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cadburys
Joined: 02 Jul 2009
Location: IRELAND
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 Posted: Wed Aug 05, 2009 10:50 am Post subject: Is it difficult to secure a public school position? |
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Am going to apply through footprints.
Can anyone tell me what kind of a lesson plan I should give them?
or how long it should be?
Thanks |
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cadburys
Joined: 02 Jul 2009
Location: IRELAND
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| Posted: Wed Aug 05, 2009 10:56 am Post subject: |
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| actually does anyone know if footprints just deal with public school positions? |
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lifeinkorea
Joined: 24 Jan 2009
Location: somewhere in China
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| Posted: Wed Aug 05, 2009 12:32 pm Post subject: |
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| They do everything I believe. Decide if you want elementary or older students. Then apply accordingly. |
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WillTurnerinVanCity
Joined: 05 Dec 2007
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| Posted: Wed Aug 05, 2009 1:55 pm Post subject: Lesson Plans! |
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Hi - this is Will from Footprints.
We do not need the lesson plans, it is part of the application for the Seoul public schools (which I am assuming you are interested in).
As part of the requirements for the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education, you will need to submit a 2 page lesson plan. This is for teaching English. This lesson plan will need to be e-mailed along with your application form. The exact topic for the lesson plan is up to you, as is the age group (elementary to high school) that you want to make the lesson plan for. Be as creative and detailed as you can because this lesson plan will be seen by officials at the SMOE. This is your chance to make a good first impression and to show them your skills as a teacher. Please do spend time and effort into writing this lesson plan, as it will be taken into consideration when the SMOE makes its final decision in granting interviews.
Your best bet is to Google it, as there are tons of lesson plan resources out there for you.
Also - we are one of the larger agencies in this industry. We work with many types of schools in several different countries. |
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E_athlete
Joined: 09 Jun 2009
Location: Korea sparkling
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| Posted: Wed Aug 05, 2009 2:21 pm Post subject: |
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| hey Will, can you tell me roughly how many applications Footprints receives each week currently? |
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WillTurnerinVanCity
Joined: 05 Dec 2007
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| Posted: Wed Aug 05, 2009 2:52 pm Post subject: Varies |
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I can't give you numbers (trade secrets), but they wouldn't mean much anyway.
The number of people who visit the website and fill out forms, and the number of people who actually get on a plane is pretty different. There are many reasons for this, cold feet, life getting in the way, or simply that they liked the idea of teaching abroad but the realities of it won't work. Not everyone is as serious as the people on Dave's ESL Cafe.
There has been an increase in the number of people looking for work, thus an increase in applications over the last few months. This has been true for us and for a lot of other agencies.
To complicate things, we recently relaunched our website (which has been awesome). However, when you do these things, it takes time for all the search engines to update and put you back on top, which fudges the numbers a bit. |
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D.D.
Joined: 29 May 2008
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| Posted: Wed Aug 05, 2009 3:48 pm Post subject: Re: Varies |
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| WillTurnerinVanCity wrote: |
I can't give you numbers (trade secrets), but they wouldn't mean much anyway.
The number of people who visit the website and fill out forms, and the number of people who actually get on a plane is pretty different. There are many reasons for this, cold feet, life getting in the way, or simply that they liked the idea of teaching abroad but the realities of it won't work. Not everyone is as serious as the people on Dave's ESL Cafe.
There has been an increase in the number of people looking for work, thus an increase in applications over the last few months. This has been true for us and for a lot of other agencies.
To complicate things, we recently relaunched our website (which has been awesome). However, when you do these things, it takes time for all the search engines to update and put you back on top, which fudges the numbers a bit. |
Not to mention the number of good teachers who hang up the phone on you guys after 2 minutes of that horrible canned McDonalds like interview.
You guys scare away a lot of people by talking like robots to them. I guess you attract yes people by starting off this way. |
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WillTurnerinVanCity
Joined: 05 Dec 2007
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| Posted: Wed Aug 05, 2009 4:05 pm Post subject: Thanks! |
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I wrote a response earlier, but since I'm not really supposed to respond to the digs, I took it down. My apologies.
I will bring your criticism to the attention of management. We use a much different style of interview than we did 5 years ago. We're always trying to improve our customer service, which is why we're making an effort to answer the questions (like this one) from the people in the ESL community.
-Will |
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E_athlete
Joined: 09 Jun 2009
Location: Korea sparkling
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| Posted: Wed Aug 05, 2009 4:59 pm Post subject: Re: Varies |
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| WillTurnerinVanCity wrote: |
I can't give you numbers (trade secrets), but they wouldn't mean much anyway.
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I looked around on the internet and found this. Naturally I got curious. I think numbers are important. If footprints was swamped with applicants that would surely affect the quality of service they provide.
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By Nina Lex Nina Lex � Fri Jun 26, 1:10 pm ET
TORONTO (Reuters) � A growing number of recent graduates from Canadian universities are becoming English teachers overseas, discouraged by a tight job market during Canada's deepest recession in decades.
Teach Away, a Toronto-based agency that helps North Americans find teaching jobs overseas, says applications to teach English in Asia and elsewhere have jumped about 400 percent since late 2008.
"Positions are filling quicker this year than ever before," said director Rene Frey.
Vancouver-based Footprints Recruiting has experienced a similar trend, receiving 100 more applications a week than it did last year, said co-founder Ben Glickman.
"We definitely see economic causalities come through the door. You see a lot of fallout from the financial industry, where people that were involved in finances are now teaching overseas," said Glickman.
"I interviewed a guy the other day -- he has a masters degree in quantitative science. I mean last year he probably wouldn't be applying to teach in Korea."
In Canada, the unemployment rate climbed to 8.4 percent in May, its highest in 11 years.
Footprints, which places most of its applicants in South Korean schools, says more teachers working overseas are staying put rather than coming back because jobs at home are scarce.
Applicants to teach English overseas need a four-year university degree rather than formal teaching experience. But agencies say more people with post-graduate degrees and stronger qualifications are applying for the jobs.
"The schools and the different employers we work with overseas are definitely being more selective comparative to years past," said Glickman.
Luckily, the weak global economy doesn't mean the demand for teachers is declining. Learning English as a second language is an important facet of education in most North Asian countries, so schools have not cut back.
Indeed South Korean schools are hiring more ESL teachers this year than ever, agencies say.
Footprints, which handles applicants from Canada, the United States, Britain, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. currently has more than 1,000 ESL teachers placed overseas.
But Canadian teachers may be in particular demand.
"Some of the schools we work with prefer Canadian teachers. In terms of the ESL industry, Canadians have a more neutral accent across the board," said Glickman.
"The base line university education system in Canada provides a very good basis for teaching overseas as well."
(Reporting by Nina Lex; Editing by Frank McGurty) |
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WillTurnerinVanCity
Joined: 05 Dec 2007
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| Posted: Wed Aug 05, 2009 7:27 pm Post subject: Re: Varies |
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| E_athlete wrote: |
| WillTurnerinVanCity wrote: |
I can't give you numbers (trade secrets), but they wouldn't mean much anyway.
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I looked around on the internet and found this. Naturally I got curious. I think numbers are important. If footprints was swamped with applicants that would surely affect the quality of service they provide.
| Quote: |
By Nina Lex Nina Lex � Fri Jun 26, 1:10 pm ET
TORONTO (Reuters) � A growing number of recent graduates from Canadian universities are becoming English teachers overseas, discouraged by a tight job market during Canada's deepest recession in decades.
Teach Away, a Toronto-based agency that helps North Americans find teaching jobs overseas, says applications to teach English in Asia and elsewhere have jumped about 400 percent since late 2008.
"Positions are filling quicker this year than ever before," said director Rene Frey.
Vancouver-based Footprints Recruiting has experienced a similar trend, receiving 100 more applications a week than it did last year, said co-founder Ben Glickman.
"We definitely see economic causalities come through the door. You see a lot of fallout from the financial industry, where people that were involved in finances are now teaching overseas," said Glickman.
"I interviewed a guy the other day -- he has a masters degree in quantitative science. I mean last year he probably wouldn't be applying to teach in Korea."
In Canada, the unemployment rate climbed to 8.4 percent in May, its highest in 11 years.
Footprints, which places most of its applicants in South Korean schools, says more teachers working overseas are staying put rather than coming back because jobs at home are scarce.
Applicants to teach English overseas need a four-year university degree rather than formal teaching experience. But agencies say more people with post-graduate degrees and stronger qualifications are applying for the jobs.
"The schools and the different employers we work with overseas are definitely being more selective comparative to years past," said Glickman.
Luckily, the weak global economy doesn't mean the demand for teachers is declining. Learning English as a second language is an important facet of education in most North Asian countries, so schools have not cut back.
Indeed South Korean schools are hiring more ESL teachers this year than ever, agencies say.
Footprints, which handles applicants from Canada, the United States, Britain, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. currently has more than 1,000 ESL teachers placed overseas.
But Canadian teachers may be in particular demand.
"Some of the schools we work with prefer Canadian teachers. In terms of the ESL industry, Canadians have a more neutral accent across the board," said Glickman.
"The base line university education system in Canada provides a very good basis for teaching overseas as well."
(Reporting by Nina Lex; Editing by Frank McGurty) |
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I see your point. It isn't my place to talk numbers, though, that would be above my pay grade (so to speak).
Numbers are important, and though we are busier, we've adjusted and we are not swamped or suffering in our service by any means.
We're trying to educate people on how to prepare themselves better so that teachers can take advantages of opportunities. We've made a lot of changes in the way we provide information to our applicants, and made the website far more interactive and accessible in terms of the information provided (www.footprintsrecruiting.com).
We all know what the ESL industry has been like until now. You could lock down a job well in advance and sit back and relax because you were in demand. You could even haggle and negotiate for higher pay even though you were a fresh out of college with little to no experience. The schools wouldn't let you walk because they were desperate for teachers. Things have changed, the labour supply has increased, schools are pickier, jobs fewer, and we all have to adapt.
Every agency is busier, and must adjust. We're slimmer and more proactive in our approach with our teachers. We're on these boards helping people out as much as we can.
Teachers need to prepare themselves better. You need your visa documents as soon as possible. The Seoul MOE positions that just became available this week are an example of this. The jobs are there, but the teachers have to be prepared to take advantage of the opportunities. Unemployment in North America is high...if you aren't ready to take this job, somebody out there is.
I am not sure if the changes in the economy have been discussed at length in any other threads, but I'd be interested in hearing everyone's thoughts on the changes in the industry and what we can all expect. If it has been discussed, please paste a link in for me, it would be much appreciated.
-Will |
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AJR
Joined: 29 Jun 2009
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| Posted: Thu Aug 06, 2009 7:38 pm Post subject: |
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Will- your website may have many virtues, but it was a complete fail for me. Your application upload absolutely did not work as many people on your forum attest. Congrats on the high numbers that somehow made it through. Maybe you are only interested in PC owners or something (plenty of those). I did finally get an email address from someone but by then I already had found jobs through other sources. I initially was recommended to work with footprints but your website was glitched and you don't publish an email address. Who does that? Come on dude, ask someone at your company to publish an email address on your website so that mac users or whatever the problem is have an alternative way to send in a resume.
Thanks, you seem like a nice person and a responsible employee. |
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WillTurnerinVanCity
Joined: 05 Dec 2007
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| Posted: Thu Aug 06, 2009 8:30 pm Post subject: Fair Point! |
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| AJR wrote: |
Will- your website may have many virtues, but it was a complete fail for me. Your application upload absolutely did not work as many people on your forum attest. Congrats on the high numbers that somehow made it through. Maybe you are only interested in PC owners or something (plenty of those). I did finally get an email address from someone but by then I already had found jobs through other sources. I initially was recommended to work with footprints but your website was glitched and you don't publish an email address. Who does that? Come on dude, ask someone at your company to publish an email address on your website so that mac users or whatever the problem is have an alternative way to send in a resume.
Thanks, you seem like a nice person and a responsible employee. |
I'm actually a little shocked there isn't easy access to our contact information (email addresses, numbers, etc.). You are the first person to bring this to my attention.
I think the issue might be balance. I've been at FP for nearly two years, and I think I've answered the same 20 questions about a million times over the phone and by email - which is fine because I remember what it was like to be new to the ESL world. However, in terms of efficiency in how I spend my time at work, it is something that needed to change.
Perhaps one of the reasons it is harder to find our direct numbers is that we are trying to get people to use the website for information, to use the forums to ask questions and such. In either case, there needs to be better balance between the ability for people to find answers on our website, and the ability for people to find answers by contacting us.
As for the issues with Mac users, I will certainly bring this up with the required department. I'm not sure if anybody has tested the website out with a Mac. We're certainly not trying to restrict access to anybody, as that would be a pretty poor business move.
It is true, there are glitches, but they are not intentional. We're very proud of the new website, but by no means is it perfect. It would be easy to identify a problem if 100% of the people who came to our website had and issue and let us know. It is much harder if 90% have no issue and the other 10% never let us know that a problem occured at all. When that occurs, we sadly continue on in ignorance of the problem. All we can go on when that occurs is statistics, a few tests and guesses as to the problem. Actual input from people like you is very important.
Were the problems you experienced accompanied by error messages? If you have the time to outline them, we would love to hear it. You can post it in the forums on our website or email it in. The general email is [email protected] - it is me behind that one, and I'll be sure to direct it properly.
Much appreciated.
-Will |
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AJR
Joined: 29 Jun 2009
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| Posted: Thu Aug 06, 2009 9:02 pm Post subject: |
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Will- read this: http://www.footprintsrecruiting.com/forums/application-information/296-website-application-problems/Page-2
for more info. The last post was a month ago and there hasn't been any response from footprints so I would call that a fail. As you say, if you are flooded with applications, why respond to this? Well, it is part of the design of the web-site. Post your question in a forum- get no response- have no access to email- move along...
As I said- you seem responsive. Hopefully this is/ can be resolved. Good luck- all is well. |
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WillTurnerinVanCity
Joined: 05 Dec 2007
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| Posted: Thu Aug 06, 2009 9:08 pm Post subject: |
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| AJR wrote: |
Will- read this: http://www.footprintsrecruiting.com/forums/application-information/296-website-application-problems/Page-2
for more info. The last post was a month ago and there hasn't been any response from footprints so I would call that a fail. As you say, if you are flooded with applications, why respond to this? Well, it is part of the design of the web-site. Post your question in a forum- get no response- have no access to email- move along...
As I said- you seem responsive. Hopefully this is/ can be resolved. Good luck- all is well. |
Couple things on that - a lot of those people have been helped directly on the phone or through email. Typically for every post we get a call and an email about it anyway. In a few other cases, the situations have been fixed, thus not necessitating any similar posts, which may be an alternative reason why there hasn't been a follow up post in a full month. But you're right - we should really put the final answer or "problem solved" post up there.
This is the first time a forum has been employed by us. In fact I'm still having some trouble merging and splitting and the like. I'll let Admin know, and hopefully I can take care of that tomorrow.
-Will |
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AJR
Joined: 29 Jun 2009
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| Posted: Thu Aug 06, 2009 9:15 pm Post subject: |
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| thanks again Will but I don't see how you get an email as there is no email address available (on the footprints web-site). Sorry to rub salt but I am one of those posters and I got no response from footprints. I have a good computer and I went to a good university (u of c) but hey- I'm sure I was undesirable. Like I said- all is well, thanks for your response. |
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