Job Discussion Forums

twilightstar83 · Joined: 29 Oct 2007 Posts: 10 Location: Seoul, South Korea

ok i know you guys on this board don't seem to like BKC or is it BCK, but I only want to go for 6 months and it doesn't sound that horrible...I mean right now I'm in South Korea working in a hawgwan(can't be worse than that!). Anyway I applied with them a few days ago and still haven't heard back. It said that a recruiter would contact me withing 24 hours...so what exactly is going on? Am I not good enough for them? I have a TESOL and teaching experience...plus I speak Russian (which might not be a good thing i guess)

jasonr37 · Joined: 08 Jul 2007 Posts: 16

You are right about one thing. Most of the guys here don't like BKC. Today is my first day with BKC. Got here yesterday. I will keep everyone updated on how this turns out. With your qualifications I am suprised to hear thst you were not contacted in 15 min.

MIKEBUCHAN · Joined: 18 Mar 2007 Posts: 106 Location: Russia

Jason,

I have a BA in English and a MSc in TESOL and a number of years teaching - 11 in the US and 12 outside of the US - and BKC told me that I didn't even qualify at all to work for them! Go figure?????

maruss · Joined: 18 Mar 2003 Posts: 1145 Location: Cyprus

Maybe you are more qualified than they are Mike and they were afraid of you but in any case it's their loss and not yours, as I'm sure you realise?

MIKEBUCHAN · Joined: 18 Mar 2007 Posts: 106 Location: Russia

You are very right! I have not heard from you in a little while, marass. I went to Baku for a short time --- city is fine and clean and the people are typical of the older Soviet times - the kids are beginning to act like the rest of the world though.

Mike

Sef · Joined: 26 Mar 2007 Posts: 74 Location: UK

It does seem like BKC prefer to hire newly qualified people (perhaps because of their lower expectations?) Shocked

Did you contact them through their website or through the International House website? Cos in my limited experience, applications can sit on the IH website for MONTHS without being acknowledged!
Jason37 - if you were the guy in the Tver teachers room on Thursday evening then we've sort of already met. I look forward to hearing how you get on here Smile

Enjoy the long weekend everyone! Mr. Green

twilightstar83 · Joined: 29 Oct 2007 Posts: 10 Location: Seoul, South Korea

ok so they finally emailed me back, but can't go work there right now because i'm staying in Korea a bit longer. jasonr37 how is it going over there? Can you PM me? I haven't posted enough on this board so it wont let me PM people haha

jasonr37 · Joined: 08 Jul 2007 Posts: 16

I can't pm either. But I don't mind spilling my guts for all to see. Why not?

I just got paid today for the first time. Honestly I feel a bit screwed. I don't know whats going on there. I'm rather confused. I am a major cheapa$$ so I'll do just fine Bit I would still rather save more than I spend. I can barely pull that off with what they gave me. But its crap. I'm going to wait until I get my Visa back, have a look at my next payment and if its not up to par (Par of course is relative) then i will definitely have a little chat with whoever is in charge. Raise Hell If I have to.

I don't have any prior teaching experience and have never left my own country before. I arrived here 2 weeks behind everyone else in the internship. Basically this place has been a lot for me to take in. I've been told that I am showing a lot of progress. 3 more months and i will actually know what the hell I'm doing. This internship does require a good bit of work. Although I don't doubt that it would be considered remedial to the experienced.

I have not really gotten a schedule yet for classes to teach on my own so thats not a subject I could make a justified opinion on. I haven't heard complaints from other teachers either. Except for stuff related to Books. "I Spy sucks" Project sucks" I don't really know yet.

So thats it for now. I will keep everyone updated as I progress through this quicksand pit I made and then jumped into. HaHa

Sef! That may have been me. Hows It going?

BTW is it the air or the stress thats giving me this dang headache. Ha

God Bless
Jason

twilightstar83 · Joined: 29 Oct 2007 Posts: 10 Location: Seoul, South Korea

whats the intership? i would assume that pays way less than the teaching job...i'm going for the job since i have a TESOL and some experience....

bje · Joined: 19 Jun 2005 Posts: 527

maruss · Joined: 18 Mar 2003 Posts: 1145 Location: Cyprus

Either you were very brave in opting to go to Russia as a first experience of being abroad,or naively went there with your eyes totally shut,in which case you are now paying the price!Shock therapy can sometimes do a lot of good,providing you know how to handle it!

Red and white · Joined: 30 Sep 2007 Posts: 63

Project does, without question, suck. But I Spy is a fantastic course book. I never imagined I'd be able to do anything with a group of Russian 7-year-olds, but I survived and managed to teach them a little bit. Not bad in my first job, but mostly down to the book if I'm honest.

Jason - it's not clear what kind of contract you're on. I didn't have big cash problems as a first-jobber post-CELTA, but if you're doing some kind of in-house training contract the circumstances may be different. Keep in mind the first pay-round may also include them clawing back the small advance they gave you when you arrived, and may not be a full two-week salary if you only started teaching a week ago. So yeah, wait and see what happens next time and remember that they pay every two weeks, not every month!

bej - How do you expect someone to get teaching experience without actually, err, you know, like teaching somewhere? It's all very well having qualifications but we all have to start somewhere. It's not like teachers are born perfectly-formed with decades of classroom experience under their belts, is it?

Sef · Joined: 26 Mar 2007 Posts: 74 Location: UK

Jason.
I don't think I'm the only one who's a bit mystified by the new interns here. If you're getting paid less than the regular teachers, how on earth do you survive?! You mentioned teaching on your own - if you're not teaching on your own, who are you teaching with? And do you end up with a qualification at the end of it all?

The headaches are stress, sleep deprivation and beer. They'll fade in a month or two Wink

jasonr37 · Joined: 08 Jul 2007 Posts: 16

A bit on the internship: I've only got 2 classes on mon and wed. Friday only one. I teach these on my own and unobserved. Tuesday and Thursday are intern days. 12-9. Throughout the day we are taught different methodologies, approaches and tactics used tin teaching. Then from 6-8 we have an upper intermediate class that is divided into three 40 min parts one teacher each. We are observed and graded by our mentor.
This week is the last week of my internship. When it is over I should get a 20 hour schedule of classes to teach on my own. I will also start getting paid more. 750$ a month,which is plenty for me. as opposed to 450$ Plus, once I get the hang of teaching I will see about taking on some private students as well. This is in house training so I won't be receiving an internationally recognized certification. which might cause problems down the road. As far as I know most other teachers that show up here with qualifications seem to be getting around 10-1200 a month.

Well I hope that is helpful. Feel free to ask anything else.
Oh and Maruss. To be honest. Haha Probably a little bit of both. But this a price I am gladly willing to pay.

twilightstar83 · Joined: 29 Oct 2007 Posts: 10 Location: Seoul, South Korea

hey i was wondering what the hours at BKC are like. Are all teaching jobs in Russia morn - late evening? Also do you feel safe there? My parents are both Russian and think I'm going to get kidnapped and held for ransom because they think all Russians that moved to America are rich...yes i know they are paranoid.