SET YOURSELF UP TO WIN! Teach in Shanghai!

Why Giraffe English Shanghai?

With so many schools to choose from why choose to work at Giraffe? Perhaps the best question you could ever ask in an interview is, çÁHow is your school different from your competitors?ç±

The answer is we care more. How do we show you we care? We invest in you as a teacher more. How do we invest? We pay you for three months of training. We have ongoing training throughout the year. You have a mentor to help guide you through the process. We ease our teachers into a full course load gradually (roughly 17 teaching hours per week). Lastly, we have manageable class sizes with a Chinese co-teacher.

Yes, we also have a generous compensation package.

But we're not for everyone.

Often I've heard aspiring teachers tell me that they'd rather be thrown in the deep end because they learn faster. Unfortunately, they're not the only ones who'll be forced to sink or swim in the classroom. We have a responsibility towards our students and their families to maintain and to continually improve upon the quality of teaching already established at Giraffe.

Who are we looking for?

Maybe you have it in your heart to become a teacher back home one day and want to try it first.

Maybe you're a person whose heard horror stories of crazy classrooms and recognize that some guidance at the beginning will go a long way in terms of helping your students succeed, being compensated more, and keeping your sanity.

Maybe you just want to give yourself the best chance to enjoy your life while you're here ÂC hating your work puts a damper on the adventure of living abroad.

I believe that teaching English to young learners can be what you make of it. It will either be one of the most fulfilling work experiencesof your life or it'll be 30 hours of every week that you aren't going to get back.

Quite simply, we're looking for wonderful, caring people who would be inclined to choose a chance at fulfillment. That won't come easy. You'll still have good days and bad days like the rest of the world. But a good day teaching children is a pretty great day.

What we offer is the best structure I've seen at a training center to get you proficient and comfortable before you have classes of your own. Will you be a teacher after three months of training? Nahç_ you'll have to go out and make a thousand mistakes still. But you'll be in a better position to learn from them and adapt. Lastly, you won't be alone.We're here to help you.

What follows is my own experience when I first started teaching abroad contrasted with the experiences of a couple of our newer teachers.

Teaching English ÂC a too common tale.

One Sunday evening, back in the spring of 2005, I stepped off the plane into the sweltering humidity of Asia. The next morning I arrived at my school to observe the foreign teacher I was to replace. I was never to see Matt from England again, but 12 years later, I remember him still. Matt was the Pied Piper incarnate. He moved the children around effortlessly through activities much like grandmas move their hands practicing Tai Qi in the park.

çÁLook Matt teacher, I made a dinosaur.ç±
çÁThat's nice Royce. Come on everyone, quick like bunnies.ç±
çÁLook Matt teacher, I'm finished my writing! I'm quick like a bunny!ç±
çÁThat's right Coco.ç±

I took 8 pages of notes.

The next morning I arrived at the school and the principal led me back to the class at five minutes to nine.

The principal asked if the students remembered me. çÁYes,ç± said ten unsure and sad five year olds.I was then introduced, çÁChris is from CANADA! Chris has a HISTORY DEGREE!Chris is a NATIVE SPEAKER! Chris is an ENGLISH TEACHER!!ç±

From that moment on I had 27 contact hours with my students every week. No training. No chance to observe more teachers. No chance to get any feedback until six weeks later when 8 moms, 2 grandmas and someone's older sister came to watch my class for an hour.

My feedback was, you very gentle, very humour, they very like.

I felt like a fraud.

I had absolutely no idea what I was doing, desperately trying to stay one step ahead of the kids, quite often finding myself a mile behind them.

Back to the Now.

That was 12 years ago when it was enough to show-up and show-off at many training centers. There are still plenty of schools and teachers like this, as well as, plenty of great ones. Many schools maintain their teaching quality by hiring experienced teachers only. Our training program allows us the luxury to hire you for character and train for skills.

I'm going to give you a break from my voice now and turn this over to two of our newer teachers. Catch up with you after regarding the offer, prerequisites, and a short FAQ.

Tom ÂC September 2016. Melbourne, Australia.

One of the things that first drew me to Giraffe was the three-month training period offered by the school. While I had some teaching experience already, I felt it would be beneficial for me and would help me feel more comfortable in the classroom. When I arrived at Giraffe it was made clear that one person wouldn't just train me, but that my training would be a group effort. Every member of the staff has differing levels of expertise however all have helpful information to share especially as you go through different stages of your training. When you first start off you will be given instruction in various practical and applicable skills for teaching English to young children such as effective language grading, classroom management and lesson planning. The trainers will always ask you what you already know, what you would like to know and where you think you need the most instruction. As you progress through your training you will also begin demoing in classes so you can become comfortable in the classroom, understand where you yourself are at and so your managers know which areas might need improvement. Despite this you will never be given more than you can handle and the managers at Giraffe are all normal people so will be understanding if you feel overwhelmed or stressed. All in all, the training period is made very enjoyable by the legends that will teach you and in a very short time you'll feel as if you've improved vastly as a teacher. Lastly, the people who work here are just good people and are most concerned about helping you become the best teacher you can be, so if that is something that interests you Giraffe is definitely for you.

Johny ÂC September 2016. Carlisle, United Kingdom.

I previously had no meaningful teaching experience and Giraffe offered a unique process that has been more effective than I could have imagined. Instead of being thrown straight to the lions and being wished good luck, the training process allows you to be eased in to the process at a speed that suits you. Initially, seeing the standard of teaching felt daunting, but after being given short demos to perform in classes followed by invaluable feedback, undertaking some highly useful training sessions and continuing to observe fellow teachers I can scarcely believe how much my teaching has improved. I don't think there are many, if any, places that can offer what Giraffe offers - especially to new teachers. The training process is also a very open process ÂC you don't just get dumped with a timetable and told to ask no questions. You are involved and talked to about how you feel the process is going, what can be done better and any particular areas you want to work on. Not only is the process of training well-paced and of the highest quality, the people that help you through the process are fantastic; countless people have offered help and support from the very beginning, whether it be directly involved in teaching or starting up life in a new city. Everyone is extremely approachable and keen to make you feel part of the team both in the office and in your spare time. This training process has helped me to achieve a level I did not think I was capable of and ultimately, it has helped me to really enjoy my job.

The Offer, Prerequisites, and FAQ

Offer Highlights:

1. 15,000 RMB/month to start, jumps to 16,000 after training and your workweek goes down to 29.5 hours.
2. Full visa support.
3. Three months paid training.
4. Chinese lessons
5. Up to one month's pay as a bonus upon contract completion.
6. One-way flight reimbursement upon contract completion for overseas hires.
7. Holiday time: the number of days change every year based on when Chinese holidays are (lunar calendar). This year we have 32 days paid vacation throughout the year.
8. Airport pick-up, hotel stay, and assistance in finding housing.

Prerequisites:

1. Must be a native speaker from Canada, America, the UK, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand or South Africa.
2. Must have a clear accent that is easy for Chinese parents to understand.
3. Must possess a university degree (notarized copy), criminal check in your home country, and a 120-hour TEFL certificate for visa purposes.
4. Our students are aged 3-12. You must like children. You should also have a high energy level. Learning a second language can be boring. Our job, in addition to teaching the language is to teach it in an exciting fashion. In short, smiling should come natural to you. We can teach you how to write a lesson plan, but we can't teach you how to smile and laugh.

FAQ:

1. Yes, we also hire experienced teachers. Pay and training period are adjusted.
2. The visa requirements are the visa requirementsç_ my hands are tied.

How to apply

If you're still reading, it means you're probably interested enough to send a copy of your CV 

Looking forward to meeting you soon,