ESL Jobs, Agencies And SchoolsBrowse Top ESL Jobs ESL Jobs and ContractsWork disputes and legal arguments are bad enough at home....you don't really want to get into a complicated breach of contract situation, thousands of miles from home....where you don't speak the language. Some ESL Jobs can unfortunately turn into a nightmare for some people. Because you're a disadvantaged outsider, your legal rights are limited. It could mess you up financially and also ruin what should be a rewarding and fun experience. Unfortunately, with huge demand and opportunity comes opportunists and cheats. You don't want to be too skeptical and distrusting....but on the other hand, you don't want to get taken for a ride either.....so what's the answer? DO YOUR HOMEWORK FIRST! 1. Don't Accept the First Job You're Offered It's nice to have an enthusiastic agent or school owner call or Email you, complimenting you on your resume....and offering you an interview the next day. If the ESL job you applied for has a good salary and benefits package....of course you'll be eager to jump straight on the plane and get going. Stop! Take your time....the demand for English teachers is huge, and there are hundreds of ESL jobs out there. They're not going anywhere! I don't want to be the voice of doom, but the reason you were contacted so soon might not always be a good one. There could be things behind the scenes that you're not aware of. Wait for a few offers to come in and compare your choices. Do your research, check out the contracts fully. Do they have complicated and strange restrictions and penalties regarding pay, holidays general behaviour and sick leave? The reason for such strict rules could be a clue to past bad experiences at the school, and could imply a bad working environment is in store. 2. Sick leave and Holidays You should be especially interested in the section about holidays and sick leave. Read it very carefully and ask lots of questions. Is sick leave paid? Do you need a doctors certificate? You shouldn't. Can you take holidays when you like? You should find out what kind of arrangement they have regarding holidays. Will they decide to arrange meetings and workshops and ask you to attend during your holiday? 3. Airfare Reimbursement and End of contract Bonuses Have you heard the stories of ruthless bosses firing teachers a couple of weeks before completion of their contract - so that they don't have to pay them their end of contract bonus? If you pay for your flight over and/or you have to pay for a visa run, you should ask your employer for the money up front before you go anywhere. If they can't manage it, get them to reimbursed you as soon as you return. It's best to get it out of the way, sooner rather than later. Don't leave it until the end of your contract to settle any unpaid debts. 4. Is Your Contract Legal? Are you working illegally? You may have signed a contract, but what if you've yet to acquire the appropriate credentials to satisfy immigration, the department of labor and ministry of education? Your contract will be worthless and you could face some serious penalties. If your employer is holding off getting all of this sorted out for you and leaves you to sort it out yourself, or maybe is delaying sending you a copy of the contract - if you haven't left your home country yet - then something isn't right. Also, make sure you go through the contract with a fine toothed comb, looking for strange clauses and amendments. 5. Withholding Documents If the company has a thing about taking your original degree certificate, teaching certificates/licenses and passport and locking them away from you....then giving you vague excuses why, they could be trying to keep you hostage. They'll need your stuff when processing your visa and work permit....but that's it. Your passport belongs to your government and your documents belong to you. Make sure you get everything back in your possession. 6. Teaching Hours Find out exactly what your CONTACT and CONTRACT hours will be. You'll probably have to come in early, or stay late, to prepare lessons. The total number of weekly hours - as stated in your contract - will cover this time....and of course, you should be getting paid for it. CONTACT hours will be the time spent in the classroom, teaching lessons. Typical working hours for ESL jobs, including any prep time, range from 15 - 35 hours per week. Your contract should state a minimum guaranteed number of teaching hours. Any additional hours worked, will be considered overtime and at your choosing. Your contract should also state how much you'll be paid for working overtime and what their policy is. 7. Over Enthusiastic Recruiter and/or Employer It's nice to be nice.....but if you've suddenly developed a new best friend, it could be time for a bit of caution. Especially if they provide you with vague answers to your questions and fly through the interview and recruitment process...without much care or concern. The same goes for a lack of communication too. If your new boss doesn't speak English - or pretends not to - you could be in for some trouble. Especially when it's time for negotiations. He/she will drag a member of staff (probably a non teacher, who works at recruiting students and promoting the school) out of the office to act as an interpreter. Taking into account they are most likely scared of their boss, and powerless....they'll sit on the fence and do their best not to have a panic attack, while trying to mediate both parties. 8. Training and Orientation Ideally, you should be met at the airport, transported to your accommodation and shown around the school. You should then have anywhere up to a week of training, which should include classroom observations of experienced teachers. In your first few months you should receive ongoing evaluations, feedback and assistance. During your contract period you should be encouraged and provided with training courses and workshops to develop your career. If none of this is happening, it could be a sign that the school is more interested in making money, than taking care of it's staff and students. Starting one of my first ESL jobs, I landed in the country at about 6:30 am on a Saturday after a long flight. I was greeted at the airport and began the two hour journey to the school. I spent a couple of hours there....not really meeting anybody or finding out too much....because it was Saturday, and most staff were off. On to the apartment to grab a shower, a couple of hours sleep, and try to unpack some stuff. A ring on the doorbell came....two hours later, passing on the news - I had to go back to meet the boss and do a couple of lessons? "A couple of lessons" turned into five hours of teaching. I eventually managed to escape the building, hunt down a Burger King....and disconnect my doorbell. 9. Management How organized is the school? Do they have regular staff meetings, where important issues and changes are discussed? Or are you going to be in for surprises? How do they go about business? Your best source of information will be from fellow teachers working at the school. You can also ask them what the accommodation is like too. If the school won't let you contact existing staff....it's not good. 10. High Teacher Turnover The TEFL business is full of travelling teachers, so of course there's likely to be people coming and going....especially with so many ESL jobs on offer. But if a high number of good teachers are leaving their jobs before completing their contracts.....it could be because of problems. Find out why. 11. ESL jobs on the Internet and Reviews You can find hundreds of ESL jobs on the internet in no time at all. It's a great resource for teaching jobs overseas. But unfortunately, its also a great place for schools and recruitment agencies to stretch the truth and promote their ESL jobs to inexperienced and unsuspecting job hunters. It even goes to the extreme where I've heard of teachers being paid to give great reviews and write favourable accounts to prospective employees. 12. Materials What kind of materials and resources will be available to you? Some schools will provide you with internet access, stationary, good textbooks and photocopying facilities. some on the other hand, will guard paper and photocopying machines with their lives, use ancient books and cassettes and/or want you to create your own materials, curriculum and tests. This will mean, to have good lessons you'll have to dip into your own pocket and spare time. You'll probably want to use a lot of your own stuff anyway....but will the school pay for it? Good schools will listen to your recommendations on resources and order them in for you....plus pay the check too. As they say...."prevention is better than cure"....So I've put together an
ESL JOBS CHECKLIST
that will hopefully help you ask the right questions....before you take the plunge and accept that dream ESL job.
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