Job Discussion Forums

[guruengerish]

Today, an advertisement appeared in Dave's pages, wanting a teacher at EF, between the ages of 22 and 30.

My letter to the school is below.

+++++++++++++


EF English First Cempaka Mas, Jakarta

Sir,

I am amazed that unlike most western countries, you advertise a position for an English teacher, specifying specific ages.

Apart from being discriminatory, do you really think that a teacher is 'past it' once he or she passes the age of 30?

I am staggered that a reputable ESL site such as Dave's even allows you to publish such an advertisement.

Possibly you feel that your students can best be served by some young punk, rather than drawing on the experience of a more mature staff member.

In disgust,

[sidjameson]

You do realize that your last line where you automatically assume someone under thrity is a "young punk" is throwing out the same ageist negative stereotype that you are acusing the school of.

In England walk into any city centre fun pub and the staff are under thirty. Certain shops it's the same. Models its the same. It's just a fact of life I am afraid. Their perception of market demand. Right or wrong as it may be I prefer it this way than the pc correctness of back home.

The best way to fight it is to make sure that by the time youre over thirty you no longer need to consider such jobs anyway.

[wailing_imam]

Frankly, who over thirty would want to work at EF anyway?

Sid is right.

[gugelhupf]

Ah! You all missed the typo in the advert. The figures 22 and 30 refer to the required IQ test result and NOT the age stipulation. This range of ability applies to all jobs with said employer.

[Salam]

[gugelhupf]

I also note from their ad that:

"No working experiences are welcome to apply".

This is clear and blatant discrimination against working experiences, surely?

That sentence was written by their Academic Coordinator.

[papillon]

I applied for a position with EF West Jakarta and was turned down for being
'the wrong shade of white'.

Now, where did I put my Kampung whitener..?

[TEAM_PAPUA]

Is it legal to employ 22 yr olds as teachers here? I thought there wa sa change in the KITAS requirements.

Anyway, I know of several middle aged teachers working for EF, so shopping around might be an idea. Alternatively, you could avoid living in sub-standard housing, being overworked and underpaid and being treated like **** and look for a teaching position elsewhere. At your age I'd opt for China over Indonesia, a nice cushy university position and all the rice you can eat I believe they still recruit teachers upto the age of 65 (but it's worth checking).

[guruengerish]

Some good points there guys.

I'd missed that typo, and of course, it must be the IQ.

But seriously, I've worked for EF in West Jakarta, and they were very good. Sure, I'd love to have worked with 'Headway' or other professional material, but that's the way it went.

All of the teachers were above 30, and a couple of us over 50! heaven forbid!!

[uilleannpiper]

[guruengerish]

No, I'm not joking.

The Headway series are most professional, as are the tapes that come with them.

The EF course is OK, but the books look rushed and the tapes are BAAD. Ever heard an American trying to do an imitation East London accent, or worse, a Welsh one?

So, I stand by my original thought - Headway books are well produced, their teacher notes very helpful and I like them.

[TEAM_PAPUA]

Why not try Surabaya?

[uilleannpiper]

[happy_me]

ok lets forget EF all the textbooks are the same just some have slightly more material that is usable. If you want to teach its better to have a colachon of 15 or more books and let me tell you the old ones that your teachers teacher used are very good cus there not trying to make the book self outdate 1 or2 years time.

Now back to the old point of, why do the schools still pay the same as 5 years ago?
Cus the teachers think its cheaper here?

[uilleannpiper]