Job Discussion Forums

[Rooster_2006]

I tried in vain to get a job teaching English in China last summer. I was applying from Korea, and I got "hired" a whole bunch of times, but each time, the employer had some reason for going back on the deal (too young, can't get a letter from the Foreign Experts Bureau, suddenly changes the contract start date on me, etc). Before anyone asks, no, I am not Korean, I am an unmistakably a white guy, and I made absolutely sure to affix a photo to each resume I sent out. Because I know employers care about that.

I am sick of the runaround with recruiters who claim this one is a "sure thing." I just want to pay my money, get certified to teach kids, and get a job, not wait for months while recruiters ineptly shuffle around.

I hear that American TESOL Institute can offer free job placement and the course is less than $800. Has anyone ever done this? What are your opinions of the course?

I'm wondering if they actually have a high placement success rate, or if they're just crap recruiters like the ones I've already been dealing with who also happen to run a TESOL course.

I tried calling their customer service, but the guy on the other end spoke very poor English and he thought I spoke poor English (which just shows how poor his English was). So that seems like a real red flag. Any suggestions?

What is the guaranteed job placement TESOL course like? Will I learn how to teach kids? I don't need to learn how to teach adults again, I already have CELTA. I want to learn how to teach kids competently.

[naturegirl321]

I can speak for job placement. Usually they only guarantee to either help you find jobs in the country of your choice.

OR
an interview

They can't guarantee that the employer will hire you, unless they're the employer

About courses, make sure that they have 120 hours plus 6 hours of practise teaching. Stay away from recuitters and go directly to the people who ddo the hiring.

Try the YL extension from Cambridge

[stillnosheep]

Sod recruiters. Just pick a few posters you like the sound of and PM them asking for recommendations of schools that hire from outside the country.

[Kibbs]

They give you a peice of paper with the same websites and same information that you already have.

If you are going to use a recruiter reputatable one like CIEE, or a program provider like journeyeast who offer accredited TEFL courses that you can use not just in China but anywhere.

[icetrekker]

I also contacted ATI China and was given all the info A few points that stood out:

The course is $750 which includes hotel cost in Beijing.
120hr course squeezed into three weeks.
Teach in Chinese schools during the course.
Guaranteed job in a language school for six months, can be extended to one year with mutual agreement.
5000-5500rmb wage, 4000rmb airfare on completion of contract.
It's mandatory to complete the job assigned by ATI for the period specified in the contract.
You get the certificate only after you have completed the job assignment.

22-25 classes per week, Class duration between 50mins and 2hrs.
Extra hours at 100rmb per hour. Work hours may be adjusted by the principal as deemed necessary.

[stillnosheep]

Run.

Fast.

Faster.

A 120 hour course in 3 weeks? (A CELTA or a Trinity CTESOL or a SIT is 120 hours in 4 weeks and is quite possibly the most intense period of training or study you will ever experience in your life)

A certicate for training that you have paid for that is given you only after you complete six months working for the company for very very low wages?

Not only will any 120 hours of training shoe-horned into 3 weeks (= 19, instead of 26, days from start to finish) be of questionable (if any) quality but you must then remain with the company for 6 months at wages that will be lower than you could walk into with no certificate in order to get a certificate worth less than the paper it is printed on.

But 25 classes of 50 mins to 2 hours per week.

Up to 50 hours per week! Are they insane? Because if they aren't already they will be after 6 months.

[Rooster_2006]

I think some people misunderstand why I am interested in this.

I already have a CELTA. It's not a certification I'm looking to get -- I have the best 120-hour TEFL certificate in the world already. I actually honestly want to learn how to teach kids, that's why I'm pursuing this. Right now, I think I'm a boring teacher who is geared too much to an adult learning style because that's how I've learned languages. I know my methods bore first and third graders to tears, so I want to learn how to do this right.

If I just walk into a school and get a job, they'll just put me in front of a bunch of kids with basically no training. Maybe they'll watch my lesson for a class period or too, but after that, I'll be on my own. No teacher development whatsoever is the norm in Korea, I'm imagining it's the norm in China as well. If I do the American TESOL Institute's course, I will actually have formal training in teaching kids and actually know what I'm doing and have some sense of satisfaction that I'm doing it well.

My CELTA class was very informative for teaching adults, but unfortunately, basically useless for teaching kids. Since I'm fairly sure I will be teaching kids in Asia for the next few years, I might as well learn how to do it right, and hence why I'm not satisfied with just having a CELTA.

The guaranteed job placement is extremely important because it means that I _WILL_ end up with a job that pays at least 5,000 RMB a month. If I just went to China on my own, I might find a job, or I might not, or I might find one and find out they couldn't extend my visa (a day before my tourist visa was about to expire).

For these reasons, I want to take the course to learn how to teach kids and get a guaranteed, 100% sure thing job, not to get a certification to put on my resume (I already have that).

Basically, I'm just asking if anyone's ever done this and graduated and gotten the guaranteed job. And also I'm asking if we learn to teach kids in the course, because their site doesn't really go into much detail. Obviously if job placement is not truly guaranteed, or if the place is highly disreputable, I'm not interested, which is basically what I'm asking.

Let me put it this way -- I could go for a CELTYL extension course and find a job on my own, but CELTYL is much more expensive (over $1,000 typically) and then I'd be on my own for finding a job. I think this saves time and money, and makes me a better teacher than just walking into a school and teaching five hours of classes on my first day. See what I mean?

[evaforsure]

http://forums.eslcafe.com/job/viewtopic.php?t=59293

this topic centers around this trainng center,.....

[Rooster_2006]

[Rooster_2006]

[Kibbs]

Dude, if you have the CELTA there is NO REASON why you cant get a job here. You don't need a recruiter. Unless you dont have a diploma in which case I cant imagine how you would be working in Korea.

You get a job BEFORE you come to China.. I would also seriously advise you to consider how you plan to get your work visa.. Cause you should get it BEFORE you come to China. If you are not planning to get back to the USA or which ever country you are from, you had better think about it now, cause you cant get a z visa in Hong kong, korea or anywhere else right now. (Actually you may be able to get one in Korea if you have legal work status there already.) Otherwise you need to peep out a visa service company like z-visa, or pandavisa.com

goodluck

[evaforsure]

[naturegirl321]

Lots of institutes for kids will train you in their methods and insist that you use it.

Check the joblist , there' are plenty of jobs that pay more than 5000

DOn't go to China with out your Z visa in hand. And don't do it on a tourist visa either.

Don't think that the job placement means good jobs either. I've known a couple that guarantee jobs, they had jobs from EF and Shane.