun 2014
Posts: 663
|
| Posted: Thu Apr 23, 2015 9:05 am Post subject: |
|
|
| The top earners I know don't travel at all. Students go to them so no travel time. Also, they do tend to have mixes of one-to-ones and small groups of 2-3 students so the average hourly rate is much higher than $500. They do work hard, don't get me wrong, often working 6 days a week (Mon - Sat) but then again who doesn't work hard for a 100K+ salary? |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Jmbf
Joined: 29 Jun 2014
Posts: 663
|
| Posted: Sun Apr 26, 2015 7:11 am Post subject: |
|
|
| TeacherTim wrote: |
| CEB wrote: |
If someone makes over $100,000 per month teaching privately and charges $500 per hour then you need to have 200 contact hours a month. If you divide that by about 20 working days a month (mon - fri) then you have 10 contact hours a day! (Maybe the people you know are charging thousands per hour or tutor larger classes but $500 seems reasonable for most small classes or 1 on 1)
$100,000 may be possible but you would burn yourself out trying to do it.
I'll happily stick with the NET scheme! |
Me too! The average for freelance private tutors is somewhere between 30 to 40K a month, but you have to consider travelling all around the territory which is tiring. The average rate is anything from 250-400 an hour, but I live in East Kowloon so the rate is probably a bit lower than on the island. |
I've found that the tutoring industry is very much underrated and misunderstood (even by those working within the industry). On top of that, It is also quite varied, hence different tutors will have had very different experiences. I know tutors earning less than 20K through to those earning over 100K. Differences in teaching experience and ability, location, qualifications, reputation etc etc all play a role in determining a tutor's potential income, but from talking with many tutors I've found the most important factor is MINDSET.
Like many other tutors, I started off by travelling out to tutor students in different locations. I enjoyed the work and I was good at it. My students improved, the parents were happy, referrals started trickling in and pretty soon I was working 4 - 5 teaching hours per day (more on Saturdays). However, I was tired at the end of each day and many hours were wasted travelling between lessons.
I decided there must be a better way to do this. I took a risk and rented a larger apartment in a decent area in town. I fitted out one room as my dedicated teaching room with a proper desk, big screen computer, all my materials, books etc etc. Then I marketed myself aggressively in my local area using all the means I could think of, handing out flyers, posting leaflets, talking to people, advertising online and all the rest. I insisted that students had to come to me for lessons (no more travelling out). It was slow in the beginning but I soon began to gain new students. After that there was no looking back. Wow, what a difference it makes working from home. It was like black and white. Whereas before I was exhausted by the end of each day, now I can easily handle 6-8 teaching hours per day and still have energy for more. The ability to teach in comfort, in a controlled environment and without wasting any time travelling was amazing.
My income has jumped considerably, and while I'm not yet in the 100K plus range, I'm getting very very close. And I'm nowhere near the top of my potential earning curve. As my income increases, I continually re-evaluate what the maximum realistic level is. At the moment I'm pegging it somewhere at the 150K / month level.
The best part is I believe in this manner the workload is sustainable and yet still allows for a decent work/life balance. I'm able to take my daughter to school and pick her up most days. We often have lunch together. I always keep some time free at weekends for family. When a student cancels or re-arranges, thats bonus time that we can do something together. If I want to take a holiday, I do so. In the past year alone I've been to England, South Africa, Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand, all wonderful family trips that I wouldn't have been able to afford or have the scheduling flexibility to take otherwise.
I'm personally interested in seeing how far I can take it with my current setup, I believe something within 100 - 120K / month range is achievable in the relatively short term, perhaps within another year or so with further optimisations to my student load. And that 150K figure still lurks in the distance. A goal to strive for. However, if for whatever reason I wanted to step back a bit and take it easy, I could easily scale back my setup to an average of 6 working hours per day (Monday - Friday) and still earn in excess of 60K / month. So the flexibility I have is enormous.
So, to wind up, I believe that freelance tutors could fairly easily optimise their setup to earn significantly more than what they do now, should they wish to do so. I urge any tutors viewing this to take a close look at their own situation and figure out what steps to take to optimise it. Don't let other's ignorance or assumptions about what is possible in this industry hold you back. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
mambawamba
Joined: 12 Jun 2012
Posts: 311
|
| Posted: Mon Apr 27, 2015 1:15 am Post subject: |
|
|
| Just asking, how have you registered for tax purposes? |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Jmbf
Joined: 29 Jun 2014
Posts: 663
|
| Posted: Mon Apr 27, 2015 9:01 am Post subject: |
|
|
| When you register your Sole Proprietorship (SP) it's explained. You can access all the forms online. It's actually quite simple to report your income. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
mambawamba
Joined: 12 Jun 2012
Posts: 311
|
| Posted: Mon Apr 27, 2015 9:25 am Post subject: |
|
|
| Thought that was limited to an income of $500,000 per year though? |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Jmbf
Joined: 29 Jun 2014
Posts: 663
|
| Posted: Mon Apr 27, 2015 9:51 am Post subject: |
|
|
There is no 'limit' to what an SP can earn. However, if your income exceeds $2,000,000 then you have to file additional support documents.
http://www.ird.gov.hk/eng/tax/ind_sp_rep.htm |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
mambawamba
Joined: 12 Jun 2012
Posts: 311
|
| Posted: Mon Apr 27, 2015 12:41 pm Post subject: |
|
|
Superstar, thanks for the info, been going back and forth between the EDB and Inland Revenue. Guessing that's why the disclaimer is at the end of every communication; do not take the details contained in this email to be correct.
M |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
|
FAQ
Search
Memberlist
Usergroups
Register
Profile
Log in to check your private messages
Log in
