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aragon1
Joined: 06 Dec 2007
Posts: 4
Location: New Mexico
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 Posted: Sun Jun 28, 2009 11:49 pm Post subject: got an offer with EF in Beijing can anyone help with info?? |
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| I just got a job offer with English First in Beijing I have read a lot of Negative things on here about them. However, have not heard anything about the Beijing schools. I was wondering if any can help with any information about the EF school in Beijing? the offer was 12,300 RMB a month but I do have tp pay for housing myself. CAN ANYONE HELP WITH ANY INFO OR THOUGH ON THIS OFFER??? THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR ANY HELP!! |
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ChinaLady
Joined: 20 Feb 2003
Posts: 171
Location: Guangzhou, Guangdong PRC
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| Posted: Mon Jun 29, 2009 4:09 am Post subject: EF in Beijing? |
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| 12,300 is low. for Beijing. rent is high. food is high. plan on sharing a flat. try to find a place near your unit or near a subway stop. if the work unit is really EF and not a franchise set-up, might be ok. a lot depends on your work mates. most EF units are NOT happy places to work. good luck. |
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Renegade_o_Funk
Joined: 06 Jun 2009
Posts: 125
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| Posted: Mon Jun 29, 2009 5:10 pm Post subject: |
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| I seem to recall somewhere on here that the Beijing EF is alright, and the Chengdu EF is good too. Out of all the EF's in all the other cities in china those are the only two I have seen anyone say something positive about. |
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brsmith15
Joined: 12 May 2003
Posts: 1142
Location: New Hampshire USA
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| Posted: Wed Jul 01, 2009 12:07 am Post subject: |
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| I'd take a pass. |
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sharpe88
Joined: 21 Oct 2008
Posts: 226
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| Posted: Wed Jul 01, 2009 7:37 am Post subject: |
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| there are many EFs in beijing.. hard to say |
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alter ego
Joined: 24 Mar 2009
Posts: 209
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| Posted: Thu Jul 02, 2009 2:16 am Post subject: Re: got an offer with EF in Beijing can anyone help with inf |
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| aragon1 wrote: |
| I just got a job offer with English First in Beijing... |
If you don't have a better job offer on the table, why not take it?
Nothing wrong with that salary if you've only got a BA and TEFL cert. I worked at a Wall Street for one year in a big city like Beijing making a couple thousand more a month and saved money. My nice studio apt. was 2,300 rmb/month. Groceries are cheap everywhere in China, even the bigger cities, especially if you cook at home. You could also do part-time teaching on weekday mornings. I taught at a local college for an extra 2,400 rmb a month.
It's ok to do a year at one of the big chain schools, you work hard but you can also become a better teacher, which gives you an edge in the job market on your next job search.
Good luck! |
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englishgibson
Joined: 09 Mar 2005
Posts: 4345
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| Posted: Fri Jul 03, 2009 10:13 am Post subject: |
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| It's ok to do a year at one of the big chain schools, you work hard but you can also become a better teacher, which gives you an edge in the job market on your next job search. |
don't mean to cast a shadow on another can of worms into the burger chain, but you make it sound like "better teachers" don't come to burger chains 
OP, i gave inductions and training to fts at a couple of EF centers. as a director of studies i had to spend more time on this than on any other job duties 'cause of the high ft turnover. needless to say that my employer then sent some of my recruitees and more experienced fts later to EF clones. i guess the above poster is right in a way as most of fts were newbies, when they came.
on your salary there above, i also think it's pretty good, considering you'll work at macEF. in 2005, one of my EF teachers then, a really cool aussie guy, applied at EF beijing which offered him only 7,000.
yes, macEF's gig's a fine platform to the next one, called a foreign teacher in china..or, mac french fries chef somewhere else 
i wouldn't contribute to this franchise operation with any effort as they're the laundry machine of some filthy rich chinese that've little interest in education. eager beaver macEF franchisors have allowed in a helluva bunch of investors to become the leading educational institution in the world 
remember, if you work in a macEF center, you do not contribute to only one center's prosperity but the whole organization as well.
cheers and beers to macdonalds rather than macEF |
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Zero
Joined: 08 Sep 2004
Posts: 1402
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| Posted: Fri Jul 03, 2009 2:52 pm Post subject: |
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| Home this isn't hijacking the thread, but I do think it's related: To the experienced China hands, just what is an appropriate salary for Beijing or Shanghai? |
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Jordean
Joined: 12 Dec 2006
Posts: 238
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| Posted: Fri Jul 03, 2009 3:33 pm Post subject: |
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12,300 rmb is low? Other than people on this forum, I don't know anyone in BJ who makes anything approaching that. With advanced degrees and teaching experience.
I am always flummoxed by these salary claims. Unless you're working a solid 40 hours a week, perhaps...
That being said, I don't recall EF offering anything approaching that when I floated a letter their way last year.
Good luck. |
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YAMARI
Joined: 27 Sep 2004
Posts: 247
Location: shanghai
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| Posted: Sat Jul 04, 2009 12:28 am Post subject: |
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| No place to live means they have little incentive to treat you well. They have a lot of desk time so it turns out to be a 40 hours a week gig. They can stick you with the same kids for 4 hours at a time. Their classes can be a full 60 minutes which I find painful. I would want a job with free housing and low hours. Ef is the lowest of the low in esl as far as I am concerned. |
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alter ego
Joined: 24 Mar 2009
Posts: 209
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| Posted: Sat Jul 04, 2009 2:18 am Post subject: |
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| englishgibson wrote: |
| don't mean to cast a shadow on another can of worms into the burger chain, but you make it sound like "better teachers" don't come to burger chains |
Sorry EG that wasn't my intent...good point as I should try harder to say what I mean and mean what I say...
I think there must be plenty of "better teachers" who take jobs at the big chains (I know you like to call them burger chains, funny but a bit too derogatory for my blood). My point is that no matter what your skill level is as a teacher is going in to a big chain school, if you work hard, apply yourself and try to learn, you can come out a better teacher.
I was using it in true comparative terms. I think any teacher, good or bad, can become a better teacher at the big chain schools because they usually provide and require a full-time work environment, which means plenty of classes and the time to hone one's teaching style and abilities. |
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Lipps
Joined: 19 Jun 2009
Posts: 45
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| Posted: Sat Jul 04, 2009 3:21 am Post subject: |
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If you heard that smoking causes cancer, you'd still smoke, right?
So if you heard that EF was bad, and the salaries exploitative and you were still considering a job with them, is there anything anyone here can really say that would make you change your mind?
Sometimes, when there is smoke there is fire. |
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The Great Wall of Whiner
Joined: 29 Jan 2003
Posts: 4946
Location: Blabbing
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| Posted: Sat Jul 04, 2009 2:10 pm Post subject: |
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When you calculate living expenses, you are probably looking at at least 7,000 RMB left after rent and bills.
Most schools in China offer accomodation, some even pay the bills.
My last gig was 100 RMB an hour, 30 hrs a week. Apartment paid (3 bd. not shared), airfare paid (up front), bills paid (water, power, Internet, TV), and it was not in Beijing.
They want me back at the same rate plus 20,000 RMB yearly bonus, which I have declined.
And with the prices of everything in Beijing so high.... I'd follow Mancy Regan's advice: "Just Say No". |
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TexasHighway
Joined: 03 Dec 2005
Posts: 779
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| Posted: Sat Jul 04, 2009 5:56 pm Post subject: |
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| Quote: |
| I just got a job offer with English First |
The proverbial ESL corporate sweatshop....there's no need to read any further. |
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profM
Joined: 18 Jun 2005
Posts: 481
Location: in political exile
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| Posted: Sun Jul 05, 2009 7:57 am Post subject: |
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| You'll have 20 or so 50-minute classes a week, many with a handful of students and several with up to 20 or so. But, you have to be on the premises for 40 hours, usually 12:30 PM to 9:30 PM five days a week with an hour for lunch. You will have three or four free periods a day to prepare and evaluate. It's like a full time office job, but you can pretty much do what you want during your free periods, which you cannot in a straight office job. The students are usually quite motivated as they pay good money for their programs. You get good medical insurance coverage. A corporate EF branch will probably be a lot better than a locally owned franchise branch. In BJ, there are a few corporate branches. There are less demanding jobs, but fewer better paying in China ESL. |
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