Job Discussion Forums

[asiannationmc]

[Non Sequitur]

[Elicit]

[theoriginalprankster]

BC lover-boi above this post.

You are more likely to get an unbiased answer from a chimp on pretty much any topic, bar bananas and where best to forage for succulents.

We've been through it, we're giving straight answers. It's not fun, but it's doable for a year or three.

Then the smart man gets out and capitalizes on what he learnt on the inside. Then I have all the latest material, courtesy of my network of examiners.

Sets me up for 300-600/hour work. At the moment I'm focusing on a project so don't bother with privates. Might return to it in the future.

BC lover-boi - massive fail.

[Noelle]

Thank you for all these replies. This is really helpful. I have already downloaded the examiner application. And I am seriously considering applying.

I'm single, no kids and am already quite fast at marking writing papers, as I'm a composition instructor-- 10 + years teaching experience (8 with adults), MA TESOL holder, DELTA module 2 and I've worked as an in-service teacher trainer in Korea and the U.S. All that's really missing from my CV is this examiner experience, which I've been after for years and just haven't been in the right place at the right time to get.

Regarding the full-time position with BC in China-- do they make the examiners travel around the country, or just locally?

[Volver]

Noelle:

You will spend your life on Chinese airlines and trains - you have no choice in this matter. The planes are beyond awful and the trains are great. Still, the job involves lots and lots of travel. I hope you enjoy waking up while it is pitch black outside and having to look at the hotel stationary to figure out in what city you are going to kill more of your brain cells.

Elicit: Sorry, guy, but I don't think you know what you are talking about. I've done the work and put up with all the nonsense the BC so readily dishes out. Anyone who believes a word their management says is a complete and total fool. If you really knew anything about the BC, you would also know about the big changes coming to their contract in 2017. From my experience, NOTHING ever gets done for the benefit of the examiners - NOTHING. Whatever those changes are, sure as the sun rises they will not be for the benefit of the examiners. Some of my co-workers who stayed with them managed to work the system for their benefit (more power to them) and they were absolutely correct when they stated they new it couldn't last.

As for some of your other points, why exactly do you think former examiners are so upset? We cranked for them for years and got treated like dirt at the end. Sure, we made money, but not the huge amounts you seem to think. The job didn't require much thinking and it could be easily fit in around our real jobs. That is the key. The money was never really good when you factored in all the travel time - you make way more doing side work at an IELTS school (at least I do) than you make on an actual hourly basis factoring in travel time. Again, I've been through it and listened to their senior management (aka lying b*****ds) screw us over with their oh-so-proper British grammar and accents. Please don't tell me or anyone else how it really is.

Anyone: Go for the BC job for a year and get the experience. The job is just a corporate slog with bosses who will shaft you every chance they get. You will do work that is more boring and inane than anything I have ever done in my entire life, have zero outside life due to an unpredictable schedule, spend a fortune on housing, and get experience you can put to use the rest of your teaching life. Think of the job as an investment in your future and nothing more.

One warning I will put out everyone is consider how the writing marking will be done in the future. Staring at papers all day that looked like a chicken with its feet dipped in ink walked across them was bad enough. Now, you get to do the same thing on a computer screen all day. Doesn't that sound like fun? My eyes and neck could not take it for a year - your experience may be different.

V

[Elicit]

Regional or national travel goes back to supply and demand.

If you choose a popular home city for examiners you are more likely to be offered the opportunity to travel nationally. Note I say opportunity, because some people actually want to see as much of China as they can whilst they are here. In the unlikely event there were no volunteers you may travel nationally.

I know of only a handful of occasions when examiners were asked to travel to other regions and these lucky or unlucky examiners were from Shanghai. Not enough work for them in their own region. Needless to say many examiners in the region visited were extremely displeased because these visiting examiners were taking food from their mouths.

Look at the city options carefully and consider the merits of all, before selecting one. I would say Beijing is the place for lots of work and therefore money but lots of regional travel, although some of the test centres are not so 'regional' being they cover a huge area. Shanghai could be a more attractive place to live if your main aim is not to make money. The other two cities should not be discounted too.

Good to hear you're a fast marker. Writing marking is all usually top-up work so if you can mark around 135 tasks in an 8 hour day, that's over 4100 RMB gross. Best to get well acquainted with their behavioural style interview, before taking part in one.

Incidentally, the political environment is much more stable nowadays and so are the examiners. Although the red carpet will not be rolled out for you, you are unlikely to be ignored and made to feel generally unwelcome by professional, and I use the term loosely, colleagues. And let's not forget that these first new full-time examiners knew nothing of the political situation on the ground when they arrived to begin their initial contracts.

[Elicit]

Sorry Volver, but I know everything about the contract revisions next year, because along with the boredom and travel it was the primary reason in my decision to leave the BC and take an opportunity to return to the classroom.

Agreed management can be unsavoury, but can't they everywhere? They will honour your contract.

If somebody is offered the 2016 contract, it is a good opportunity to get in, take some experience and lots of money, and leave if the new contract doesn't suit. Your friends are still working the system and so can anyone who gets in there quick under the soon to be old contract's conditions. I know this because I worked it too.

[Volver]

My, my, my, this is getting interesting. I would defer to Elicit regarding the contractual terms under which examiners work, but I think I would stick to the opinions of others regarding the BC and the job in general. It is not for no reason that so many detest that outfit and he is leaving. As for honoring contracts, yes, they will, but so what? Maybe I have been lucky, but all of my contracts in China have been honored and I have and have had better jobs and bosses.

Regarding the medical insurance, I've always thought that was kind of disingenuous. If you are in need of good medical insurance on a regular basis, why in the world are you coming to a place like China? This place will kill you. Also, I have been in a couple of supposedly "top" Chinese hospitals and those are experiences I never want to repeat. I've gone to expat hospitals and paid through the nose (I can afford it, luckily), but Thailand is such a better option in just about every respect. It will cost me less than half of what UFH wants to charge for me to fly to Bangkok for a week and go to the top tourism hospital in the city. I will clearly admit that I may be missing something regarding the medical insurance the BC offers.

It sounds like the advice from this thread is to take the BC for what you can get out of them, and then move on to other, more enjoyable as well as lucrative, jobs. Fair enough?

V

[Elicit]

[nimadecaomei]

[Ferto]

30K average likely does beat the average ELT job in China.

However, I can think of a couple of universities that will get you to that number (e.g. XJTLU and Ningbo).

[Elicit]

Every month is different with regard to hours, but it is safe to say that you will work for that money. No such thing as a free lunch. We are comparing earning potential rather than hours.

The two universities mentioned do present the opportunity to work less hours for a good salary, but there are many office hours spent marking assignment papers etc. In contrast, you have nothing to really think about outside of IELTS examining work, except the next dreaded train or plane journey. Also XJTLU are currently hiring and

'The salary range for the positions is 14,463 – 29,222'

plus benefits which include housing.

The figures quoted are gross I believe, so the highest number less deductions will bring you in about 24k nett plus a place to live.

However, I suspect applicants would likely receive an offer closer to the lower end. Perhaps, after a few, or many, years service they may approach the higher end of the pay scale. Ningbo pays slightly better and goes up to around 30 -34k gross but again it's unlikely an applicant would be up there on the first few years' contracts.

If somebody knows different and can prove it perhaps they could chime in, and if not we can discount these and look at other options, if there are any.

[twowheel]

[theoriginalprankster]