Job Discussion Forums

pszyman · Joined: 17 Jan 2009 Posts: 5 Location: Tarnobrzeg

My first post!

I'm looking for feedback on the two above schools--I couldn't find info. using 'search' for Profi-Lingua in these two cities specifically. Is anyone willing to share experiences, or rumors, even?

I'm trying my luck applying from the US via e-mail for a job in February. I know this is tough. I've heard back from a few schools that, on their websites, say they require experience (1-2 years). So it seems they either overlooked the fact that I have no teaching experience in my Cover Letter/Resume, need help quickly, or maybe they just don't care (?).

I guess my question is whether no teaching experience has ever cost anyone a job while in the application process. I do have a B.A. in English and TEFL Certification, but no experience.

Thanks for any thoughts! I've been reading this forum for a short while now--great stuff.

sharter · Joined: 25 Jun 2008 Posts: 878 Location: All over the place

I did a semester at Profi(t)-Lingua in 2006.....only the 1 term though.

Ignore the bumph as they'll hire anyone if they need someone quickly. Several natives had no quals and very little experience when I taught there.

Hell of a Draconian set up in Poznan... I can't speak for the other schools, but look on the web;it ain't pleasant reading.

The pay is bull......lots of deductions and potential pitfalls. They'll also try and hoodwink you with the 40 minutes is 1 teaching hour fiasco. A Profi hour is 60 mins....you've been warned.

They tried to take me to court when I didn't return for the second semester.

I told the Director to 'go **** himself'.

hrvatski · Joined: 16 Nov 2008 Posts: 270

It's one of those schools where you have to have your own business to be employed (they help you set it up I believe), which results in these deductions for unnecessary health insurance and retirement contributions.

I have a friend who worked at a certain branch for two years (not Poznań, Lublin or Wrocław) and he had no particular complaints. However he is a pretty easy to please guy.

pszyman · Joined: 17 Jan 2009 Posts: 5 Location: Tarnobrzeg

Thanks for the feedback!

anospi · Posted: Fri Jan 30, 2009 11:37 pm Post subject:

I was offered a job with Profi Lingua a few years ago but knocked it back. There were a few nasties in the contract, including one point which said if you quit before you completed your contract, you had to pay the school DOUBLE of what you would have been paid in the time remaining on your contract.

hrvatski · Joined: 16 Nov 2008 Posts: 270

I think clauses like that are pretty widespread and there are exceptions for illnesses and emergencies. A year isn't a massive commitment and students understandably want to spend their time learning English and not getting to know new teachers.

anospi · Posted: Sat Jan 31, 2009 11:30 am Post subject:

There was no part in the class which said "except in certain circumstances, including illness and emergencies." You're right, an academic year isn't a massive commitment and schools should try to do what they can to make teachers stay, but it was that combined with a few other little strange things which made me look elsewhere. Why wouldn't the school let me speak with any of the other native speaker teachers until AFTER I signed the contract? Why wouldn't they confirm how many hours I'd be teaching, and on what days until AFTER I signed the contract. It all felt a bit fishy to me.

hrvatski · Joined: 16 Nov 2008 Posts: 270

That's awful if they don't make exceptions for unforseen events, you did well not signing that.

When it comes to the other points I could offer a few reasons though.

They might not let you talk to their natives in case you're a spy from another school trying to garner details about the school - number of students, teacher coordination and so on - with no intention of signing a contract. Sounds trivial but it happens and in this extremely competitive market every little bit schools know about each other helps.

When it comes to the number of hours, it's pretty complicated to issue schedules to teachers of a large school more than a few days before the first semester start, however they want to lock you down well before that. It's a fine act of juggling everyone's availiblities, skills, workload and student demand, which is all a bit unpredictable from year to year. If you sign a contract any time after the semester start however, you should know what hours you're looking at in advance.

Although I don't rule out the possibility that certain schools do these things to make pulling a swift one on you easier.

dynow · Joined: 07 Nov 2006 Posts: 1080

i too was offered a job at Profi a couple years back, but the contract was unacceptable and the people i was in contact with were simply unprofessional.

one of the biggest landmines within that contract was their policy on the number of students coming to your class. it was written out in a sort of conjured up mathematical mess, but basically, if they planned on having 8 students in a class, and after some given amount of time of you teaching them, there were only 3-4 coming to the class, it was a 20% docking of your hourly rate. i didn't like the contract in general, but this one i never could have agreed to.

i saw it as the school's way of trying to weed out their bad teachers. if you're getting 20% less of the school's already low hourly rate, you're most likely going to quit, but what about the flip side..........what if i do such a great job that I BRING more students to the school......are you then going to pay me MORE for making your school more money? Confused

everything about that place rubbed me the wrong way. it just seems like a teaching factory with super high teacher turnover, and that the school's systems and policies are designed basically to accomodate that inevitable fact.

Jack Walker · Joined: 23 Oct 2008 Posts: 412

I'm your resident Profi expert.I worked there for 5 years in 3 different cities.

It is an English factory but so are many other places.They have been having financial trouble for some time now and most of what's written in the "contract" is simply filler and is not really worth the paper it's printed on.They have really streamlined their operations during the past few years and closed many of their branches.

You get 1zl per minute and classes are 80 minutes long.They always pay on time which is good and they usually attract some pretty good students.

They don't offer much in way of teacher development and the management is constantly being shuffled around.

All teachers need to set up their own company if they want to work at Profi.

I would recommend applying for a job with them.It's not the best school, but they pay pretty well and there is always the possibility of doing extra conversation classes for extra $$.

They really like to stuff the classes with students and that can be a problem.Many groups have 15 students and if your group slips below 8 students,the group may be cancelled or you can opt to take 80% of your salary if the students agree to pay more.

Any more questions,feel free to pm me.

Regards,
Jack

p.s....don't pay any attention to the 1-2 year experience thing.They will hire ANYONE.You wouldn't believe some of the wankers I've worked with at Profi over the years.One Irish guy would constantly come to class hungover and late and they even asked him to come back for the next year.He turned THEM down..hehe Laughing

Another Australian bloke always smelled of whisky and would often have a micky of vodka in his teacher's bag.He worked there for years and was very well liked by management and students.Was a good friend of mine as well!