Posted by
Sue3871
18 yrs ago
Hi,
Would appreciate any professional advice on the above subject.
I am a Postgraduate with a TEFL certificate (acquired online) and am desperately trying to get a NET job.
I have tutored some non-native kids and have thoroughly enjoyed it hence would like to pursue this line.
I applied to the EMB and also other education houses without much luck.
Can somebody tell what I am doing wrong. I am Asian.
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99
18 yrs ago
Do you have any teaching qualifications?
Did your TEFL Cert include classroom teaching practice? If not I would guess that the problem is you don't have much teaching experience and/or qualifications.
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xox
18 yrs ago
Is English your first language? What's your accent like?
What's your Postgraduate degreein?
EMB is desparate for more NETS although is not a very satisfying or enjoyable job for most NETs. Many Chinese schools like western looking NETs and use it as a form of advertising. However there are some schools out there that have employed American or Canadian Chinese NETs.
Good luck!
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Thanks for the quick replies. Like I mentioned I did an Online course which does not include practical teaching.
As for my accent, I was raised in one of the big metros. of India hence have a British accent and my pg is in accountancy.
How can I get experience?
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xox
18 yrs ago
I think the online course that you completed may not be approved by EMB. Why don't you ring them and find out if they will accept it? They're probably on holidays until next Monday, so maybe call them there.
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99
18 yrs ago
You will find it very diffult to get work as a NET in a school. Even if a school is willing to hire you privately, the school will have to have your qualifications and experience assessed independently and then approved by the EMB. The problem there is your teaching cert - which was done online and your degree is not related to teaching.
Most ed institutes require a TEFL Cert with teaching practice (RSA/Cambridge or Trinity). You may have to look at the smaller language schools to get some experience and think about getting some extra qualifications if you want to pursue this as a career.
Good luck.
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ldavy
18 yrs ago
From letters of complaint I've read in the SCMP over the years, it seems that a number of schools in Hong Kong will not accept that anyone who's Asian can also be a native English-speaker, therefore they won't consider them as NETs.
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Todge
18 yrs ago
Go here:
http://www.emb.gov.hk/index.aspx?nodeid=1301&langno=1
It tells you what you need to be a NET in order of importance. You can work out what category you are, then guess your chances of employment.
As you can see it depends on you undergrad major and postgrad area of study. If neither are in English/Education - you are about category 7, the lowest - actually even lower as it still requires a year's teaching experience.
I only know this as I had a very good friend decide he wanted to come and work in Hong Kong. I did some checking for him. He wasn't qualified and didn't even bother to apply.
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the whole NET scheme - very very tricky.
I have an undergraduate degree in English literature from a top US university.
I have a Masters in Education from Stanford.
I had 7 years of teaching experience in US schools PLUS I was certified to teach ESL or EFL by the state of California.
I have a perfect North American accent.
I didn't care if I taught in a Band 3 or Band 1 school - in fact - I preferred the lower banded school for reasons of equity. (many NETS I was told prefer the higher banded schools.)
I had STELLAR recommendation letters from my former principals who thought I was a top notch teacher.
AND during my interview I was asked questions such as "Where were you born?" (seoul Korea)
"How long have you lived away from your birth country? (literally all my life -immigrated when I was 7 months old)
and I was told, in a very condescending manner, my accent was "charming and refreshing" (since it was North American and not British evidently) and this was asked by a woman who had a very heavy hong kong English accent - not a pure British Accent which is preferred
They asked me very many condescending questions, and by the time it came around to asking me if I wanted to be a part of the NET program, I politely declined. I found a much better position teaching through one of the many language institutes in HK - and I ended up teaching at a great primary school and had a wonderful year. The school loved me, wanted me back and it was a great experience.
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Thank you everyone for your thoughts and experiences shared here. I appreciate it.
To hkchoichoi which language institute did you approach. Can you share some names please.
Thanks
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I just found postings in SCMP - and I interviewed at a number of them. For many, they thought I was overqualified and asked why I didn't want to be a NET - and for some, they thought my Korean face was to be a negative. But finally one thought it was a good investment - they worked REALLY hard to keep me but I eventually left. BE careful with the language institutes - it's not always the best job.
the one I originally worked for is called Language Tree. I have no idea if they are still around. (it's been 5 years.)
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thank you very much hkchoichoi
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