Thoughts On A Job Post #12

I’m back yet again with a new job post and my thoughts on it. As usual, I’ve omitted details so that this ad is not immediately identifiable. The purpose of this is to share the thoughts of an experienced teacher (me) – who’s found her own jobs before – on a random job ad. I don’t mean to slam nor endorse this ad…you should, of course, investigate any job you’re interested in thoroughly and not rely totally on the comments of someone else. Even if it’s me. For more of these, see the Finding A Job Table of Contents.

XYZ ACADEMY, located in 7 areas in Major City, is seeking qualified NATIVE SPEAKING English teachers, preferably already residing in this city. [this could be a turn off, of course, if you’re abroad, but it could be a good sign that they want to meet you. Or it could mean they need someone so desperately they don’t want to wait for someone to relocate. Hard to know.]
Teachers will be responsible for preparation, delivery and evaluation of English courses for General English; Business English and TOEFL IBT classes. Cmputer literacy [oops] (Windows and Office applications)is preferred although training can be provided in our centre.

Qualifications
Preference will be given to applicants who
– have B.A. in TEFL
or B.A. in Social Sciences with a TEFL certificate [I’m a bit surprised that they want social science – perhaps this should be the more general Liberal Arts?]
– have CALL experience
– have employment histories in this country for at least one year
– put emphasis on multimedia and social interaction in the teaching process
[I think these are very reasonable criteria, and it’s a good sign that they mention these. Of course, this doesn’t mean they won’t hire people who don’t have them, but the fact that they look for these things is good.]

Compensation
Working environment:
All classrooms are air-conditioned and equipped with LCD screen removable PCs with internet connection 7/24, CD-ROM, a data projector, sound system [wow…just find out if there are enough computers for students – if so – not bad at all!]
Teachers’ Room is also equipped with 10-15 computers with access to the Internet; [very nice] a laminating machine, a lot of resources [good that they mention resources; I’d want to see which ones – and ensure that they are not merely class sets of unused textbooks]
Call or send your CV/Resume to (email address)

We offer:
-Satisfactory salary based on 12 months [“based on 12 months” is worth a few questions – what exactly does this mean?]
-All public and national holidays off as observed by local staff, and 14 day paid holiday [not bad for this region]
– Basic Medical Insurance
– Bonus for high-performance followed through students’ questionnaires [this can be good or bad, see my upcoming post on student feedback]
– The hourly rate is A to B depending on academic background and work experience. [fair enough; as accommodation is never mentioned, it would be wise to check other ads to see how this compares. I’m no expert on the city in question, but it sure is large; I would also ask about location and public transport since this is not mentioned either. As good as it all sounds, note that there are a couple of important things they do not mention: number of hours per week/month, whether there are split shifts (leading me to believe yes there are), and whether the school can help with accommodation (it’s certainly not included if it’s not mentioned, and I’d also guess they are not willing to help…perhaps that’s why they want people already living there)].