I'm a JOB HOPPER. And I'm proud of it. - ESL discussion

I job hop when I get a bad deal. I've not had to rely on hoppin' of late--I found a good job, at least for Thailand. After my contract expires, I'm hoppin' down to Don Muang Airport, hoppin' on a 747, and flyin' to Japan or Korea. I'll go to one of these countries, find a school, and then either settle in or start job-hoppin' all over agee-yuhn!

Hoppity, hop-hop!
Hoppity, hop-hop!
Look at SiamSap go!

SS

Will do - ESL discussion

I'll check out China more if you guys think it's worth it. I would never base a decision on just a few posts. It's just that yours is not the only negative feedback I've heard about that place.

Thanks a bunch for the advice.

HZ

Playing musical jobs wouldn't work well in Thailand - ESL discussion

In Thailand, it'd be difficult to job hop. That's because when one is through with a job here, be it because of a firing, resignation, or even contract completion, he must return to the school district's main office to turn in his work permit and a special form completed by his school. This form states the relationship is over and the reason it's over. This can take a day or two when the reason is completion or firing, but can be impossible in the case of a resignation. If one quits on his school during a term, the school director may decide to screw him by not filling out the form. What happens then? He must fill out more paperwork and wait for it to clear before going to work somewhere else. This could take a week.

Sometimes we don't have a week if we are going to jump on a good job.

Been done... - ESL discussion

Howard, read my contract advice document!

Why? Because... - ESL discussion

If you promote 'job hopping' it only makes life harder for the rest of us. It is hard enough getting Chinese schools to trust teachers without people running all the time. (Chinese schools treatment of teachers is a valid concern of course, and I am not condoning some of the terrible things they do).

The answer is, as Yingyu Laoshi (correct spelling in PingYin!) says, is to NOT SIGN if you are not happy.

Don't come over to China knowing what the wages are, sign a contract and THEN complain you don't get paid enough. Who's fault is that? Yours!

S.Korea pays more, some I hear, if you come to earn good money (by western standards) then try there.

Otherwise, don't complain. No one forced you to come and work here did they?

I hate being right all the time, though - ESL discussion

Thanks, Jinchafa. I appreciate your post. Some of my friends also post here, namely Elephant, Howard Zinn, and SiamSap. We all are sick and tired of Thailand. We're all ready to leave this place, believe me.

However, I personally wish I didn't have to make so many posts telling how things are where I teach.
Many other white faces are here in Thailand with me, and some of those guys could very well contribute to web sites like this. It's too bad so few do, as there are PLENTY of things here that people NEED to know about if they are to make a good decision about where to take TEFL training or get a teaching job.

I wish I could have read such posts as mine about 15 months ago. I would have gone somewhere else to get my certificate and 'job'. I would have never shown my face in Thailand. But nope. The 'information superhighway' was but a mere cowpath with very little usable info on the subject back in March of '04. Many people will use the great info on sites like this, but very few contribute. The moochers really piss me off, to say the least.

RT

job hopping - ESL discussion

Hey Rheno,
Your postings are always "right on the money." I appreciate your clear headedness. Hope all is going well for you.

Prevention is better than cure - ESL discussion

HZ

I think where the problem often lies, is in the fact that many FT's seem quite happy enough to sign any peice of garbage that calls itself a contract, and then wonder why the roof caves in and that they're suddenly suffering a living nightmare.

I find it better to try and avoid having to up sticks every five minutes, by taking as many steps to prevent this happening in the first place.

The first thing I do is ignore the small private schools and franchises altogether. Nearly all of these it seems are concerned with nothing else but making money and don't seem to care who they hurt in the process.

I'm sorry if that's to sweeping a statement but it seems that, that's where ninety-nine percent of the REAL problems of exploited and seriously put upon FT's transpire.

I find it much safer and agreeable to deal with government schools or huge established private schools that teach the whole curriculum to students who live on campus.

I think this is often the crux of the matter.An FT might reason that a small private school or franchise means more stress and is risky, yet more money can be made in such places. Talk about juicy steak-baited traps in the jungle, waiting for the poor unsuspecting FT to walk right into them!

I take your point about leaving if your school gives you any crap, but we're often doing ourselves more harm than good by bouncing around more than a superball from school to school every month or so.

First of all the poor students are suffering by having new teachers every five minutes. They probably don't get much further than being able to say 'Hello...er! ....goodbye again teacher!'

Then we have to think, how the hell are we going to grow and develop our teaching skills and careers if we're hopping about more than a frog on heat!

Also, it's obviously going to hit us in the pocket, thus again hindering us from being able to buy onto courses that give us opportunities to grab those extra qualifications and degrees that can give us greater opportunities to work at better schools with better pay, conditions and students.

So every time we sign a peice of paper in a private franchise after only a cursory glance, we are surely shooting OURSELVES in the foot. BEAT ME! BEAT ME!, make me sign bad contracts!

After the mandatory initial checks of the school by scanning the internet for reviews, making general inquiries and checking out foreign teachers who either work or have just recently worked at the potential school,it's time to hop on a train and check it out.

I've usually already got an understanding of pay, how many hours I want to work ,and all the other basics, already. The bottom line is, don't sign the contract until you've gone over it with a microscope, never mind a fine tooth comb! Make sure there's no invisible ink! Only joking,I hope!

That's actually step one. Step two is to not sign that contract until you are TWO HUNDRED PERCENT satisfied and happy with it.If you're not happy with it and they refuse to adjust it, THAT'S the time to walk .BEFORE you sign the contract.BEFORE you start to suffer.BEFORE you even waste one WEEK, never mind one month in unhappy cicumstances.

In most cases we FT's turn up at the school around five to seven days before our classes start.
This should give us ample time to size up and get a feel of the school, staff and management as well as our living conditions.

Once we're satisfied to the best of our ability with both the school and the contract, we then need to make sure that we have in our hands a copy of a signed by BOTH parties, and sealed contract that's translated into both English AND the native language.

Now here comes a sticking point for many FT's,which I believe is responsible for much suffering by many English teachers. Certainly in China anyway!

It's the refusal to agree to the clause that stipulates that the foreign teacher must pay a breach penalty if he breaks the contract.

Now I personally am quite happy to sign this clause as long as it mentions that it applies to BOTH parties. Whatever you do don't sign it if it's only in the schools favour!

The reason I sign it is because I believe it protects ME too.Naive you might say,but I tell you in all honesty, it has helped me to bring pressure on two schools, who both attempted to break their contracts with me.Because, THEY KNEW I WAS RIGHT and I had it in black and white and they knew that I KNEW I had the proof in my hand, they both backtracked!

I don't worry about that clause. In fact I'm HAPPY it's in there.I only sign six month contracts anyway.If both parties are happy after that I can always sign for another six months.This ensures that if there IS a problem then I won't suffer too long. Anyway if I check the school out well enough beforehand and have this clause in the contract, there should be NO problems!

The point is I don't sign the contract until I'm happy with it, and secondly that clause makes it more than a peice of paper that they think they can disrespect if they want to give you any crap. They know they will lose financially and you can walk with all your pay ,bonuses,and a nice tidy sum from the breach penalty.

There are actually many private schools that are happy to have a high turnover of teachers, so they can hold back salaries,airfares,bonuses and travel allowances.

They are often happy to see us leaving after one or two months. In this way they can actually save a lot of money by stalling on processing legal work permits.Believe me we often play into their hands by 'doing a runner', every month or so.

If you follow these steps you will almost certainly have no major problems with your employer, be able to have the time to develop your teaching skills,and give yourself the means to obtain further qualifications. You also will get the time, peace of mind and opportunity to really improve the English level of all your students.

Sincere, best wishes to all FT's.Wherever you are!

Turnover can help solve this problem - ESL discussion

Why wait on your contract to expire? If you're unhappy in your present job, quit and go somewhere else. If you don't like it at your second school, quit and go somewhere else. If you don't like it at your third school........You get the picture.

My point is that turnover is a great way to send a message to the powers in China that we won't put up with what you talk about in your post.

Sure, changing jobs is expensive for us, but so is the opportunity cost of sitting around waiting on the job that pays what we want to magically appear, or putting up with unscrupulous schools who rip us off while we finish up a contract.

Replacing employees is expensive, and employers will get the message fast if we teachers start heading for the exits en masse. When you stay at a job you hate or a job that is more trouble than it's worth, you send positive reinforcement to your employer that 'all is well'. In other words, nothing will change. Let him see you and the next five to ten white faces walking away from him, suitcases in hand(s) after only a few weeks on the job, and we'll quickly see better treatment in China.

Of course, there's always the 747 solution. You go down to the nearest airport, get a plane ticket to somewhere else, and fly the hell outta China and be done with it forever.

HZ

wages - ESL discussion

Hi there, yes well said wages in China are poor.

Best Regards,
Ben.