Job Discussion Forums

Justin Trullinger · Posted: Wed Mar 14, 2007 3:06 pm Post subject:

Interesting- I try to use a variety of teacher references. This has come up a lot recently on our TESOL courses. New applicants usually want to be in touch with people who did the course before, and if they don't suggest it, I do.

I try to give them contact details for a variety of participants, including those who didn't seem to like the course, as well as those who did. I figure that anybody who scares off easily probably wouldn't be a lot of fun when they got here.

I do the same with incoming teachers- we have a former teacher, now in Canada, who was a good friend of mine, but left because she couldn't live on the wages. (Reasons for this are complicated. I have lived fine on the wages for several years. She couldn't last a year- it depends on what you spend on.) I really want incoming teachers to assess whether their spending habits are more like hers, or more like another teacher, still here, who saves a lot of money on the same wages.

I know that some teachers, past and present, will complain about the split shifts- others like how much time it gives them in the day to do other things. Again, I want applicants to know about this, and make a decision.

What I DON'T want is for applicants to get a false rosy picture, then come here and be dissatisfied.

Though this still happens occasionally, because some people decide what they're gonna expect, and blame me for not living up to it, no matter what they've been told. This stinks, but we can minimize it by making sure that teachers get as much accurate info beforehand as possible...

All the best,

Justin

MELEE · Posted: Wed Mar 14, 2007 3:40 pm Post subject:

Our current teachers have contacts listed on our webpage. The easy thing is to let the prospestive teacher pick from the list who they want to write to. I totally agree with Justin, that most of our teachers know that this is not the job for everyone and if we hire the wrong person we all will suffer the consequences while they are here. I want my current teachers to be very honest about pay, hours and living in our town when they talk to prospective teachers. If the truth turns that teacher off, then it's ultimately a good thing. It's not like we don't get hundreds of applicants.
The problem with giving former teachers as contacts is that I feel like I have to ask their premission first. So I have to write to them and wait until they respond with yes, you can give out my email address before sending it on. We usually try to get hiring done as quickly as possible and that slows down the process.
www.teflwatch.org is a good option. I put my school up on there for critique and if any current or former teacher are reading this please go over there and leave your honest opinions because we want people to know exactly what they are getting into when they accept a position.

But still I've been left wondering why X teacher accepted the job, when they should have known that they would hate it here. For example one teacher hired for a new sister school that is in a tiny town in the forrest, where you can litterally count all the buildings in town when looking down at it from the campus, left after a week because she was "looking for something a bit more urban." That really pissed me off because we did our best to make the conditions extremely clear during the hiring process.

Justin Trullinger · Posted: Wed Mar 14, 2007 5:47 pm Post subject:

Sgt Killjoy · Joined: 26 Jun 2004 Posts: 438

Justin, it sounds like you and Melee have great recruiting methods and a good outlook. I wish all schools could be like that.

Some schools act like they are pulling a con game and try to get any teacher they can, not thinking about quality.

I wish their were more like you two.

Justin Trullinger · Posted: Mon Mar 19, 2007 3:35 pm Post subject:

Thank you!

And we're hiring...

Best,
Justin

MELEE · Posted: Tue Mar 20, 2007 4:37 pm Post subject:

Yeah thanks Sarg.

I think I have a great job, and I'm always looking for ways to make it better. Unlike Justin, Wink

I'm attracted to the management side. I let my coworkers come up with ideas on how to make it better for the students, and I usually focus on how to make it better for the teachers (so they in turn can make it even better for the students!) Also, we are located in a small city where our teachers are the only foreigners in town. So when we hire someone, what will happen outside of the classroom is as important to us as what they will do in the classroom. We also are together for long hours (we work 8 hours a day) so we need someone who is a good teacher, AND who we will get along with. If we hire the wrong person all of us suffer.

Good luck with the hiring Justin!