Job Discussion Forums

[nomadder]

I got my first job through my Tefl Certificate as the school recruited there and the second was via the net-tefl.com. How about you?

[joe-joe]

I did pretty much the same; I got my first job through a recruiting agency affiliated to the school where I did my EFL cert. Then I got my other jobs from the internet, (mainly tefl.com). Also one summer job was by word of mouth through a friend.

[Lynn]

Right now I work at 3 schools...
A) it's a big school, so I just found their address in the yellow pages and mailed (snail mail) them my resume. I teach 4 hours a week there.

B) I actually observed a Japanese class at this school once a long time ago. (the level wasn't high enough) But I remember they also had ESL classes, so I sent my resume, and the next thing you know I got a call. (pay is $12/hr)

C) I answered an ad on craigslist.org. You should check it out sometime. I only work 2 hours a week at this school, and it's a private lesson.

[denise]

My first job: several language schools came to my TEFL school to recruit the trainees. I got an interview & was offered a job with one of them.

China: I went through the US-China Educational Exchange (I think... don't quite remember the name). It's an agency that places people in various schools. They advertise on TEFL.com, and maybe here as well.

Now: Again, I saw an ad on TEFL.com, and I also saw a listing in my grad school's jobs bulletin. They had already worked with a grad from my MA program, so they were familiar with my school.

d

[FGT]

Chose my city. Hawked my CV (post CELTA). Got offered LOTS of jobs. Turned down the ones that seemed too eager. Ended up with a short list of two. Worked five years at the first (no regrets), and now in the second for the sixth year. Total 11 years in one city.

[Wolf]

First Job:

http://www.teachinjapan.com

(I DON'T RECOMMEND THESE GUYS)

Second Job:

Local expat newsletter that is now out of print.

Third Job:

http://www.tefl.com

[Gordon]

FGT, 11 years in one city and only 2 jobs. That's impressive.

My first job was from the newspaper with a recruiter for a job in Korea. The only requirement needed was a degree, white face and a pulse.

[shmooj]

first job offer the day I left my Trinity TESOL course from my course director.
Second one www.ohayosensei.com
Third one... still looking. I'll let you know!

[Shonai Ben]

I applied to 3 jobs in the paper.The first two interviews didn't work out.I was lucky on number 3.

[Glenski]

First job was with a conversation school in Japan that interviewed me in Seattle after I responded to an ad from this web site. (plus for Dave)

Second job was found through an ad in The Japan Times. I had 2 offers.

[Roger]

My first job in the PR of C:
I chatted with an American that was married to a Cantonese woman in Guangzhou; he said he had worked for that normal school, and they were constantly hiring.
They did hire me, but we fell out with each other at the end of my first term there.
So, I had to move on, and thus I came by my second job in the country.
I met a guy near the Shenzhen railway station who claimed he could find a school for me. We walked down on Beijing Nanlu and were soon standing at the gate of a primary school. The guy talked with the janitor there, then he told me we had to see "the boss".
We met the "boss" in an airconditioned office of a commercial building. It seemed so incredible! The "boss" was a young woman, and, yes, she was eager to hire me. I understood very little of the discussion between the two of them.
When we had tcleared the building, the guy said something like I owed him a "commission". Well, what would you have done? I bought him dinner, but refused to part with any cash.
Later, I wwas contacted by the real boss, a man, the husband of that woman! The terms I had negotiated were confirmed by telephone, but when I arrived with my luggage, he had changed them: 12 hours of teaching a week had become twelve hours A DAY! Of course, I was not prepared to go along with that. We finally arrived at a compromise - 6 hours a day, 5 days a week, roughly double the regular workload at public schools.
BUt, it was NOT a public school. It was a training centre. There were more surprises in store for me, but eventually I learnt my ropes, and I can only say this was a most instructive intermezzo!

I lost this job one year and a few months (a few months into my second contract!) because of my boss own silliness. I then freelanced by default, working for other training centres and teaching private students as well as corporate clients. It was easy for me to recruit them at that time.

I often went to nearby HONG KONG, and was soon teaching privates there too. The parent of one student recommended me to a well-known international school, which then hired me to teach a whole class. I was not hired as a full-timer as I was not teaching English, but the experience was worth it as all my students passed the GCSE, and I earned a recommendation letter from that school.

My next move then was to work in a mainland normal school again. I applied by myself, and was hired. At the end of one year, my colleagues and all students in one class asked the principal to retain my service for another year, but she did not agree. There had been a problem with girl students - I had allowed two girls to use my flat for training with their computer. It did not cost me anything, so why should I worry? There was nothing to steal, and I spent the time in my own home, twenty kms away.
However, the girls brought more friends, and one of them, or several, began using my telephone. This sent my phone bill up, and then I had a dispute with the girls over how much they ought to refund me. The school was not pleased, and that might have been the reason why I lost the chance of staying for another year.
That's when I found that job in a kindergarten. The principal of a middle school interviewed me, and I was a little intrigued why I should work only 30 minutes per lesson. Finally, he let out it was going to be in a kindergarten.
I did not like the idea at first, but within one week I was the darling of those little ones, and they became my children. No regrets for "falling" from the heights of a college to a preschool!
But, the principal of that middle school was only a - middleman, who cashed in 10'000 RMB for peddling me to the kindergarten!
It's taught me another lesson on the commercial benefits of power in this country.
Now, any school I go to tells me they "cooperate" with such and such for the provision of foreign teachers!
And, all these schools pay through their nose for this "service".

[shmooj]

Roger, very very interesting and shows how there really isn't a standard way into or through this business! Thanks for sharing

[Sherri]

My first teaching job was found in the Guardian (on Tuesday) for a school in London. In Tokyo I learned about my first job from a guy I met on the train platform on my way from Narita airport! He told me his school was hiring and they ended up hiring me. Later I got a job through the Japan Times (on Monday). My most recent job was by recommendation, my former boss recommended me to the president of a company starting a new English school.

Now that I am looking for a job in the States, I am using the internet a lot. Things have changed so much in the last 10 years.

[FGT]

Sherri, I'm confused. You got one job on Monday, another job on Tuesday; London, Japan and now the States. AND you've been teaching for ten years. Exactly which was your FIRST job, you seem to identify two?
Were they all this week, that's what it sounds like.

[Sherri]

Sorry to confuse! I meant the Tuesday edition of the Guardian and the Monday edition of the Japan Times. I thought for people who were looking for work it would help them to know which day to check the paper for ads.

My very, very first job was the London one, the one in Tokyo that I described (train platform) was my first job in Japan.

Just to confuse you more, I remember now that I took a job once in Kathmandu that was advertised on a flyer tacked to a telephone pole. (that was before coming to Tokyo).