Job Discussion Forums

[hmok]

I'm a 24 year old British Born Chinese who doesn't hold a degree or teacher training qualification, but has 3 months ALT experience in Tokyo.

What are my chances of finding a teaching job in Indonesia?

Where would be my best bet of finding a job in Indonesia?

Thank you for your replies and have a great new year !

[laughing_magpie06]

hmok. i'm going to be honest with you. Indonesia is a pretty racist (and shallow) country. I'm not sure how long your family has been in the UK but even if you had several generations living there for the last hundred years, if you look chinese, Indonesians would brand you as such. When they say they want Aussies, British, Americans and Canadians they usually mean the caucasion variety. It is what the parents want to see standing up in front of the white board. Sort of the image they see from Western television. This is why caucasions can land a job with very few qualifications at the worst of times.

On the other hand, a desperate EF franchise will hire anyone and you will get a foot in the door this way. Just put out your CV and you will get something.

Hmok, don't think for one moment i'm judging you in any way. I'm telling you as it is. You could be the best teacher in the world for all I know but image is everything in Indonesia. This is why they always want a photo attached to a CV, something i've never been asked for in my home country.

[hmok]

[thetokenbrownone]

To assist with your enquiry, I am also a non-caucasian native English speaking teacher in Indonesia (quite a mouthful!). My ethnicity would be categorised as Pakistani.

I currently work in EF Karawaci. This school is new in the neighbourhood, owened by a man with a couple of others in different areas. By no means would I describe it as a "desperate" school in need of teachers.

When I first started to apply for jobs in Asia, Indonesia was the first place I picked because it looked interesting. I applied for a job, with, if memory serves, the EF Swara group. I have a degree and a TEFL teaching certificate, which is more than enough to get you a job in most places (I worked in Madrid prior to here). They did not even respond to my email. Two friends of mine who were also applying to the same group were emailed within an hour or so of sending their CVs. These friends, one of whom had a degree but no teaching qualification, and the other with neither, were both offered jobs immediately, but I wasn't even worth a reply it seems!

I'm not bitter about it, as the previous poster said, image does count for a lot here.

Anyway, I just wanted to say, despite the above bad experience, the school I work for now contacted ME via www.tefl.com and carried out the normal recruitment procedure.

I enjoy my job, my students don't mind and I think despite some explaining to some of the parents who'd prefer a "bulle" teacher, or why this native looks "Indian", no one cares that much. I think depending on the location might affect employment chances, i.e. city vs country mentality.

I hope this helps you make a decision regarding employment here, because to be honest, no matter where you teach, if you're native and not white, they're ALWAYS going to ask you about it. I'm proud of being English and proud of the Pakistani culture that my parents raised me with an awareness of. I'm happy to talk about it and explain my background to students, most of whom are very interested to hear about it!

P.S. About the photograph on the CV, we don't do it in England but it's not just Indonesia that does it. As far as I am aware, it's common procedure in Spain and on most of the European continent too. Not sure what purpose it serves but that's been my experience.

[Vertumnus]

I have to say that, although there is a definite preference towards "whities", a person of another shade can still get work here. I've seen the odd black, plenty of Indians, Chinese, a boatload of Phillipinos, and others all working here.

It's mostly a matter of finding the right organization. Don't give up on the idea. You may strike paydirt.

-D

[malu]

[Vertumnus]

Fortunately some of the better language schools and K12 schools recognise that a native speaker of English doesn't have to be caucasian, and a few of them have even discovered that caucasians aren't always native English speakers (...some amusing tales I could tell about French Canadians).

The law makes no racial distinctions regards ESL teachers - only the colour of your passport is important.

The Indian/Singaporean/Chinese/Philipino teachers you meet here are mostly employed as school subject teachers and not ESL teachers. They are qualified school teachers in their home country. In most cases schools pay significantly less for these guys than they will for a bule subject teacher.[/quote]

An excellent example of both the ability of non-Caucasians to get work in this country and the disparate salary issue. I have to say, though, I've met some Indians who were not qualified teachers but were teaching and, although the Filipinas were not teaching ESL, they were teaching English class, since they were the class teachers.

Then the debate goes like this amongst locals: Would I rather have my child speak English like a local or like a Phillipino. Most choose the former.

And, as for native speakers who can't use English, I've met more than one that were adult illiterates, or spoke English so poorly they seemed to have been taken directly from "Pygmalion".

-D

[taponwood]

Been here a while and worked alongside African Americans, UK (and other recognised) passport holders who came from Indian, Sierra Leone, Sri Lankan, Maori and other ethnic backgrounds.
I've never heard of students or parents complaining, nor have I noted any discrimination against them during the recruitment process or within schools.
Maybe I've been lucky, but all I've seen are reactions to good teachers, average teachers or poor teachers, rather than any kind of negative focus on the colour of their skin.
Students, though, are quite keen to talk about skin colour - including my freckled skin (a legacy of celtic grandparents) - but I put this down to natural, healthy curiousity, not racism.

[ljb]

I work for a school in Pancoran South Jakarta and we have had two British teachers from Asian origin working here for two years and many others from numerous ethnic groups over the last 4 years. No issues or problems have ever arisen from the team, students or parents.

It has been a pleasure to work in such a multi-cultural school and I believe it enriches our students experiences.