Job Discussion Forums

[emyli24]

I'm a university graduate interested in applying for a job at EF China. I'm wondering if they only conduct telephone interviews rather than face to face? Would they have recruitment offices in Australia/UK/America at all? I found it difficult to find specific contact information about who is actually responsible for the recruitment.

[nickpellatt]

I cant speak for EF, but I have recently had Skype interviews ... perhaps EF will do the same thing. Get ready for a barrage of posts suggesting EF is a bad choice by the way. it might be worth searching for some posts about them. They arent very well regarded.

[vikeologist]

Broadly speaking EF recruits 2 ways. The individual schools can recrit, via their individual adverts, but they can aso pay mony to a central ecruiting service in Shanghai. Obviously most schools prefer to save money and find their own staff, although there is an agument that Shanghi cn guarantee good teachers. (I think there's some kind of money back deal if Shanghai sell the schools a dud.)

Maybe Shanghai therefore will forward teachers on to the schools that have need and money, rather than the good schools. In fact the few good schools probably don't need Shnghai all that much, so my advice would be to apply to individual schools.

That of course raises the question of whether there are any good EF schools. Probaby even in the best you can expect long hours, less pay than you can get elsewhere, fairly useless text books, minimal professional development and an emphasis on making money.

That said, I've just done a year with EF, and I have no regrets at all. If you apply for an EF school you can either take pot luck (you probably have at least a 1 in 50 chance of landing in a good school and those odds are much better than winning the lottery) or do some research and ask some well considered questions.

Finaly a word of caution. A few intelligent and well chosen questions suggest that you are a serious and conscientious applicant. Having 300 questions including the exact measurements of the bed and a copy of your precise teaching schedule for the year including the time in seconds it takes to walk to class from the teachers room suggests that you're going to be a huge pain in the arse.

[emyli24]

Thanks for the advice, they were really helpful and much appreciated. Out of curiousity though, I can't imagine that there would be applicants who would go to such extent to have 300 questions prepared...or perhaps I'm just a bit naive about the industry. I do have another question for you about your experience with EF though, although I understand if you decline to answer because it's a tad personal...would you consider working another year with EF? It's just that I've read so many good and bad things about EF on the forum that I get this impression that no one really stays with EF for that long. due to other opportunities of better pay/working cond. etc etc.

[vikeologist]

I was exaggerating for comic effect with the 300 questions (and the examples) although from what i've heard, not a big exageration.

As for whether I'd work another year for them, in theory i would have, because the DOS is staying for another year, but I'd have needed a reason to stay, wage parity with similar language schools, respect (this actually is what i most want from any job), professional development or more adult classes. The hard fact is that all the teachers enjoy teaching there because of the DOS is great, so far most leave after a year because of the owner.

Anyway, there are some good reasons for working for EF for a year, but moving on after that. Obviously there are people who benefit from working there longer, but EF makes a better springboard than a final destination.

[landt]

I don't know how the franchise schools recruit, but the central recruitment office for the corporate schools (those in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen, both adults' and kids' schools) is in Shanghai. They do Skype interviews from there- there aren't any recruitment agents working for China central recruitment in other countries. You can email the central recruitment address, and you'll be assigned a recruiter who will look after you for the whole process.

[johntpartee]

EF is just a very strange outfit. They make up these weird rules about hiring and pass them off as being the law.

[vikeologist]

[johntpartee]

[Cal_Ger]

This is my 2 cents worth on EF.

I was in Shanghai a few months ago and actually (in person!) visited one of the local English First schools.

I couldn't get past the reception desk. After insisting on speaking to 'somebody' in the HR department, I was put on the reception phone only to hear a 'half stuffed' mouth telling me to 'go away and apply' online.

So in my freshly ironed shirt and tie, with (qualifications/resume) in hand I trundled off.

Geez! The old days are surely gone, only to be replaced with nameless www.coms who can say anything they like and treat you like a 'bag of sh#t'.

Later, I wrote a complaint and received a reply to 'swallow my old fashioned pride' and apply online; to which I promptly replied to them to 'stick their job up their collective asses...!!!

Hope this helps.

[vikeologist]

It's both polite and sensible to apply for jobs the way that employers want you to. The applicant doesn't get to decide these things. I'm sure it wouldn't have done any harm to leave a CV and intro letter, but if you were serious about EF you would have looked at the website and noted the application instructions. They may be an evil language mill whose contracts amount to 21st century slavery and who practice ritual child sacrifice as part of their teacher development , but that doesn't mean that they're obliged to fit their operations around your whims and fancies.