Has anyone been reading the threads on this link ?

http://forums.eslcafe.com/job/viewtopic.php?p=877230

Seems like there is one person defending hampson.

during my short time with hampson, I did get to know a few so called hampson teachers whom I soon found out were
not the sort of people most decent folk would wish to befriend BACK STABBERS.!! where I come from, we call them ARSE HOLE LICKERS.
they are the types who would sell their own mother down the river. they know what hampson are like, and are happy to defend and make a false impression to please their masters.
maybe they are after promotion, or have connections within the company
the posting below is certainly the biggest load of bullshit I have yet read on these forums,
I wonder why this person has not posted on THIS forum, after all it has the biggest thread regarding Hampson English school.
I certainly smell a RAT, and I'm very sure if one digs deeper, then much more will surface.

tianjinrobbie

Joined: 31 Jul 2010
Posts: 6

PostPosted: Mon Aug 02, 2010 2:58 am Post subject: Reply with quote
I have to disagree with the statements made about Hampson to be honest.

I have worked here for just over a year now, I am employed as a full time teacher not part time. I enjoy paid national holidays as well as 2 weeks paid holiday for travel. I get sick pay, unless I cancel classes on the day. I get paid my salary regardless of any time spent not teaching and also enjoy 3 bonuses a year. They applied for and got my visa to which they absorb the cost too.

The staff at Hampson are very good, or at least in my experience working else where are anyway. The schedule is pretty good, I work 40 hours a week and have 2 days off.

It is true that being a training centre, you do have to give demos in order to get students, but I think its fair to say that is true of any training centre at the end of the day. If you do not like the way training centres operate then I think the old saying 'Horses For Courses' applies here, you should be thinking about working in a school instead.

It is also true that they take a deposit from you initial salary as security, I do not have an issue with that. They will pay that back if you decide to leave and the reason they have to take one is because on many occasions there have been teachers who have just disappeared without giving them any warning, leaving them in the position of having annoyed students turning up for classes without teachers which can and often does result in loosing the business, personally I think the deposit is fair and justified.

As for the bit about refunds, that is technically not correct. If a teacher basically takes the p@@s and does not teach the classes properly, keeps talking on their mobile phone during the lesson, spends the vast majority of the lesson watching movies with the student or whatever then the student has the right to complain they are not happy, and rightly so, and the teacher has to teach the class again free of charge. So the bottom line is if you are a competent teacher and do your job properly you have nothing to worry about. Hampson are not stupid, they know there is the possibility that students may try to manipulate that clause. Everything you do during the lesson you record notes in a teaching book which each student has so they can see what you have been doing during the lesson. Also the classrooms are glass so people can see what you are doing and the SA's at Hampson keep an eye out for things too. Plus there is your overall track record, if all bar one of your students is very happy and one makes a complaint like that.......o_O I have yet to see anyone working here be put in the situation of having to repeat any classes at all.

And they also do not 'expect' teachers to be on site for prearranged blocks of time as such either, if they have a demo for you they will call you and ask if you can come in to do it, they will try their best to arrange your demos within the same time period, however some things are beyond their control, so if a student cannot come in at a particular time, and you do not want to hang around they will give the demo to someone else instead, theres no rules saying you have to sit twiddling your thumbs all day.

It doesn't take most teachers long to build up a schedule and they will often give you demos when they know you are in. In general, it tends to be teachers who come in dressed like they are going to a rave or festival that tend to find it difficult to get students and/or demos because they project the wrong image to the students. Hampson does not enforce a shirt and tie policy like for example Wall Street English do, but they do expect, again quite rightly so, that teachers at least dress sensibly and project the right kind of look, they are a business in the education sector after all, not a nightclub.

Another inaccuracy posted here is the timeframe for the demo, demos usually last for around 10 to 15 minutes, or at least the time spent with the teacher is around 10 to 15 minutes at least. The SA will discuss things with the student before and after the teacher has done their part and the demo is about working out the students requirements, their strengths and weaknesses and making a few suggestions, not really about 'teaching a class' How can someone just sit down and start teaching a class to someone they no nothing about!!!

As for the part time salary being false advertising, again, completely inaccurate. There are part time teachers at the Tianjin outlet who easily make that kind of money. Hampson open at 10am and close at 9:30pm.
Now granted to earn that kind of money you have to be there for a long day but that is your choice, you can teach as many or as few classes as you wish here. My god, people work in the UK, as I am sure they do in the states too, and on top of their general working day, do overtime to earn extra money. Same kind of thing really, you want to earn more money you work longer hours.

As for visas being fictitious, anyone that wishes to pop in to Hampson and ask about the visas, I will be happy to show you mine. Granted not ALL staff at Hampson know the ins and outs for visas, but thats not their job. Beijing deal with the visa process and have staff there that specifically deal with that aspect of things, for example Michelle in Beijing.

I would recommend Hampson to anyone. I am very happy there and they give me no reasons to want to think about changing employment at all. Given the sheer amount of back street, cut throat setups there are in China and your chances of getting screwed over when teaching in this country, Hampson are pretty damn good at what they do. You cannot expect everything to be just like working for a company back home but Hampson come pretty close in my opinion. QED