Job Discussion Forums

[Photini1967]

Hi,

The Wall Street Institute in Indonesia has a great new ad posted on Dave's ESL. However, I've tried the email they listed ([email protected]) and the Jobs email at their website; everything I send is bouncing back. I just can't get through to contact them. Any ideas?

Thanks!

[Tudor]

A Google search using 'wall street andrew whitmarsh' produced the following email address:- <[email protected]>

ac.id not ap.id...

[Photini1967]

Hi, Tudor, and thanks. I actually mistyped -- The email I sent it to was ac.id rather than ap.id. It bounces, and so does the Jobs email they have posted.

[Atoms for Peace]

Hi, I have his card in front of me, and the e-mail on it is [email protected]
The card is a few years old, but still worth a try...

[Zorobabel]

They have very low storage limits on their email accounts. Wait a few days and you'll probably be able to get through.

[Tudor]

So, did you manage to get through to him Photini? I notice you've posted on the Singapore forum and was wondering if you'd perhaps given up on the idea of Indonesia?

[teacherINDO]

You should check out their brand new website for more details:

(I worked there for two years and had a blast).

http://www.wallstreet.ac.id/en/job-opportunity

Some of the info is dated. I think salaries are a few hundred bucks more per month.

[Tudor]

So they've got a brand new website that contains dated information?

That hardly inspires confidence.

[teacherINDO]

I just checked and the salary listing is $1,750, so not dated. It's a whole new website from when I was there, so I assume they were updating figures--especially since the dollar is so weak now.

[Tudor]

Yes, I've just had a look at it. They've certainly increased the salary, starting from 15 million. I had an interview there a couple of years back when the salary was 12 million. However, I understand Wall Street are one of the language chains who have fallen foul of the new English / Education degree regulation so they're having to offer a better salary to try and attract the relevant degree-holders.

Nevertheless, it's worth remembering that the contact hours at Wall Street are quite high - about 30 per week I believe. Also, 16 days holiday is a bit stingy; TBI offer 30 days although their salary is slightly lower, starting at 14.4 million.

If anyone has an English or Education degree and is in, or is planning to come to, Indonesia then they should bargain pretty hard with these schools (and, indeed, any language school) as they're pretty desperate for teachers, so I reckon you could possibly add another couple of million to the above figures.

[teacherINDO]

Hmm, the TBI 30-day holiday figure is definitely not right. I had a few friends there and they never mentioned that. Most likely, it's 30 days counting all public holidays, which is how some schools choose to phrase it. For example, at Wall Street, I got 16 days annual leave + 15 or 16 days of public holidays, which comes out to over 30 total.

It's true the contact hours are high (which is why we also had really good, smart teachers), but WSI has a lot of pre-lesson planned classes. So while I used to have more hours teaching than TBI, I also did many hours less of lesson planning, which meant more relax time during our off hours.

I'm not sure about the bargaining part either. I (and other people I know) have tried bargaining hard at many schools, but in the end, the job is still teaching in Indonesia. Maybe--maybe, you could get a million more per month if you had good qualifications, but Jakarta isn't and will never be Korea, so the benefit is just an awesome country, not a place to get rich.

[Atoms for Peace]

[Tudor]

Thank you Atoms, I knew I was right.

teacherINDO, perhaps your TBI friends never mentioned how many holidays they got as they knew Wall Street only gave a miserly 16 days and they didn't want to rub your nose in it

[teacherINDO]

Hmm yeah you're right, so I can't argue with that

All I can say is in the end, I felt I got a ton of vacation time overall and worked at a great place. I taught people like the Director of Intelligence for Indonesia, famous celebrities, VPs of banks, editor in chiefs of publishing houses...for me, it felt like I was having a real impact. I'm sure TBI is a great place, but most of the movers and shakers in Jakarta came to WSI (plus we didn't teach any children). Not only that, the environment is better than most corporate offices--glass walls everywhere, expensive furniture, etc.

After your post, I checked out EF too, and even they offer 22 days of paid holiday...but at least 5 teachers I knew came to WSI from EF. Like any top job, you probably get less vacation than other places, but you make more money and have the satisfaction of working at the best place. In the end, if you wanted lots of paid holidays and time off, why not teach at a national plus school?

The other good thing is that a lot of teachers may not necessarily want to teach the rest of their lives, and WSI was just bought by Pearson, the biggest global education company in the world. For me, I'm looking to move into business, so having a big time credible connection helped me a lot. I also had a couple friends who became managers in other Asian countries for WSI because of the global cross mobility.

Anyway, definitely lots of great schools here in Jakarta, and in the end if you want to teach and enjoy friendly students and a beautiful country, you can pretty much win at most reputable schools.

[Algo5]

I notice that English First is offering free accommodation and air fares, which doesn't seem to be standard for all Jakarta language schools...but does anyone know if this free accommodation is actually any good?

Don't get me wrong, I wouldn't expect luxury - just enough space to be comfortable, and in a semi-decent area...