Teaching at EF – Frequently Asked Questions

Note: For details about pay and contract hours please refer to our Full-Time Teacher Contract.

Our school

We are a branch of the EF (English First) chain of schools. We are located in central China (Zhengzhou, Henan). We are a private school and provide English classes to
students of all ages.

Vacancies

We hire year-round. We currently have a team of seven full-time foreign teachers. It is enough to cover our needs, but we’re always looking for talent. More teachers
allows us more flexibility with our schedule and school functions and events.

Benefits

We provide round-trip airfare with a one-year contract, as well as your choice of a free, fully furnished apartment or a housing stipend. We offer a competitive local
salary starting at 6000 RMB per month with opportunities for promotion and advancement.

English First is the world’s largest privately-held educational organization. There are over 100 EF schools in mainland China alone. EF teachers receive regular training
and are highly-sought after and marketable.

Airfare

We pay round-trip airfare for a one-year contract. If you buy a ticket and fly in to China after signing a contract we will reimburse that ticket once six months of your
contract are complete. Do not buy a ticket without consulting us first! We need to confirm the expense with our accountant.

Housing

We offer your choice of a housing stipend or a free fully-furnished apartment.

Personally I recommend the stipend. It is simpler. It is just an amount of money attached to your regular monthly paycheck to help cover housing costs. We can help
you find accommodation to your taste and within your budget. The apartment supplied by the school is chosen by the school and may not be to your tastes or up to
your standards. You could be stuck with an apartment you aren’t fully satisfied with for an entire year.

Class hours

A typical full-time workweek would have around twenty hours of class time. It’s difficult for us to schedule more than that since the majority of our classes are at the
same times: weekends and weeknights. This goes up during summer and winter holiday, when we’re able to schedule morning classes.

Class sizes

There are generally under fifteen students in one class. There are always under twenty students in one class. Some higher-level classes have very small groups of four,
six, or eight students and we also offer one-on-one courses.

Students

Most of our students are elementary-aged. We have different internally-produced course books for different age and English proficiency levels: “High Flyers” is for
students aged seven to ten. “Trailblazers” is for students aged eleven to fourteen. “Real English” is for older teenagers and adults.

Classrooms

A typical classroom is a whiteboard and chairs. We have one larger classroom for large groups and one smaller classroom for young learners. We have a projector for
use if teachers need one.

Mandarin Chinese

Mandarin is taught in all public schools in Zhengzhou. Older locals will speak with a regional accent. Zhengzhou is a good place to learn Chinese. While there are a few
expatriate hang-outs around town it is easy to achieve an immersive all-Chinese environment.

I have friends in Beijing and Shanghai who speak little or no Chinese after living here for years. It’s hard to learn Chinese if everyone wants to speak to you in English!

Renato Ganoza for EF Zhengzhou, 2009

Effective recruiting

1. Be as forward and upfront as possible. Give teachers all the information necessary for them to make a decision.
2. In your first e-mail attach the Frequently Asked Questions sheet, a copy of our Full-Time Teacher Contract and our Practical Code of Conduct.

Do NOT waste time answering the same questions again and again. If a teacher is clearly interested pursue him or her. Otherwise follow other leads.

Sample initial e-mail:

Hi, Steve. I’m Renato Ganoza.

A good friend of mine, John Smith, wrote me and said you were interested in teaching in China. There are certainly a lot of opportunities here.

I work for a branch of EF English First in Zhengzhou, Henan (in central China). I’ve been in Zhengzhou nearly three years and I have been working with EF as Director
of Studies for over one year. We are always looking for talented teachers to join our team.

I’ll take a moment to introduce our school, and then I’d like to ask you a few questions.

We are a branch of EF in central China. We teach spoken English to students of all ages using our own internally-produced course books. We have a team of seven
full-time foreign teachers teaching over four hundred students weekly. Most of our classes are during weeknights and weekends and our busy periods are summer
and winter holidays.

Teachers teach around twenty hours a week and have two days off per week. We offer a competitive local salary of 6000 RMB monthly plus round-trip airfare and
your choice of a free, fully-furnished apartment or a housing stipend.

For further reference I have attached our standard one-year Full Time Teacher Contract, a copy of our Code of Conduct, and a short Frequently Asked Questions sheet
I have prepared.

From you I’d like to know:

1. Do you have a current resume or CV I could review?

2. What attracted you to teaching as a profession? Why teach in China, in particular?
3. Do you have any experience teaching Chinese students? What do you expect from Chinese students?

Thanks for your time. If you are interested in a position or have any questions feel free to contact me.

Renato Ganoza

Sample follow-up e-mail:

Great to hear back from you, Steve.

The next step is for us to arrange a “Z” visa for you to work legally in China. We’ll need the following documents from you:

1. A copy of your passport

2. Copies of your degree(s) and TEFL certificate(s)
3. A current copy of your resume or CV
4. A full medical report
5. At least two pictures of you (in formal wear, facing the camera)

Scan those and e-mail them to me or send them to (our address). When would you be willing and able to begin working full-time?

Renato

Final recruiting e-mail:

Thanks for getting those documents to me, Steve.

The fastest and easiest way for us to process your “Z” visa would be for you to fly in to Hong Kong and procure an “L” tourist visa there. You can cross into Shenzhen
and either fly or take a train to Zhengzhou. Once you arrive you can begin working and earning money immediately while we process your visa locally.

Let me know if this works for you. Thanks,

Renato