I know that it has been a month since I posted anything. I have a solid reason: I've been applying for TEFL jobs and I wanted to go through the initial process before I published to the world (that is small on this blog, but I am hoping to change that) about the results.
So, in my last installment about gathering documents I wrote about writing a cover email. At the time (it is hard to believe that it was a month ago already) I was getting ready to send my stuff into Gold Star recruiting for jobs in Shenzhen, China. Now, I can tell you definitively how that all worked out.
I sent my email with the documents and got an automatic response that Aidan Wang (one of the recruiters) was out of the office. No biggie. I just needed to wait for a few more days. A couple of days later I get an actual email from Aidan with two attachments for jobs. One job was in Beijing and the other was in Shanghai. Both were with schools that I have never heard of. The job in Shanghai looked absolutely amazing, so I was all gung-ho about that one. The Beijing job sounded good, but I am not interested in teaching there because of the high levels of pollution.
[I know, I know. Shanghai is also polluted, but I've had people who have been to China tell me that Shanghai is better because it is on the coast and the winds help churn the air about. Beijing doesn't get the same and I am not a fan of high pollution without some chance that it will be able to blown out once in awhile.]
Anyway, I emailed him back that I was interested in applying for both jobs, even though I am more interested in jobs in the southern half of China. I also asked him about Shenzhen since he never responded to the fact that I applied for jobs there specifically. Fast forward another day (blasted time difference). I get two emails. Aidan responded that there weren't any jobs available in Shenzhen at the moment and would get back to me if there were any openings. The second email was a bit more exciting: it was from the school in Shanghai! (And from now on, I will refer to it as SSBS...we will get to more on that later.) The Foreign Affairs Office at SSBS had received my resume from Aidan and wanted a cover letter that detailed why I wanted the job with them. Immediately I pulled up my cover letter and tailored it to SSBS. [Yay for being prepared!!] I had it off to them within hours, even though there is a 14 hour time difference and I couldn't do a darn thing about that. But if they looked at the time stamp on the email they would see my initiative, maybe?
A couple of days later I got another email from SSBS. **Wootsauce** I GET INVITED TO A SKYPE INTERVIEW! What what! I was so stoked that I immediately emailed back on my phone. I was also in the car on the way to a baby shower, so there may or may not have been a slight typo.
[Word of advice: calm down a bit before I write the email back.]
[And another word of advice, check you time difference carefully! This will come into play a bit later in my story.]
I set up the Skype interview to be 9am CST (Chinese Standard Time) on Monday. **hm hm** Yep, that is when I should have checked. It was about four days away, so I had time to prepare well.
I cannot tell you how many sites I looked at about prepping for a TEFL interview via Skype. I read blogs, looked at recruiter's website, the whole nine yards. Possibly ten yards. It was a lot of reading. To help you along, here are a few points that really helped me:
So, in my last installment about gathering documents I wrote about writing a cover email. At the time (it is hard to believe that it was a month ago already) I was getting ready to send my stuff into Gold Star recruiting for jobs in Shenzhen, China. Now, I can tell you definitively how that all worked out.
I sent my email with the documents and got an automatic response that Aidan Wang (one of the recruiters) was out of the office. No biggie. I just needed to wait for a few more days. A couple of days later I get an actual email from Aidan with two attachments for jobs. One job was in Beijing and the other was in Shanghai. Both were with schools that I have never heard of. The job in Shanghai looked absolutely amazing, so I was all gung-ho about that one. The Beijing job sounded good, but I am not interested in teaching there because of the high levels of pollution.
[I know, I know. Shanghai is also polluted, but I've had people who have been to China tell me that Shanghai is better because it is on the coast and the winds help churn the air about. Beijing doesn't get the same and I am not a fan of high pollution without some chance that it will be able to blown out once in awhile.]
Anyway, I emailed him back that I was interested in applying for both jobs, even though I am more interested in jobs in the southern half of China. I also asked him about Shenzhen since he never responded to the fact that I applied for jobs there specifically. Fast forward another day (blasted time difference). I get two emails. Aidan responded that there weren't any jobs available in Shenzhen at the moment and would get back to me if there were any openings. The second email was a bit more exciting: it was from the school in Shanghai! (And from now on, I will refer to it as SSBS...we will get to more on that later.) The Foreign Affairs Office at SSBS had received my resume from Aidan and wanted a cover letter that detailed why I wanted the job with them. Immediately I pulled up my cover letter and tailored it to SSBS. [Yay for being prepared!!] I had it off to them within hours, even though there is a 14 hour time difference and I couldn't do a darn thing about that. But if they looked at the time stamp on the email they would see my initiative, maybe?
A couple of days later I got another email from SSBS. **Wootsauce** I GET INVITED TO A SKYPE INTERVIEW! What what! I was so stoked that I immediately emailed back on my phone. I was also in the car on the way to a baby shower, so there may or may not have been a slight typo.
[Word of advice: calm down a bit before I write the email back.]
[And another word of advice, check you time difference carefully! This will come into play a bit later in my story.]
I set up the Skype interview to be 9am CST (Chinese Standard Time) on Monday. **hm hm** Yep, that is when I should have checked. It was about four days away, so I had time to prepare well.
I cannot tell you how many sites I looked at about prepping for a TEFL interview via Skype. I read blogs, looked at recruiter's website, the whole nine yards. Possibly ten yards. It was a lot of reading. To help you along, here are a few points that really helped me:
- Research the school's website. Not only will it tell you if they are legit, but it will give you vibe about the school and the conditions.
- Find out about the curriculum. Being a new teacher, I wasn't exactly sure what to look for at first, but it was nice to get a solid idea of the curriculum I would be expected to teach if I got the job.
- Research about the city. I knew a bit about Shanghai, but I looked more into the economy, expat community, food, weather, etc.
- Practice speaking. Out loud. Yes, you might look a bit crazy, but for a fast talker like me it was good to get some practice in before the interview. You never know if the interviewer will be a native English speaker.
- Look at practice interview questions and prepare answers. I looked at several sites that had practice interview questions. Teaching House's website was very helpful in this regard. I have been surprised once in an interview and gave the worst answer ever. (That is a funny story for another time.)
- Prepare your own questions. Again, I refer you to Teaching House. It is important to have questions because it not only shows that you are interested, but really - you might have actual questions. I did. And asking specifically about the school or things you read on the website will also show that you did your research.
- Dress professionally. Even if they can only see the top half of you via Skype, don't wear pj bottoms. Dressing well will give you more confidence and show respect for the job.
- Be in a quiet place and prep the area. Make sure that your phone is off or on silent so you won't be interrupted and make the area you're in is a professional as possible. You don't want posters and junk to distract from the interview.
- CALM DOWN! I am an excitable person and have a tendency to translate that into over-thinking, over-eating, and zits. Breathe. It will be okay. And from my experience, this one might be the most important.
STORY TIME AGAIN! And it is about to get intense.
So, I am doing all the prep and getting ready. I'm feeling good. Not confident per se, but good about the whole situation. I've never done this before so it is a whole "you won't know until you try" kind of deal.
We come to Sunday. Remember that I set up my interview for Monday at 9am CST. I am in the car driving back home from visiting a friend and her family about and hour and half south. I feel my phone vibrate, so I pick it up and see a text from my cousin and....A SKYPE MESSAGE!! WHAT?!?!? It was 7:03pm on Sunday and there was actually two Skype messages. The first was sent at 6:54pm: "Mary, are you still ready for your interview at 9?" and one at 7:02pm: "I am stepping away from my desk for about 10 minutes. When I return perhaps we can start then."
AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!! My heart dropped. Followed by my stomach. Then my lungs. Then the appendix. All of it. I was still 40 minutes away from home, looking like junk, and was supposed to interview with China??? How is this possible that I mess up my first TEFL interview so quickly?
Blessed be that my friend traveling with me was very calm and told me not to worry, breathe, and respond that I simply had the time in Shanghai 14 hours behind instead of 14 hours ahead. WHICH IS SO TRUE! (But a bit sad considering that I checked the time difference at least 5 times.) I responded with that simple truth and the interviewer, Olivia, was very understanding. I was able to push my interview to 10:30am CST which was 8:30pm for me.
I get home. Rush in. Clean up. Re-do my hair and get on better clothes. I plug in my Surface Pro 3 so it doesn't die during the interview. (Dang, how embarrassing would that be!) And then I sit and wait. Watching the minutes climb up to 8:30. It was a long wait because I started staring at the clock at 8:21. At 8:33 Olivia gets on and the interview begins. Whew, I made it to the first part.
The interview went well. It was short, sweet, and to the point. She asked me questions and I answered. I asked her questions and she answered. Overall, I felt good about it. Excited. And a sense of calm and peace. Hum, is that a good feeling? At the end of the interview Olivia tells me that they will be in contact within the week about next steps.
The waiting game begins....
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