Live in the Philippines

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The job that wasn’t

Language Learning, Work in the Philippines / by

I got an interesting text message back around Christmas.  The text was from my former Bisaya teacher from about 5 years ago.  Her name is Au, and we keep in touch on a semi-regular basis.  Au is a Professor at Ateneo de Davao University.  Very nice lady, and quite intelligent.  I enjoy knowing Au, but for the language lessons, my learning style and her teaching style just did not click, and that is why I ended up going to a different teacher.  Still, though, we are friends.

Anyway, back around Christmas time, Au texted me and asked me if I would be interested in teaching English.  I responded to her that I really am not a teacher, and would have no idea about how to effectively teach the language.  Au told me not to worry about that, I could get help with that aspect, but she just wanted to know if I would do it.  I replied that I was unsure, but would consider it.  At that point, Au told me that she would give my name to a lady who was the owner of a school for teaching English to Koreans who are here in Davao.

I asked Au about this school, and I learned that the school is actually very close to my house, just walking distance, and that they had a number of Koreans who were interested in learning English.

So, I waited for a while, but never heard from the Korean School.  It really didn’t bother me much, because I really did not have great interest in teaching English anyway.  About a month later, though, I got a text from the school, and they asked me if I could come by and talk to them about the position that they were offering.  I agreed.  We set up an appointment for the meeting, and just a day or so before the meeting, they texted me and changed the time and day.  This was a bit of a hassle for me, because I had a rather full schedule of meetings and appointments, but I begrudgingly re-arranged my schedule to accommodate their request.

When I went to the school at the time that they requested me, they told me that the person I was to meet with was busy.  Hmm…. this was looking sort of amateurish to me, because they are the ones who set the meeting time, and I showed up on time.  They were not available?  Not looking good.  So, I was told to wait, and after about 30 minutes, the lady was available to see me.  I was asked to come in to the office, and I proceeded to the door of the building (I had been made to wait outside!).  When I got to the door, I was told to take my shoes off.  Huh?  In an office?  Well, the fact is that I was not prepared for this, and I was not even wearing any socks!  So, I told them that I did not know of this requirement, and did not wear any socks, and I certainly was not going to go barefoot around the offices.

Upon hearing this, I was told to wait outside and that the lady would come outside to meet with me, because I would not be allowed to wear my shoes inside the office!  So, I waited and the lady came.  It was all feeling rather uncomfortable to me, to be honest.  One of the first questions that the lady asked me is how much I would charge.  I replied that I really had no idea what they wanted to pay, or what the job was worth.  I told her that if I charged her my normal rate that I charge for consulting or other work, I am sure she would not be interested in me.  I went on to explain that if I decided to do this, I really would not be doing it for the money, but rather just something interesting to do, and I asked her to offer me a rate and I would consider it.  Funny thing is, no salary rate was ever offered after that, it was just sort of ignored.

During the meeting, a number of things came to light which really made me very uninterested in the job.  Firstly, I was told that I would teach 5 days per week, something that I really don’t have time to do.  Secondly, I was told that they needed me to teach at night, like 7pm to 9pm or so.  For me, this was out of the question, because this is my time with my kids, and I was not really willing to give up my family time.

Well, by the end of the meeting, I really determined that I had basically zero interest in doing this, and I told them that I would have to say no to their offer.  The truth is that really, one of the only reasons I even went for the meeting and considered teaching there was because in the past, I have considered the possibility of starting a service of teaching English online, and I would hire teachers.  I thought that perhaps I could learn a little about the business through this teaching job.  However, given the way the meeting went, I just felt that the school was unprofessional, and I knew that I would not be too happy with teaching there, so it just was not worth it to me.

It was not like I needed a job anyway.  I did find it interesting, though, that I had an opportunity to get a job in the Philippines, and they came after me, rather then me looking for a job!

Reader Interactions

Comments

    • Yeah, it certainly wouldn’t have been for the money. I did actually get offered the job, but didn’t want it! 😆 Labor of love, and also wanting to learn the business so that I could apply that toward an online business in the same field. 😉

  2. Perhaps you should have told them how much you charge so they would know right away if they wanted to hire you or not. haha!

  3. Hi Bob,

    At one point in my life, I thought of going to Korea to teach English. The initial information I discovered was of the one-year commitment for such a contract. The idea of being away for a year wasn’t the discouraging part, but more due to having never been abroad at that time. Now that I’ve traveled abroad for the past 4 years, I could probably go for such a teaching job. That’s all changed as I’m looking forward to a family life. I want to spend as much time as possible in that new setting. Oh, sure, I could still look into teaching English in Davao, but from what you encountered, I’d rather not.

  6. hi bob, your experience is very similar to what many others here in manila have undergone. koreans posting job ads in school campuses for the same purpose (teaching and/or tutoring korean kids) are often seen by responding locals as very unprofessional, who offer poor wages to boot. UP students dorming in Diliman, typically from the provinces, take on the lowball offers to augment the limited allowances they get from their folks back home. it’s a love-hate thing it seems

    • Hi Biz Doc – Interesting, I didn’t know about that. I don’t know what the money was, but I suspect very small. There were enough indications of amateur hour that I just had no interest!

      • Bob

        I agree with you, very unprofessional in the way it was handled. Having you take your shoes off is very disrespectful. When they wouldn’t tell the pay rate you knew it was very low. Good article Bob!

    • TOEFL is the Test Of English as a Foreign Language. That is used for students wanting to study in the United States.

      Perhaps you mean a TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) Certificate?

      • Thanks Tom, I am so used to asking staff for their TOEFL.

        I thought somewhere language schools were required to have TEFL qualified staff in the RP?

    • When they first inquired about me, through my former teacher, I made it clear that I was not a teacher and had no credentials to be a teacher. I was told that they did not care and they wanted me because they needed a “native English teacher who could assist with English conversational skills.”

  10. Hey Bob – Not a scam? And it’s a bit off (for me anyway) to teach kids at night time between 7 -9 pm.. I mean, they’re kids. Beside, they probably wouldn’t afford your rate. He he. If it’s teaching English online using Skype or any other voip tools, I’ve heard from an office mate (who worked as online teacher) that pay it’s about 16 to 18 thousand. But that’s like in a call center type of environment. Others do it at home. I don’ know how they get paid

    • Hi sugar – No, it was not a scam, I am relatively certain of that. Not all of the students were kids, some were adults. On the kids, they attend “regular school” during the day, and thus their English learning is at night.

      • sakto ka bob, it’s very above-board.

        their objective really is to bring their kids up to speed. they probably think it’s cheaper to send their kids to PH to learn english rather than the US or UK. but if they require local tutors to be able to teach english with a ‘proper’ american accent at the rates they’re paying, it doesn’t seem very realistic. they’d be better off paying monthly cable tv fees to get access to multiple (american) cable tv favorites like discovery channel, HBO, CNN, national geographic et al, but it’s not happening.

        in fact i credit pinoys’ conversational english skills to american media rather than from schooling. in my experience, nobody here teaches the american accent & conversational nuances better than hollywood ” ) that’s why the call center recruiters here find it so easy

          • you’d be surprised bob, banter in sitcoms & late-night tv (leno, conan, letterman) is very effective.

            we pinoys wouldn’t be able to keep up if not for american media content. that’s why you guys are finding it easier to assimilate here, because we pinoys assimilated to your ‘kano’ ways ahead of you! ” )

            cheers,

  11. The 30 minute wait sounds like a natural. This must be another version of Filipino time ? I think I would have left after the take your shoes off routine.

    • Yes, it sure seemed like Filipino time… but the funny thing was that these were Koreans! Maybe they have become accustomed to Filipino time because they have lived here for a while? The “take off your shoes” thing was a turn off to me, although I think it is a Korean culture thing.

  12. Not only were they unprofessional, but from what you have described, they seem to be rude, Bob. Oh, I’m not talking about them asking you to remove your shoes, it’s their culture. I’m talking about your being told that the person interviewing was not available at the appointed time you were asked to be there, then having you wait outside for 30 minutes. I’m just assuming they were Koreans and not generalizing here, but many Koreans I have encountered, typically at the grocery stores they own, are rude. I’ve walked out of a couple of them simply for that reason. The only Korean that I found polite was my two sons’ Taekwondo teacher, Grand Master Yong Sung Lee. But he was getting my money, too, so he had to be polite. LOL

          • Hey, dude, don’t you do any work? I thought you were expert on tourism bla bla bla. What are you doing sitting in front of your computer, following Ricardo Sumilang around all day and night like a hound dog? 🙂

            • Ricardo – Please just ignore John. I know that he started it, but I have asked him to stop. If he doesn’t stop, I will stop him from posting that bait. If he wants to participate here, he can do so in a respectful way. Please don’t encourage him to continue the hate.

    • been biting my lip to avoid saying that 4 letter word about koreans hehe ” ) they’re pretty much that way here, but someone i work with has a theory why : koreans who’ve worked a long time in PH tend not to be rude daw, while those who are here on travel or to study, are. the higher the economic status, the less rude daw.

      but what i don’t get is, if koreans are generally weathier than pinoys, how come we’re generally nicer rather than rude? hehe!

  13. Bob..I would have been uninterested fast when they could not be on time and were changing things all the time..That there would have told me they were not worth it in any shape or form. I am sure they would have not loved it per say if you would have took the job and then showed up about time class was to end and when they asked you why….just say……..I am on Fillipino time!!

    • Ha ha… I wonder how that would have been if I accepted the job and showed up so late! I had not thought about that, Dan, but it would have been interesting, no doubt!

  14. Having taught English at a language school and then a university in Korea, I can tell you that it would have been an “interesting” adventure.

      • It has been so long that I really don’t remember too well, but I don’t think that it is actually all that different than it is now (or at least from what I can see online). If you are careful about selecting a place to work and careful about spending money, you can do reasonably do well for yourself.

  15. Sounds kinda par for the course Bob. I think our culture expects politeness, but in others, in that situation, they probably view a job “applicant” as the subservient one who should be grateful for even being interviewed.

    Hosni finally got the message I see, can you imagine what it must have felt like to be in such an unaccountable position for so long, then not even to realise initially that your magic carpet was flying out from under you?

    Sorry, also, to see the back of Jawz; his intricately detailed tales were sometimes an interesting insight though the eyes of one so young, and I had been looking forward to seeing how he managed to progress through the Filipino educational system from the point of view that my own kids may one day do the same at a similar stage in their lives.

  16. Hi Bob,
    It would have been an interesting insight,but very time consuming for little money.

    I know of someone who tried this for a few months,he had to be at the school for 12hrs every school day,he was expected to take random classes,as and when needed.Only got paid for actual teaching time which averaged around 6hrs per day @P300 per hour.
    To much wasted/standby time each day.
    regards,Chas.

      • I appreciate that is good money for PH,but having to be at the school and available for 12hrs and only teaching on average 6 of those hours,its really only P150 per hour,not to mention it ties you up for 60hrs a week.
        Not only was he TEFL certified,he was previously a school teacher in his home country,which apparantly were the reasons they hired him at that rate.
        Forgot to mention he was a foreigner,lol.

        • Yeah, I understand what you are saying, Chasdv….. but, what you are talking about is P1800 per day, and lots of people here work for P300 per day. Both of them put in 12 hours for that… Would I work for that? No. But, for somebody who needs the money, it’s not too bad.

    • Hello Weil – I felt that some of the things they did were rude. For example, setting up an appointment with me and then making me wait 30 minutes. For me that was rude, and had nothing to do with language. But, I can’t say there are rude overall because I only know them from that one meeting.

      • based on impressions of people i know & myself from actual interaction with them at :

        beach destinations
        golf course
        groceries
        campuses
        restaurants

        they generally are, it seems. however when you take economic status into consideration, the better off they are, the nicer they get ” )

        • Hi Biz Doc & Weil, my experience is mix. I have observed though in Boracay how rude the Korean tourist are or maybe just the incident that I witnessed. This Korean lady was screaming a the Sous Chef on the Breakfast Buffet because she is not fast enough in cutting the mangoes. I stood there behind there and made it a point to her that she is slicing the mangoes as fast as she can, since the chef cannot say or did not say anything. I observed this repeatedly among the Korean tourist there. On the other hand, I’ve hired Korean ladies here in the US and half turned out to be a good loyal worker.

          Ricardo’s observation of the owner of the Korean Supermarket is correct, there are some rudeness in there customer service comparable to “out of stock” but without the “sir”.

          • It was at the Grand Mart International, a Korean-owned supermarket, on Rt. 236, Alexandria, VA, Mars, where I’ve experienced some rudeness on the part of Korean management. The help – cashiers and stockers – all Hispanic, on the other hand, were helpful and polite. I have to agree, though, that their stuff are very inexpensive, and they offer a wide selection of produce, veggies, and fruits from all over Asia and Africa, that you do not find at Giant, Safeway, or Shoppers.

            • Ha ha Duke Street, Alex. Lil Riv Trnpk the other way towards Little Korea town. Lol, we have plenty around, We have Global and another one within 4-6 miles of my house. You are right about the Hispanic working there, they arrange those veggies so nice, but just observe how their Korean management talk to them, very rude.

              Yep the store does have everything, talong, durian, langka, fresh sugar cane, ubi, gabe, long beans, all kind of pichay, dried fish and assortment of fruits from Asia. Heck, sometimes I feel like in Farmers market in Quezon City—if that market is still around. They even have several eateries inside-Korean foods, bakery, South American, a Sushi place and a smoothie and coffee shop.

              Fresh fish and crabs, they’ll clean the fish for you–they have pictures with numbers on it and just “Number 2”-clean heads off. It’s their version of Point-Point joint (Turo-Turo) lol.

      • Bob- I did a lot of business in Mexico. For someone to show up 30 minutes late for a meeting was unheard of ! 60-90 minutes was more usual. That is if they showed up at all!
        At first i would always be at appointments 15 minutes early- and always ended up frustrated and angry. After awhile I just went late- and felt much more relaxed.
        Same here in Davao- I had a dinner party and set the time at 6 pm . First guest arrived at 6:45, lol

      • I think that’s a management strategy. They tried to gauge your patience. I don’t like it as it is a sort of bluff for me.

        • I agree, Weil, it could have been a strategy to gauge my interest or commitment. Funny thing is, I also used it as a gauge to judge what kind of people they were, and they did not rate highly with me! 😉

  18. Hi Bob,
    Your idea about an internet course on English might be worth pursuing. I think that AJ could pretty much handle 80% of such a course with you overseeing and touching up before responses go out. I am very impressed with AJ’s column.

    Dave L.

      • Hey Bob – I agree with Dave. And what a great idea. Maybe it’s AJ who can can teach English (or basic computer) to kids. Sort of like summer job. He can also earn extra money of his own. But it’s summer time.. who wants to work during summer? ^_^

  19. Bob, I agree that the removal of shoes probably is the custom. When I was stationed in Hawaii, it was customary to remove our shoes. I believe it was the Japanese influence or maybe the Hawaiian custom too. Add to the fact that Hawaii dirt was red clay. Even today, I still remove my shoes at anyone’s door. When told to keep my shoes on, my reply is that you can never blame Ed Griffin for bringing mud or dirt in the house. This is my custom! Being a former salesman, I knock with authority instead of using the doorbell, etc.

    • Hi Ed – I don’t have a problem with removing shoes when I go to somebody’s house, that is also the custom here in the Philippines. But going into an office, I have never really heard of it before! Perhaps that is the Korean custom, but I just wasn’t comfortable with going into an office environment in bare feet! 😆

  20. Hi, Bob.
    Switching the first appointment plus telling the person to wait outside because the other party is still busy – I did not even thinking about to talk to them at all. I don’t know. But I got the feeling that there where thinking that you are “one of the foreigner losers” in the Philippines and you needed this job to survive. I am sure that the school is asking hart US $ from there students. So why shut someone work for cheap money there in the first place?

    And yes. I don’t care how hart the “boss” is crying. I did that 10 years ago. Working extra time for nothing “because the bad time was expecting” that we must do that. But the boss could order every year a new Mercedes SL55 AMG. And now in Canada – I am telling the dispatcher that I am getting paid for every waiting our. (Because the company is charging the customers $50 per our waiting time! I got that one day from one customer: “OMG! My people are x-hours behind. I must pay again a fortune to your company for nothing!!” Me: “Why is that…?”) So. No boss is getting freebies again.

    And Bob. I would send them your consulting fee to be paid in US$ for switching appointments and lost time! 😉

  21. I have done a little work in Korea and worked with Koreans in Iran and Saudi – their culture is certainly different to most of SE Asia. They do not appear to have the culture of good manners that you usually find ,they also had an arrogance that is not usual among Asian cultures (except possibly in Japan). This is just my own view formed from my own experience. I am stating generalities but of course there are exceptions – my youngest son has a Korean godfather.