- Deceptive; the initial ‘training’ at the beginning is actually not training at all, it’s an assessment period. The management has you do a song and dance and the most outgoing and charismatic people are placed in the good schools; those who are less charismatic get placed in the bad schools. Even after the training, project managers are constantly assessing you and writing reports on you (which they don’t tell you about).
- Unprofessional; Facebook is used as a means of gaining personal information about you. Do not let any of the Project management team (PMT) add you. Second year positions are chosen based on how much the PMT like you, not on how well you do your job. Also lead members of the PMT will not hesitate to say bad things about you behind your back. To quote one of the directors (when placing people in a bad school): “its ok, that school has no expectations; we could place xyz in there and they would love it!”
- Unfair; some people will be working constantly for 8h+ per day and will (possibly) have to work on weekends to catch up; others will be watching YouTube videos all day because there is nothing to do. Primary and Secondary programs get way more holidays than post-secondary (but they will tell you “everyone works the same hours in the end”, which is a lie) and everyone gets the same pay.
Advice to Management
- The management in this company is honestly the worst I have ever seen. None of the management has any formal training in management and it shows. They claim to be all about supporting the new teachers, but after the first semester you will probably never hear from them again, as they are busy recruiting new teachers for the upcoming year by this time. They also have an incredibly arrogant nature; by the end of the year you will have just as much teaching experience as any of the PMT, yet they think they can ‘train’ you on how to be a teacher. Furthermore, there is no self-analysis within the PMT; they are quick to blame teachers and schools for all the problems in their organisation, yet there is never any discussion about improving their own poor performance.
- In response to the previous comment about things hopefully getting better under the new CEO; even he realised that this company is hopeless. He quit after his seventh month in office. *I actually left before this happened but know who it was. Poor over qualified man.
If you are an British Born Asian, prepare to be ostracized by the entire organization. Never-mind the similar faced students aged 18-24 which I was placed with in the far depths of the north west corner of the region. The requirements of this ‘job’ do not match with the needs of the students. Especially VTC students. A grand palace of a CILL (Centre for independent language learning) does not simply equip you with the resources to actually help the youth of HK today so stop placing emphasis on that. Instead, strive to improve certain aspects of their journey towards learning the English Language that will actually be useful towards their assignments, important exams like IELTS and ultimately their careers, not silly games and ‘outreach’. Empower them to do well in life through English Language conversations on topics of their interest and by getting to know them not forcing them to play condescending games involving pen and paper. Get to the point and treat them like college/university students, not kids.
From my perspective, the organization has helped me build character so I could quickly find out what I wanted to do next. Had I not gone through it and left early, I wouldn’t be in the position I am today so thank you. I’d also like to thank you for giving me an opportunity to help one of the students with their IELTS and land him a placement at a law firm.
Advice to graduates? This is no graduate scheme. Take your life seriously and explore international career options that bring value to your career as well as others, through the work that you do. If HK looks appealing, then do it right, not through this glorified gap year excuse of a ‘grad scheme’.
