Job Discussion Forums

[Dude Love Japan]

Any and all comments would be greatly appreciated! I'm more interested in teaching secondary but having little luck finding work and wonder if it would be a good idea to at least have local HK exp.

[themuths]

did you check your PM yet?

[swilleyvanilli]

I am also looking at a position at Tutor Time! Any info would be most helpful and appreciated!!!

[byebye]

[alauw]

same here, if anyone who's working there/worked there could give me any first hand info would be much appreciated, thank you!

[jamo22]

this is getting ridiculous...but me too! maybe someone should reply to this thread instead of pming....

[Ben113]

Hi, I am really trying to find out info about working for Tutor Time in Hong Kong, if anyone can let me know what its like, problems...advantages...anything really then that would be a great help.

Thanks

[sheilabocchine]

Did anyone take the job at Tutor time? I'd also like some information on the school!

Thanks,
Sheila

[Dancebiscuits]

Hi,
Not sure if anyone got back to you in time but have my two cents.

I worked at Tutor Time in Kowloon Tong, Suffolk Campus for one year of a two year contract.

The pros are:
The school was extremely well equipped, modern and hygienic. Lovely facilities and good budget for extra materials and books if you want them
The pay there is better than at many other private kindies in HK
The children are ADORABLE and the staff genuinely love them
The curriculum is good - not too gimmicky but still cleverly arranged
Your Chinese colleagues are extremely pleasant and welcoming. This is despite the fact that they do about three times as much work as the Western staff and get paid about a third as much.
The families there are very rich so you get lots of nice presents if you're good!
It's honestly quite good fun, depending what you're used to!


The cons are:
You have to work every Saturday morning - don't underestimate how knackered this will leave you and how little time you will have to do other things
They dump meetings and projects on you at zero notice, which really can inconvenience you if you have very limited prep time
It is, first and foremost, a business so don't expect any favours, lenience, paid time off or time in lieu if you do extra work.
You are, as in many private schools in Asia, a dancing monkey there to impress Chinese parents. Smiles, blonde hair, overt personalities and willingness to have your photo taken 20 times a day will go down better than good teaching. Think TV presenter rather than teacher.
The terms and conditions vary wildly from staff member to staff member. Some are having houses paid for and getting double what others are, some get the basic minimum and nothing else. A lot depends on how much the owner (a very nice woman named Ling) likes you. This can create a lot of friction.
If you leave during the first year, technically you have to BUY your way out of the contract with three months' salary. I heard of teachers just disappearing but then I also heard of teachers actually being chased up by lawyers for breach of contract. Scary.


I should point out though, colleagues at other campuses had very different experiences - ranging from bad things like being sacked after parents decided they had the wrong colour hair to be properly Western, to good things like having a mere 3 hours teaching time each day but the same salary as full time!

Also, there used to be a full-on nasty, patronising, bullying piece of work there as a the curriculum adviser but she went back to Arizona. I understand her absence has made it a lot nicer place to work for everyone.

Hope this helps! Might post a new thread about TT actually if you think others are interested.