Job Discussion Forums

ash88 · Joined: 02 Jun 2010 Posts: 3

Hi, just wondering if anyone can provide some light on this situation. I applied for this ESL job in Medan, and everything was signed and sorted when i received an email detailing that i was too young (22 years old) and that the age requirement is at least 25. Can anyone confirm this? I did look on the net but couldn't find anything like it. Help?? Cheers

malu · Joined: 22 Apr 2007 Posts: 1344 Location: Sunny Java

It is true - legal age for permitting in this kind of job is 25-60yrs.

flingwing · Joined: 10 Jun 2010 Posts: 16 Location: Jakarta, Indonesia

I have also heard that teachers over 60 years old could be hired if their work visa position title was something similar to "director of studies" or "principal".

ash88 · Joined: 02 Jun 2010 Posts: 3

Job advertisements should display age requirements then to avoid this sort of thing happening. How very annoying, what am i to do now!!

malu · Joined: 22 Apr 2007 Posts: 1344 Location: Sunny Java

You are right, they should. Many already specify which nationalities they can legally recruit so it would be easy to put age limits there too.

malu · Joined: 22 Apr 2007 Posts: 1344 Location: Sunny Java

You are right, they should. Many already specify which nationalities they can legally recruit so it would be easy to put age limits there too.

ash88 · Joined: 02 Jun 2010 Posts: 3

So does this apply to all of Indonesia?

flingwing · Joined: 10 Jun 2010 Posts: 16 Location: Jakarta, Indonesia

Except this about age . . . in some countries with age limits, especially for upper limits, the immigration authorities *can* issue a work visa if a school/company needs a particular person badly and can make a case for the hire.

"Making a case" may involve everything from requesting it formally in writing to paying something "outside normal channels". Each location and each case would be different.

malu · Joined: 22 Apr 2007 Posts: 1344 Location: Sunny Java

suntanman · Joined: 05 May 2010 Posts: 7 Location: Barcelona

this upsets me!!!! i've been doing research for months on working in Indonesia and even though some jobs want you to be atleast 25 the majority do not even mention age!!!! I'm soon to be 23 so thats indo out of the question. Anyone recommend another good place to start out for a native speaker with a degree (BSc Forensic Science) and a trinity certTESOL? I am not too fussed about pay, aslong as its enough to live off and the weather is better than England!

Cheers,

Dan.

flingwing · Joined: 10 Jun 2010 Posts: 16 Location: Jakarta, Indonesia

I'm upset, too - but for reasons about the limit at the opposite end of that spectrum <grin>.

I only recently realized that many countries have upper age limits, and I never knew Indonesia had a lower limit, too. Very recently I was a shoo-in for a high-paying job in the Middle East until age reared its ugly head. It took a while to get over my ire, but I slowly realized why limits are used.

People in developing countries, like Indonesia and those in the ME, have to feel bad that their citizens cannot do certain jobs that require special skills and training. So, to justify "importing" a foreigner, they make limits so these countries do not become "dumping grounds" for either the infantile or the infirm <grin>.

I guess for the lower limit a country like Indonesia figures a person graduates high school at 18, goes to college or technical training for four years, and then obtains work experience for several more years. Hence, you have a lower limit of 25.

The developing country's reasoning is, if a person doesn't have a higher education and some experience, what good is s/he as a teacher to the locals? In theory, all foreign workers are supposed to be training locals and working themselves out of their jobs.

In Indonesia�s case, I am almost certain the school could hire you if it wanted to write a long explanation to the immigration department about why you were crucial to the school�s operation and pay a bribe to grease the wheels.

That the school didn�t and you aren�t coming here, means you weren�t supposed to be here in the first place <grin>. Believe me, I know it�s hard to swallow these disappointments when they occur, but who knows, you�ll end up with an offer from somewhere else that leads you down an even better path.

Selamat Jalan <g>.

malu · Joined: 22 Apr 2007 Posts: 1344 Location: Sunny Java

travelNteach · Joined: 14 Jul 2009 Posts: 222

are u aware that age limits do not apply to any other field, such as mining, banking, engineering........... so why would they have them for teaching? i think it is more a stipulation by schools than immigration but they like to blame it on immigration. for some schools they may think that under 25 means people more interested in drinking and shagging than teaching. also for language schools, they dont want old people because marketing........... when u ask students whether they like a teacher, so often their response is based on physical appearance and to a lesser degree personality, instead of professionalism and teaching ability.
" i really like mr. john because he is tall or handsome." " i dont like mr. simon because his face looks angry".

does anyone know of a specific law that states that teachers have to be between 25-55 or is this another indonesian urban myth?
thanks

malu · Joined: 22 Apr 2007 Posts: 1344 Location: Sunny Java

travelNteach · Joined: 14 Jul 2009 Posts: 222

yes i am well aware of the 5 countries that are considered native speakers.

over the years, i have seen 25 and 26 as the minimum ages and both 55 and 60 as the uppper ages. but i have only seen this written in job advertisements (mostly EF) or on boards like this. i have never seen it in paperwork from immigration. seems strange that this would be the only field that immigration would be concerned with as no other field has a minimum or maximum age limit. not denying that it is possible, but i know plenty of schools that have hired people both above and below these limits without problem, and no, they didnt have to pay extra bribes, just the normal brides handled by the agent.