Job Discussion Forums

thrifty · Joined: 25 Apr 2006 Posts: 1665 Location: chip van

The BC are advertising a number of jobs. Would anyone care to share the gossip if there is any?

11:59 · Posted: Sat Apr 07, 2007 4:26 am Post subject:

I wouldn't know if there was any gossip or not, nor would I care. I haven't seen the posts you say are currently being advertised but if I had to guess then I would simply say it as working there can't be especially attractive. It's high end TEFL, but is still ultimately but TEFL. Of course, to judge from the way the instructors up there in Admiralty ponce around you would think they were corporate executives and/or professors. The truth is of course they are neither; they are just bog-standard language instructors. I have met a few and I largely found them to be a most disagreeable bunch. The vast majority live out on Lamma Island (that's 'Laaha-ma' Island in the parlance of the perculiar brand of hippie wannabe ex-pats who 'reside' there) or over at Disco Bay, where they try to convince themselves they are not in Asia. Anyway, whether they live on the dog crap-ridden outcrop of Lamma or in that second-rate English new town-like community of DB, they have the practice of Mason-like head nodding to each other down to an art form. Despite their outward behaviour, however, most just have a degree (often in a non-related discipline), a TEFL certificate, and a few years of experience, which was often gleaned whilst backpacking through Thailand (where many picked up their wives or wives 'to be'). One or two of the 'senior' instructors have a DELTA, and a very small minority have an advanced degree, but that is about it. I once knew one of the top guys there, but he left to commence a PhD when they ceased to offer the CELTA course.

As I say, the jobs they offer are not particularly attractive. They have to work split shifts, evenings, weekends, and right through the holidays (as those are their busiest times). In other words, whilst everyone in the school, college, and university system is on holiday (often to the tune of some three months a year, fully paid) the self-deluded mugs at the British Council have to work, and their timetables are packed solid. The money is not particularly great either. I think it is just in the $20-something thousand range � and that is a month, not a week. They only have a few weeks of paid annual holiday and they do not receive any housing allowance.

thrifty · Joined: 25 Apr 2006 Posts: 1665 Location: chip van

Bang goes that idea then.

11:59 · Posted: Sat Apr 07, 2007 6:06 pm Post subject:

Yes, If I were you I would be tempted to stick with the good old chip van. It probably pays better, entails fewer anti-social hours, offers better career prospects, and would most likely command greater respect on the part of both the general populace in Hong Kong and expatriate teachers.

In one sense it is a crying shame as when I was here in the 1990s the British Council had a reputation which was nothing short of outstanding. This was of course primarily by dint of their outstanding teachers giving outstanding courses. But, as with most things in HK (especially those related to education) the powers that be realised that you can sharpen profit margin by on the one hand freezing (or even increasing) course fees whilst on the other hand simultaneously employing lesser qualified and experienced staff, and thereby reducing expenditure on salaries (or, as they are now more accurately termed, wages).

For it seems that now pretty much anyone with a bog-standard Bachelors degree in an area unrelated to teaching English, a TEFL certificate, and 700 days of post-certificate experience can work for the British Council in Hong Kong, what was once the flagship of teaching English as a second or other language. Perhaps that is why they refer to it as a registered charity. After all, they certainly seem very charitable as regards employment standards.

thrifty · Joined: 25 Apr 2006 Posts: 1665 Location: chip van

Excactly like the BC in Turkey.

globalnomad2 · Joined: 23 Jul 2005 Posts: 562

What is a chip van? Is it distantly related to Good Humor ice-cream vans in the States?

thrifty · Joined: 25 Apr 2006 Posts: 1665 Location: chip van

I have no idea what those American things are but I imagine so. A chip van is like an ice-cream van except that it sells fish and chips as well as sausages, burgers etc. Some chip vans stay in the same place -they have a regular pitch. Some travel to villages and towns and have a kind of timetable-although this is much less common than it used to be. Some chip vans visit fairs, markets, boot sales etc.