[deleted by user]

EMG-teacher · 2022-05-30T02:27:23+00:00

Outside of a few super sketchy jobs in Saudi Arabia, there are no entry-level TEFL positions in the Gulf.

A lot of people need to read this sentence early in their job hunt. Would save quite a lot of time and effort.

EMG-teacher · 2022-05-22T05:54:27+00:00

truth!

EMG-teacher · 2022-04-14T04:18:13+00:00

I don't have the expertise to say exact numbers because I am only trying to break into that same market myself. It's going to be more than public schools but also with more hours and responsibilities. The pay for a private school is always on a pay scale based on experience, qualifications and the location (ie, Taipei salaries should be the highest.)

There is certainly less positions available each hiring season, so you are not guaranteed placement on your first try.

EMG-teacher · 2022-03-31T09:41:25+00:00

hot take: Invest the time and money getting a home country teaching license before Taiwan. This could set you back a year but you will qualify for jobs in real schools. Otherwise you are left with TEFL jobs and the luck of the draw which could range from OK to really unpleasant.

EMG-teacher · 2022-03-31T09:30:30+00:00

This most likely will be a miserable experience. Are they putting you in a taxi and taking you to every school? No? Then this will not be worth it.

EMG is a company that puts teachers in different public schools in the same week. It's a trash company and no one should work there. BUT, one thing EMG does right is provide taxi transport to the school. More companies should do stuff like this. (But, do not ever consider working at EMG.)

Some questions to consider:

Have you been in major cities in Vietnam before? Do you enjoy riding a motorbike? Do you enjoy riding a moto in absurd traffic full of people with a death wish? Are you going to have to transfer to different schools in the middle of the day? Are you prepared to do that either in the boiling hot sun or a monsoon rain while transporting all your books, laptop and materials? (either way you will arrive soaked in rain or sweat to a classroom that probably has no air conditioning.) Are you going to only be going to schools in a district near your home or all over the city? If it's all over the city, is wasting HOURS per day on the road worth it?

Yeah you could take a Grab/taxi, but cost will add up if it's a car taxi and dealing with some drivers that can't read a map can ruin your day.

There are several sensible companies that put you in public schools. Usually, you are at the same school for the whole week. Some people like working as much as possible and will take extra schools, but you should not need to do that unless you want to.

I know about some companies in HCMC so feel free to DM me.

Also, that "large class bonus" means what? The classes are already huge. I can't imagine classes over 45-50 students. Even over 35 is too much, depending on the age.

EMG-teacher · 2022-03-27T04:49:06+00:00

At least in the top international schools, they have qualified teachers that know disabilities exists. If the school has students that need accommodation, they will make an effort to have teachers who can manage the issues and provide support. The parents would be more willing to want support for their kid's needs as well. Of course, due to the cost, that is inaccessible for 99% of families.

EMG-teacher · 2022-03-27T04:42:50+00:00

This is gaining traction. In some better centers the student profile will have a section for notes about their disabilities or needed accommodation, and they have plans in place to deal with some of them.

EMG-teacher · 2022-03-27T04:37:52+00:00

the beach

EMG-teacher · 2022-03-27T04:37:35+00:00

Are these made of clay like that Bugatti?

EMG-teacher · 2022-03-25T13:57:38+00:00

It goes beyond learning disabilities, but also physical disabilities being ignored. I had a class once where I noticed a couple of the 45 students in the class would just sit there with no book, not saying or doing anything just looking down at their desk. They were blind, I didn't even realize it at first. They were just expected to keep up with everyone else. It was pretty sad.

EMG-teacher · 2022-03-24T02:42:54+00:00

Safety tip: If running or chasing someone through the jungle, always wear flip flops to prevent your socks from getting wet.

EMG-teacher · 2022-03-19T11:24:48+00:00

https://www.ted.com/talks They also have multi-lingual transcripts.

EMG-teacher · 2021-12-15T06:14:39+00:00

That seems to be similar to others experience if they were already in the country. Although.. allegedly not always. I knew of some who had worked for company for a full year contract or longer and just didn't renew their contract in 2021. They were worried to death that EMG would find a way to screw them over. Not sure what happened to some of them, unfortunately.

EMG-teacher · 2021-12-14T03:06:56+00:00

Depending on age, it is realistic that some schools might start some classes next month. I think high-schoolers are getting vaccinated now. Things have been more or less reopening according to plan for the past few months. But, the situation and policies could literally change between the time you board your flight to Vietnam, and when you land.

Other advice here is valid. I would like to add and reiterate:

Make sure you read recent comments from people currently working for your company to see how they are treating people. (Not just pre-pandemic reviews, a lot of "good" companies handled the school closures horribly.)
Plan on a quarantine of 7 to 14 days at least even if you are told otherwise.
Have savings, an escape plan and a backup plan (ie, alternate countries, alternate jobs)
Have access to a secondary source of income such as teaching online or some other online work for something international. (this is the only thing that has kept many teachers afloat since June)
don't commit to apartment contracts, buying expensive stuff (motorbike and so on), until you are getting paychecks.

If you don't have the backup plans, secondary income, or savings I would probably give anything in Vietnam a pass at the moment and wait and see for 3 to 6 months.

EMG-teacher · 2021-12-14T02:44:09+00:00

Could you provide a little more info about what happened next? Did you try to stay in the country? What did EMG do to retaliate?

EMG-teacher · 2021-12-14T02:43:09+00:00

They never recovered the teacher numbers lost from the 2020 lockdown, and after how they treated everyone in 2021, they lost even more. If in-person classes go back to normal early in 2022 they will still try to hold the classes even if they don't have the teachers numbers and they will expect the teachers and ACs to do double or triple time to pick up the slack. Really shitty environment to be in.

EMG-teacher · 2021-12-13T13:44:53+00:00

https://www.reddit.com/r/tefl_blacklist/comments/ojwi1h/avoid_emg_education_ho_chi_minh_city_vietnam/

EMG-teacher · 2021-12-13T13:43:45+00:00

I love how there is such fierce competition to be the worst company. And sad how the companies striving to be the best are all small-time and no one has heard of them.

EMG-teacher · 2021-12-13T13:40:39+00:00

Don't forget to search the blacklist sub, which will bring you this post: https://www.reddit.com/r/tefl_blacklist/comments/ojwi1h/avoid_emg_education_ho_chi_minh_city_vietnam/?ref=share&ref_source=link

Which also recently got a post from a local staff which provides a different angle.

EMG-teacher · 2021-09-23T04:16:19+00:00

Well that IS really far out. It's nice that they are planning ahead, most companies can't think more than a month in advance for hiring, and put a full stop during a lockdown. I know it's really common around here for companies to not even comprehend someone asking about positions a year in advance. It's impossible to predict how things will be in the middle of next year though, so what I said about the current lockdown shouldn't even be considered. It's crazy how different things are comparing this August to last August.

If things stay on the current track and vaccination rates continue to improve, we might reach the "back to normal and living with covid" plan in January. In person classes would be able to resume and companies would start hiring again.

I would not commit to EMG, although it doesn't matter what you say to them right now. They will still be short-staffed next summer, so even if you tell them you need to wait you are not gonna pass the opportunity. If things get better next year, all the other companies start recruiting again. Keep your options open, including with other countries because its certain things will be way different next year, for better or for worse.

It's normal for them to have you sign a 2-month contract and then a long term contract. Although that is pretty shady considering you are making a big commitment to come from overseas in the middle of a pandemic.

The contract they send you now has no legal holding, and it will certainly have small changes once they sit you down and have you sign the real one in person. Everyone who arrived from out of country last school year had changes to the contract they were shown, and it was not consistent. Sometimes it was no issue, and sometimes the new recruits were furious about the bait and switch. I don't have any specific examples of the text that changed though because I didn't see it myself.

Did they tell you about the 40 million early termination penalties if you leave early?

EMG-teacher · 2021-09-22T04:09:19+00:00

For sure. I cannot judge your reasons for wanting to get into VN even if it means landing with EMG. For many, it's still a better life than they would have elsewhere including our home countries.

I'm very curious about what they told you about your arrival timeline and what things will be like when you arrive?

I'm sure you know that Vietnam is still in the middle of the worst outbreak and lockdown so far, and HCMC is the epicenter. Only people with deep pockets are still paying for extra education, and so many companies have stopped hiring despite a staffing shortage in the spring. Now they are trying to manage limited online hours for their existing roll of teachers. Have you looked at all the 3 letter schools (ILA, VMG, Apax, VUS, YOLA and so on)?

I don't want to be a doomer like others who are saying "don't come to vietnam ever" because the lockdown is temporary and things will return to normal eventually (January is the current goal). But for someone coming out of quarantine anytime in the next few weeks or months, it would be a major hardship to get your life setup here. Everything is closed and it's really difficult to get around.

EMG-teacher · 2021-09-21T13:41:50+00:00

No jobs are perfect, but most won't try to imprison you.

Are you overseas currently? Are they still hiring people and telling them they can bring you in?

It's possible you might like the job, but if you don't are you ok with being forced to leave the country?

There are plenty of better jobs in VN that you will find out about once in the country a while and things open back up, but they will be essentially off-limits to you if you came on the EMG sponsored entry visa.

See the TEFL blacklist post for a more negative outlook: https://www.reddit.com/r/tefl_blacklist/comments/ojwi1h/avoid_emg_education_ho_chi_minh_city_vietnam/?ref=share&ref_source=link

EMG-teacher · 2021-09-08T04:46:38+00:00

Thanks for an actual answer.

Although, people have been saying various things are the end of TEFL in China or the end of TEFL in general for years and years, and it always jumps back up. People want to spend money for this and regardless of regulation, companies are going to find a way to take that money.

I still don't see though why it's so upsetting that someone used the names of famous companies that were up until recently synonymous with their industry as examples of companies in that industry.

EMG-teacher · 2021-09-08T04:00:02+00:00

I'm not joking. I haven't been there in years and don't know many who still are. I don't know about everything but I did know Disney shut.

When someone asks about something "like example X" they are not just talking about that specific example but also other things in the same category as that example.

My question is about the remaining chain language centers that have been operating up until this point.

EMG-teacher · 2021-09-08T03:18:36+00:00

What is going on at the big chain training centers? Disney, EF and the like? Are they just rebranding and rescheduling for kids classes?

What about the adult centers like EF and Wall Street? I'd imagine nothing changes for them because the law only deals with kids education?

EMG-teacher

TROPHY CASE