Reproduced and edited with kind permission from Thailand's major TESOL website.
What recruiters thought about your application and how you behaved at the interview.
Twenty-five recruiters took part in a survey . Here is a selection of their answers and comments.
Part 1 : Applications, Part 2: The Interview, Part 3 : Recruiter Comments , Part 4 : EDBA Summary, Part 5 : Essential Reading, Part 6 : Discussions
What percentage of those e-mails are from native speakers and non-native speakers respectively?
80-20 in favor of non-native speakers, even though we specify 'native-speakers only'.
About 60 % of my e mails come from what I would call not non native speakers. This time I have mentioned the countries by name and I still get e mails from people who live in the Philippines.
Filipinos 50% Native 40% Other 10%
About 70% have been non-native speakers, 30% native speakers
I received about 40 percent of the above 100 emails. About 55 percent of that were from Filipino (arguably native speakers) and the rest I’ll classify as other.
...about half of the responses are from non-native English speakers even though we specifically say native born, native English speaking applicants. Most are Filipino.
40% come from native English-speakers and 60% come from Filipinos and Indians
How many teachers actually get called for an interview?
Nakhon Si Thammarat is along way from Bangkok and we are asking people to spend three days to come down on the train, have a look around, have an interview and go home. It is a 15 hour train trip on way . So we limit the number of people we ask. If we have two people for the same job we are lucky. Two is enough because this town is not exactly on the top 10 of the most sought after places. If we get two that sound good I am happy – but sometimes we only get one. But we don’t settle for anyone. We would rather wait than lower our standards.
1, 2 or 3
only 3 or 4 - those who meet all the requirements and/or have outstanding CVs. Applicants who call have a much better chance
Everyone who meets our requirements is offered a chance to set up an interview appointment..
We try to interview all those who fit our requirements
What kind of e-mail responses if any, annoy you the most?
A lot of Filipinos especially send huge attachments that take forever to open. In many cases I have to forget them.
There are really three groups that annoy us -
1.non-native speakers who can't read the job ad properly,
2. tyre-kickers who are just testing the water and have no intention of working anywhere,
3. and finally people from overseas looking for a sponsored trip.
...we would like non-native speakers to take note of our ad when it clearly states something like 'native speakers only need apply for this position'. Similarly, we would like unqualified applicants to take note when we state something like 'applicants must hold at least a TEFL certificate from a recognized school or college'
What annoys me the most? The number of people who can’t write a resume. It is unbelievable some of the rubbish I get.
Those that ignore the specified criteria/apply for every job regardless.
Any from people who don't meet the requirements listed in the ad, and ones that have a long list of demanding questions without giving any details about the potential applicant.
Large wordy emails with excessive attachments.
How do teachers let themselves down at interviews?
They come with no teaching qualification and give very vague reasons as to why they've only worked at many schools for such a short time.
- poor personal hygiene (some teachers actually stink), bad attitude towards Thai people (they'll upset the receptionist even before they get to the interview room), asking for more money (often rudely).
... it is either appearance or attitude related. We need teachers who have an interest in their work and performance, rather than a single and strong interest in trying to receive a high reward package for the least effort on their part. The better applicants are always well prepared, and have a professional interest in the requirements of the teaching position.
It is important to present yourself well at an interview. We are not looking for someone who can talk for a half hour on the latest educational theories ... but we are looking for a warm intelligent body that will do his / her fair share , care about his job, care about the students and get on with everyone.
Eye contact is important. Look at the people you are talking to. Be honest and sincere. After a while you get a feel for people who will do the job and those who will not be able to cope.
lack of attention to dress/over-sell themselves/set their own conditions
By not being prepared to demonstrate their knowledge/ability
Demanding teachers that are not flexible and patient will not turn out to be good employees This is often sensed at an interview..
We still get applicants who come in inappropriate dress, without resumes etc.
Do you shy away from personal callers and feel that e-mail applications are the best for you?
Yes, definitely.
We'll interview walk-ins if one of the senior staff is around.
Personal callers are welcome, but it must be by prior appointment. We usually instruct those who were initially personal callers to email their resumes to us after visiting our school, and include a cover letter mentioning that visit.
No I welcome phone calls. You can quickly sort the sheep from the goats by talking to someone, even on the phone. But I still want to see resumes via the internet before I arrange interviews.
emails are better to make a shortlist
No - I prefer personal callers, and ask them to forward a CV/photo by e-mail after arranging an interview. Checking e-mails is time-consuming, especially when you've advertised for native speakers only and have to wade through dozens of non-native applications. I can see the benefits of e-mail applications, but they don't suit a small language school like us.
It is easier and more efficient to determine suitability by perusing the information they have provided, ie cover letter and resume than it is to determine that in conversation over the phone.
If we are in the office we are pleased to interview walk ins. It gives us a chance to thank the Filipino's for coming but explaining that we have nothing to offer them.
"I have had an advert running on this site for some time now, and the advert states;
If you are suitably qualified, and would like to be part of a professional and dedicated team, please send a cover letter and a detailed CV with a current photo. And at least two professional references to ……
It appears that people do not read the adverts!!
Out of about 100 applications only 6 people have managed to apply correctly.
Out of about 100 applications I have had only 7 Falang. ( most of which were not qualified! )"
"It's better than last year. At an advert for 4 teachers, 2 for an EP and 2 for the regular program, we had 357 applicants. 9 were western, the others were from the Philippines. Lucky as we were, we succeeded to find 4 good teachers."
"as for people not reading the job adverts - me thinks 100's of fillipino teachers just email EVERY job advert without reading the it! The few farangs left know you will be desperate (soon) and try their luck anyway."
"...we consider their first contact to be part of the application process and judge accordingly. We ask for a CV, not a letter of fishing around or a link to an online form. People who cannot read and comprehend a simple ad are clearly not worth our time."
"I'm referring to the people who use the Ajarn.com "click to send CV" function but can't be bothered to send, at the absolute minimum, a cover letter. All that shows up in our mailbox is a badly formatted letter telling me to chase down a link to find the lazy idiot's CV."
"...I ask interested parties to do something. They do something else. As a result, they get relegated to the second tier, the tier for people who cannot follow simple instructions. We're happier with the teachers we've been hiring: they can read.
EDBA is the largest provider of independent education in Thailand and politely declined the offer to take part in the above survey. EDBA recruiters have the following experience:
- Not following the specific instructions in the job ads (target candidates, qualifications, application methods)
- People just testing the recruiting process
- Candidates not dressed correctly for an interview
- Candidates not correctly prepared for interview
- NELC welcomes'walk-ins' but the DoS may not be available, or there may be no vacancies at the time.
- Candidates presenting fake degrees.
An EDBA recruiting campaign receives up to 1,000 applications. It would be impossible to short-list these manually. The on-line application form has proved to be a reliable solution. Behind the form is a sophisticated programme which automatically selects and forwards interview-worthy applications. Since using this system, now in its fifth year, most of the applicants who are interviewed are offered a job, and they usually accept.
5. ESSENTIAL READING: To find out how you can significantly improve your chances of being selected, click HERE
6. DISCUSSION: To discuss this article, click HERE
Nittayo English Language Centre
meet the NELC teachers
NELC location
Joseph Upatham School
Joseph Upatham Thai web site
JS Bilingual Section
Education Department of Bangkok Archdiocese
EDBA Thai web site
Pastoral Training Centre
Tesol Discussions
Academic Services for Schools
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