Teacher employer etiquette
All we're asking for is a reply
Dear Teacher Employers,
If you can't be bothered reading this e-mail, then please go straight to the last paragraph.
I am a qualified teacher and have worked in Thailand for the past 10 years. In my university years, I graduated in the top 1% of teachers in Western Australia. In-between working for a Thai school for those 10 years I worked for agencies, small ESL schools and did private tutorial work. Never with a complaint or problem from an employer or a student.
If you have received this email, it is probably because I have done the hard work of researching your school and customising a cover letter and resume. I write this e-mail only because for all the work I have put into an application to your school, never to receive an acknowledgement or even an automated response is pretty shoddy, not to mention unprofessional. There are several other 'reputable' schools I have omitted in the address bar because their schools had web form applications and thus no email addresses.
An email from employers saying 'thank you for your application but...' would at least be polite rather than for the application to just go completely ignored. Now you are thinking... 'But we receive so many applications, how could we?'. True or untrue, even an automated thank you for an application would do the reputation of your school a good service. To paraphrase a saying - 'a happy teacher tells his colleagues about his experience with a school. An unhappy teacher will tell EVERYONE about that school'.
Maybe it's because I am currently back in Australia that I am thinking too much about my experiences in Thailand? I don't know... There has been a trend in recent years in the name of cost cutting to hire 'non-native speakers' (yes there are many good teachers in this group but they dont get paid as much) or hire unqualified or under qualified English teachers. But you get what you pay for. Of the 30 teaching jobs I have applied for in the past month and a half, I have had three responses - and from those three responses, I have had two interviews and a job offer which I turned down as it turned out to be with an agency which after some research, I felt would be unsuitable.
I feel it is just unprofessional that if someone well qualified for an advertised job takes the time to research the job and your school then you as an employer, should have the courtesy (manners) to acknowledge that application even if the applicant may not be right person for the job (even an automated one would be good).
I love Thailand and I have built a life, raised a family and made many friends over a 10-year period. But if Thailand's schools want to become leaders in education (you may think your school is the big fish in the pond, but there are many ponds) it has to appreciate that there are many well qualified and dedicated individuals applying to your schools for work who would rather be told 'no thank you' if they are not suitable rather than just be left waiting and not knowing where they stand. Remember, like your school, the teachers are professionals and deserve to be treated as such. China, Japan, Korea and the rest of Asia are calling....
Politeness is one of the core qualities of Thai culture. So should it be with its employers.
John Dixon
Comments
Once again, a simple reply indicating you received my information, yes even an “auto-reply” can be considered polite!
***Incidentally, if your an emplyment agent/agency and do not have time to acknowledge a C/V, resume’ and or inquiry, remind yourself to re-read your job description. At that point you may want to become a client and fine yourself a new job,
By Mitch, Phuket on 2013-02-13
An automated email or mass response to unsuccessful applicants would take a few minutes to set up and once this is set up, it would take a company five minutes say once a week to BCC all unsuccessful applicants into one email (click-select, reply to all, send) and this can be re-used for future openings. I suppose it would tell a lot about a company and whether they are worth working for though - common courtesy is all!
By Jay, Bangkok, Thailand on 2013-02-12
“Not only do we not have the time to reply to every applicant, but we most certainly don’t have the time to reply to people “just looking for information”.
I’m totally on James’ side with this. People just don’t realize how time-consuming it is to type out lengthy answers to those who are just ‘looking for information’
In my case - running the ajarn website - I just don’t have the time. I’m simply not in the business of providing a personal consultancy I’m afraid. If I answered every question sent to me, I wouldn’t have time to update the website. That’s simply the way it is.
I guarantee that the answer to every question is on the website already in some shape or form and it’s very often ‘pure laziness’ or an unwillingness to spend the necessary length of time on research that prevents someone finding the answer.
It’s very easy to criticize and say “well, a short answer is better than no answer” but how can you provide a short answer to someone who sends you a bullet point list of nigh on 20 questions?
By philip, Bangkok on 2013-01-20
Sorry Sam ... but someone has to say this. Your English seems to be very poor and you are asking questions of which answers are easily found ... in the wrong place! I’d bet money that those are the reasons the international school didn’t have the time of day for you. To me, you come off as slightly foolish and naieve. The school probably thought likewise.
By MarkC, Exile on 2013-01-20
Comment removed at owner’s request
By Sam, Denmark on 2013-01-20