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Q: Does English First require a reference letter from my previous job?
What if I have no experience and i can't prove them i have teaching experience?
5 years 35 weeks ago in Visa & Legalities - China
When I was looking for my first teaching job I remember seeing an EF job I thought would be perfect for me, and then feeling dejected because they asked for previous teaching references and I had none.
Knowing what I know now, I'd say do what Icnif says and just go ahead and apply. Every school is different, it's hard to find teachers and let's just say a lot of the EF schools aren't in any position to be picky. They need people, usually sooner rather than later and I doubt the previous teaching references are a requirement they get too fussy about.
Also knowing what I know now, I'm happy as hell I didn't get a job at EF. There are a lot of better options out there.
Send them CV and they will tell you what you need.
icnif77:
I can't c&p mine, so I'll describe it:
Release letter is written entirely in Chinese, except your name and date of birth.
A4 paper format with big red official stamp and signature of the Leader on the bottom.
See this web link on how Release letter in China looks like:
http://www.icaltefl.com/release-letter-china
When I was looking for my first teaching job I remember seeing an EF job I thought would be perfect for me, and then feeling dejected because they asked for previous teaching references and I had none.
Knowing what I know now, I'd say do what Icnif says and just go ahead and apply. Every school is different, it's hard to find teachers and let's just say a lot of the EF schools aren't in any position to be picky. They need people, usually sooner rather than later and I doubt the previous teaching references are a requirement they get too fussy about.
Also knowing what I know now, I'm happy as hell I didn't get a job at EF. There are a lot of better options out there.
They are a good company. If you have the right paperwork you will get a job and succeed there
Yauster:
I have read the reviews on glassdoor.com and others on websites. They have mixed reviews both of positive and negative. Is this is really a good company?
kmcgeary:
If you don't have a reference letter, then maybe offer to give them a demo class.
Online reviews are to be taken with a pinch of salt as it may just be someone trying to destroy their reputation. I only know one person who had a bad experience with EF, and that was when he was fired for sending suggestive late-night text messages to a female student.
Stiggs:
EF is a franchise so every branch would have different management, some might be ok, some terrible.
From what I remember reading about them though the teachers work long hours compared to similar type schools and I don't think the salaries are very good.
If you're interested in a particular school and you're ok with the contract I'd ask the school for contact emails for the other teachers there and ask them how it is there.
RandomGuy:
EF is a good employer, I've been working with them for many years, sent hundreds of teachers, very few had any complaint about EF. Wall Street is also a good employer.
Other big chains to avoid however are Web and Meten. The biggest difference being that EF and Wall Street have parent companies overseas, while Web and Meten are shoddy 100% Chinese owned businesses with all the usual nonsense and f*ckery going on in Chinese companies.
kmcgeary:
RandomGuy is probably right.
I no longer live in China and haven't been an English teacher since 2010, but in 2009 when nobody was getting visas in the post-Olympic hangover, both Web and Meten were subjected to police raids. A bunch of foreign teachers from Meten were rounded up, taken away in a police van, and given a severe warning. EF and Wall Street had no such problems.
