Job Discussion Forums

[anninhk]

Congratulations! Now you have to wait until Jun/July until you hear from a school. I suggest in the waiting time you collect every bit of paper relating to your education and teaching experience so that when you are contacted you have everything to hand. I assure you they will be needed!

[oxi]

[jenwilltraveltheworld]

I just had my interview in Vancouver and passed. They are connecting me with schools now, but they did mention I may not know for certain until June/July or even August. But the post begins in August...?!?



What should I tell my current employer regarding next semster?!? "Maybe I will be working here, maybe not." ????

When did all you other NETs find out above your post?

[Yes Sir I Can Bogey]

[saroq]

It's been some years since I've worked in the NET scheme and I can't say there is anything about it that I miss. True the money is good but if you're a competent teacher you can find yourself a good international school and although it propably doesn't equal the NET salary it gets close. The real payoff is that you'll be treated like a human being and not like you're the property of the school. This more than makes up for the shortfall in money.

I worked in Tue Mun in the PNET scheme. One school was great, the other was a nightmare. Tue Mun has one of the highest levels of domestic violence and poverty in HK. However, the kids were great it was the local teachers who were hostile and awful to work with. Honestly, I have never been treated so poorly and unprofessionally as I was at this one school in Tue Mun.

7 weeks holiday ... not likely. More like 4 weeks in summer, the rest of that time you'll have to report to school to do nothing. They don't seem to understand that allowing foreign teachers to return home would make them happier and more productive at work when they returned. Unlike my experience in international schools where the holidays can be enjoyed I found that holidays in the NET scheme were so short that I never felt rested. In my 1st year in HK it was something like 16 to 18 weeks before I could take my 1st holiday and exactly how much of that holiday I got was always under a cloud.

My experience in HK showed me that it was more important for the principal and other senior teachers to try and teach me that they were the boss and I had no rights, certainly no right to say "no." My response to their hostility and bullying was to tell them that I didn't need any more reasons to leave and go home I was actually trying to find reasons to stay. That seemed to get through to them and we eventually reached an uneasy ceasefire. Strangely they expected me to return, assuming that I would turn up for more of their abuse. This isn't difficult to understand as they themselves have never known anything different and propably treated me no differently to the way they treated anyone in a suordinate role. But after 2 years I'd had enough and wasn't interested in rolling the dice again and taking the chance that I may find a better school, especially when I knew I could have much more rewarding experience working in international schools.

When I was there there was only one new development with nice apartments to live in in Tue Mun. I had a fantastic place with a rooftop and views across the water to the airport. Although it was great it didn't help with dealing with the feelings of isolation and the abuse I dealing with at work. If I ever got desperate enough to have to return to the NET scheme I would not live in Tue Mun even if I worked there. I'd rather live somewhere that offered me a social live and then travel to work each day even if that travel time was 40 or 60 minutes each way. The NET scheme is very isolating and support structures / friendships and living somewhere where you can enjoy life helps a lot to deal with the isolation and crap at work. When I was there you could pocket the allowance. I payed my rent and had enough to left to live off so all of my salary was savings.

My advice is to get everything in writing, holidays, meetings etc. everything. Don't trust the management to do the right thing or to treat you professionally. In one of the posts I read the school expected the applicant to turn up for an interview the next day. I've actually heard this a couple of times and that should give you an indication of how the school is going to treat you if you work for them. If you're already working in an international school I think you'll find the change difficult to deal with.

[ozman]

I've been a NET in HK for about 9 years.
Most summers I get 4 weeks holiday. Occasionally I've had 5 weeks.
i have known SOME NETS to get 6 weeks in summer (but few and far between)

This year things are tighter. Not so many NETS are leaving. Many "old" NETS are renewing their contracts locally and looking for new schools.

The EDB has recruited 70 candidates from Canada. I don't know how many more from other places. More people have been rejected this year at the interview stage as the EDB has been snowed under this year with applications. This may be due to global economic climate.

Yes things here can be difficult. It's a lottery. My first school I had meetings in Cantonese most Fridays lasting 4 - 5 hours. I don't think people should be asking: what time do I start / finish; do I have to attend meetings etc. at the interview stage. this year generally schools have more applicants. Also it might be difficult to get set dates for holidays in writing. NETS here have been on "standby" for more than a month with the threat of swine flu. Luckily it hasn't broken out in HK but we have been told that if it does, then schools will be closed for about 2 weeks. this means that schools would make up the time lost during the summer. in effect this means that holiday dates are out the window. yes even now in June, we can't be certain that our holiday dates won't change. Most of us have booked flights. If dates are changed, then it's up to individual NETS to "negotiate" with the principal. things here don't work like they do in western countries and there's no union here to protect the rights of NETS.

[Marcoregano]

[Tinseltown Rebellion]

The problem with the advice directly above is simply that, at the vast majority of schools, even so much as expecting to be treated as a professional teacher (or even just a human being) often marks you as an "uppity gweilo troublemaker" who doesn't 'respect the local (school) culture'. Also, I doubt whether the poster immediately above is or ever has been a NET on either of the two NET schemes; if he had then he would know that transfer requests are rarely if ever entertained; rather, NETs must wait till the end of their contract before applying to a different school. There are exceptions, but they are so few and far between that they are the exceptions that prove the rule.

I agree with saroq. My advice would also be to get everything in writing. It is all very well trusting to luck and expecting to be treated like a valued member of staff - a native speaking asset/resource - but the very presence of NETs is openly resented by an inordinate number of local staff, especially, for some reason, older, female members of staff. (I guess it is the sheer living conditions of HK that brings out the worst in people and puts them in a 'siege mentality' mindset.) There is nothing worse or more depressing than having to sit through a 4-hour meeting conducted in headache-inducing nine-tone Cantonese on a Friday evening and/or not being able to return to your home country in the holidays or being able to have the same holidays as your partner, if you have one. Do not just look at the school's academic calendar and assume that all periods of time with no lessons are holidays for they are just that: periods of time with no lessons. Some principals, to local staff at least, say that no teaching is holiday enough, and most hold a week's worth of meetings immediately following and prior to term time, at which the NET will be expected. Another common problem is Hitleresque principals calling meetings and 'teacher workshops' slap bang in the middle of holidays, thereby forcing you to either not go away or to return to HK halfway through your holiday.

[Marcoregano]

TR, I can only assume you have misread or misunderstood my post, or not bothered to read the thread. You think an applicant for NET can get these things in writing before appointment? In attempting anything of the sort they will negate any chance of being selected, as I wrote in my post above. First off you have to actually become a NET before you can try and start changing the world.

Obviously, nobody wants to have to sit through boring Cantonese meetings, but if you bring that up during the interview, bye bye....

BTW, welcome back Bogey!

[Tinseltown Rebellion]

[oxi]

[Tinseltown Rebellion]

[oxi]

Bogey,

I don't actually disagree with what you're saying here. Just adding on. Cheers for the corrections - I'll be sure to get it right next time. Nice to have your expertise