Beijing Foreign DOS/Teaching Manager Group
- Joined: Feb 27th, 2007
- Posts: 210
For a while I have been thinking about organizing a group/mailing list for the various teacher managers/DOS around Beijing for a number of different reasons. In the course of our duties we often encounter situations where advice/resources/information would be invaluable but there is very little available.
Here are some of the benefits I foresee:
If you need a specialized teacher for a part time gig but have no one on your books - you can send out a message and see if anyone can help you out.
You want to add a new clause to your Full Time contracts but you are not sure if it will work/how to word it – check if anyone has any input on it which might help you make your decision.
You get asked a question about VISAs for teachers which no one in your company can answer – send out the call and see if anyone has some input.
You get an application from a teacher who used to work at a school another group member runs. Instant experience confirmation and possible recommendations/warnings.
Need to find some part time work – check if anyone in group has anything going.
You want to know if anyone has used a particular curriculum/books – find out if anyone has and even get recommendations for better options.
In creating this kind of group, we would take the first steps in moving towards a connected industry which could act as a platform for helping teachers avoid cons/traps and rip offs in the future. It would make our jobs easier and require very little effort. Having another resource at hand which would help in so many ways would be invaluable which is why I propose the creation of this group.
If you are interested, please send me a PM
StanfordEnglish
Re: Beijing Foreign DOS/Teaching Manager Group
I can definitely see a benefit to this. We come across a large number of CV's and people who I don't know where to place. Either that or I have no immediate work for them, though I'm sure they're great trainers and would be ideal for some situations I can't offer at the moment. This is not a slight. Whether the reason is schedule-based, experience-based or locality-based, some trainers fit into other companies better, and everyone looks better by helping each other. This should extend our reach with very little effort.
americanizedbrit
Re: Beijing Foreign DOS/Teaching Manager Group
Interested. Please send details
alwn1708
Re: Beijing Foreign DOS/Teaching Manager Group
Please tell us this will not become a circulated 'blacklist' of teachers should they p*ss a DOS off!
I can certainly see the benefits as a communication tool but have a nasty feeling it could be misused,sorry!
Life is like a jar of jalapenos,what you do today might burn your ass tomorrow
Bannoy
Re: Beijing Foreign DOS/Teaching Manager Group
It won't. It could no more be a blacklist than the entire employment field in the UK/USA where references and checking up on people is the norm. In fact it would actually help protect Foreign teachers.
As a habit I check people's backgrounds/qualifications etc when hiring. There are many people who lie on their CVs here because they know no one will ever find out. Personally I have learnt that if you contact a random manager at a random school where someone has left, the report with often be bad as they would have fallen out with the school because they left.
Being able to get referrals from other managers who you know through this mailing list, you will be able to get a more accurate impression.
i.e. I know Manager A, he is a bit of a hot head so I should probably take it with a pinch of salt.
This would be no more a blacklist than the normal situation in the west. When I was working in finance, my HR manager always told me that if he gets a CV from someone and he is interested, he would always ask people in his network about the applicant because once you hire someone, firing them is VERY difficult in the UK without a concrete reason with evidence.
In our current industry there is no system for this, and all you get is maybe a short interview and demo to find out what this guy/girl will be like to work with. Firing them is easy but the fallout tends to be bad - changing teachers never goes down well for clients, finding a replacement which is better to ease the transition, and the occasional death threats from the teacher.
"You don;t like me talking about my sex life to my students (teenagers)? Well f**k you, if I ever see you again you are dead!" Seriously, that actually happened.
Oh, and that function was only a small part of the bigger objective, in fact teachers would get more work from it as the members could openly exchange referrals. I would not recommend one of my teachers for a 150 an hour gig at a backwaters school, I would only do so if the pay was good and the company reputable. It would actually help teachers avoid having to sift through the sewage on the classifieds looking for good work.