Job Discussion Forums

[Nozka]

I see that the call for 2008 - 2009 English Language Fellows has been recently posted. I was wondering if anyone on this board has had any experience with this program either as a fellow or as an applicant. How competitive are the fellowships? How demanding and/or rewarding are the assignments? Has your experience as a fellow been useful in advancing your career? Do you have any other insights into this program? Thanks in advance for any information that you have to share.

[squindia]

Hi Nozka,

I've applied for the fellowship this year. I have some friends that did it and loved the experience. All are in agreement that its a lot of work but all also agree that the work was fulfilling and great experience. I think the job really depends on where you are placed.

I am not sure how competitive the fellowship is, I just have my fingers crossed!

Good luck if you decide to apply.

squid

[denise]

I've applied too this year. I noticed that they dropped the requirement that your MA be less than five years old--this would have been my last eligible year.

I get the impression that, as squindia said, a lot depends on where you are placed.

Good luck! (And wish me luck too!)

d

[naturegirl321]

I've heard it can be difficiult. I've met a few people who have waited years for placement. BUt if you're open to going anywhere, then you should get in. denise, though you were going back to the US??

[denise]

[csfek]

I applied last year and was accepted, but I didn't end up doing it because I was a bit picky about where I wanted to go and they wanted to send me to some places that I didn't want to go to. I've applied again this year and if they accept me again, I'm hoping I'll have better luck with where they want to send me.

I'm not really sure how competitive it is or how many people apply for it. The process is pretty straightforward though. After you submit your application and the closing date has passed, they will contact you for an interview if they're interested. I did my interview in Washington D.C. last year, but I think they have other places around the country where they do interviews. I'm not sure what the procedure is if you're applying from another country. The interview was pretty standard, all the questions you'd normally be asked about teaching practices, culture, etc.
After the interview, they look at the candidates and the project and send the names and information about a few candidates to whoever is in charge of each project in whichever country. The person/people in charge look at the information about the candidates and decide which one they like best and choose that one. If you're not chosen, your name goes back into the pool and they'll match you with another project. This process goes on for a few months. Last year, I was hearing from them all throughout April, May, and June.

It said on the website that they prefer to hire teachers who are working in the US at the time of application, but I don't know how much that affects who they choose. Good luck to everyone who's applied!

[anyway]

Just thought I would add my two cents here... I was an ELF in academic year 06-07. I had a reasonably good time, but I didn't renew in the end for a couple of reasons. The biggest reason was my family situation.

The second reason was my relationship with the PAO at my embassy. (I was in a rare situation where I didn't have a RELO.) I just want to make sure that applicants realize that the relationship with the embassy is critical. Some embassy personnel are great. Others not so much. In my situation, the PAO office had actually led me to believe something which wasn't true, even though they knew it all along. One must realize that ELFs are very low on the priority list in the big picture. I know of another ELF who had major problems with the embassy and actually left the fellowship early.

The other issue I would raise is that of taxation. The program orientation makes little mention of this and for a good reason. It's complicated because every placement is different. Job duties come to bear when determining the nature of your employ - as employee or independent contractor (self-employed). As you probably know, the latter case requires a totally different process including quarterly filings. By the way, Fulbright teachers are allowed to claim their stipends as wages on their tax returns, but many ELFs' jobs aren't similar (much more control over the services provided) and would probably meet the definition of contractor.

Although I definitely think of my fellowship as a professional highlight, there are major obstacles to be reckoned with during the journey (and my country was completely easy, comfortable, and safe).

[squindia]

Thanks for the perspective anyway.

I am curious how you found the taxation information if the program doesn't address it during orientation. Tax issues did come to mind when I saw the nice pay that comes with the fellowship. I am not sure exactly how I will go about figuring it all out.

For now, until I hear of a placement I will stay open minded and see what happens.

Thanks again.

squid

[fat_chris]

The English Language Fellowship is very much to my liking.

I'm hoping to apply for either the 2009-2010 or 2010-2011 academic year. I'm gaining perspective now on how to prepare a solid application.

Thanks for all of the info!

Regards,
fat_chris

[anyway]

They carefully side-stepped the issue of tax at the orientation. Someone brought it up in one of the question and answer sessions and it was quickly brushed aside with the 'ask your tax professional' answer. The only definite was that there would be no withholding. Indeed, my 1099 stated I was an independent contractor. (Box 3 or Box 7, I forgot which...)

I hadn't given the taxation issue any thought at all because I had been working abroad and claiming foreign exclusion. I sheepishly figured I could do the same with the ELF income. I began to worry after reading all the other ELFs panicky emails (from the ELF listserve). Luckily, some of the banter was worthwhile as it came from someone's tax professional relative.

I might add that my own placement's job description changed 2-3 times (depending on how you look at it) before I arrived. The printed description (in my contract) might meet contractor criteria while in reality I ended up working as a regular staff member albeit on a team for a special project. I was not in a position to exert any control as would an independent contractor AND I hope the IRS will agree with me (pending at this time)...

Long story short, in my honest opinion, MOST of the ELF placements can probably be construed (by the IRS, the final arbiters) to be independent contractor status. I base this opinion SOLELY on my understanding of the IRS regs and reading through placement descriptions (and not from discussion with other ELFs). For example, you might have noticed many descriptions sound almost identical. I feel quite sure this is due to the rather, uh how to say it, non-descript/general nature of the agreement between embassy and host institution. Thus, I would imagine many ELFs arrive and look for ways to make themselves useful, which would entail quite a lot of choice/control a la an independent contractor.

[odhorsudhapan]

Can you post a link to the call for the English language fellow program?

[fat_chris]

Here is a link to info about the ELF:

http://elf.georgetown.edu/apply.html

Any word to anyone yet on interview results and placement possibilities?

Hopefully, someday, I'll be on this fellowship as well.

Regards,
fat_chris

[boonie pepper]

It was a professional highlight for me. I had to look up where my post was in the the atlas, but I was soo thrilled to have been picked. The fellowship does vary tremendously from place to place. No one can tell you what you will be doing during your fellowship as it evolves from the moment you accept. I recommend it for the experience. It doesn't look too shabby having the US State Dept and Georgetown on the old CV to boot.

[naturegirl321]

[denise]