Younovo InJoy Education. What You Should Know Before Applying.

This is all based on my own personal experiences so far.  Experiences may vary from person to person. (http://www.injoyedu.com/)

What follows is what I think recruiters should (but likely won't) tell foreign teachers during the video interview before hiring them.  So what will they tell you?  They'll tell you whatever they think it is that you want to hear to get you to sign-up with this company as quickly as possible - particularly if you're a native speaker, because from what I've heard recruiters get a nice big fat bonus in their paycheck for hiring native English speakers (although I have no way of knowing whether or not that's true - it's just what I've heard).

When you first arrive you’ll be picked up at the airport by your recruiter and be taken to a  two-star hotel (https://youtu.be/db-7NZsTEFk - Maybe not this exact hotel, but one similar.) nearby the office. You’ll spend about two weeks in the hotel, but because space is limited and new foreigners are always coming, after that two weeks you’ll be moved into an apartment with at least one other foreigner.  It’s possible but very unlikely that you’ll get an apartment to yourself.

As for work, you’ll spend about the first two weeks sitting in a small training room watching videos.  

There are three types of videos:

1.      Other teachers’ demo lessons.

2.      Other teachers teaching actual classes.

3.      Children’s songs. 

Time spent in the training room is unpaid and the first two weeks are obligatory.  If after two weeks they still haven’t found you a full-time job, you will only have to come to the office as required (for example, if you need access to their printing facilities or something like that).  In this time they will do their best to find you some substitution or part-time work.  Keep trying.  You will get a full-time job eventually (most likely at a kindergarten or a training centre).  Note that in some cases it may take a few months before receiving full-time employment.

After a few days you’ll be asked to make a short demo lesson to present in front of some of the InJoy staff (and other foreigners that may also be present), after which you will receive some feedback.  Please adjust your demo according to the feedback and try again later.

Once the staff are satisfied with your demo you will be taken to a school (most likely a kindergarten or a training centre) where you will deliver the demo again.  Depending on the school, you may deliver the demo only in front of school staff, or perhaps in front of a small class of students.  There will be a short interview with the staff either before or after giving the demo.  If you get the job you will be informed within a few days.  Unsuccessful applicants will not be informed and will have to continue at the office as usual.  Keep trying.  You will get a job eventually (most likely at a kindergarten or a training centre).  If you are offered a job that does not align with your preferences you have the right to decline, however it's strongly recommended that you take the job anyway, otherwise it might be several weeks – possibly months – before finding you another job, which would be detrimental to your finances.  The sooner you accept a full-time position, the sooner you can start being paid a full-time salary.

While it’s true that they have everything from kindergarten to university available, please keep in mind that you’ll most likely be matched to either a kindergarten or a training centre because they are privately owned, looking for new teachers year-round, and generally don't have holidays, which means in many cases you'll get paid year-round, unlike public schools which have both winter and summer holidays (Younovo InJoy Education pay by the hour, calculated to the exact minute and not a penny more, which means if you don't work, you won't get paid).  To increase your chances of being matched to public schools such as high-schools or universities you should arrive either just before February or just before September, because once session has started it will be much harder to match you to a public school.  But again, you'll most likely be matched to a kindergarten or a training centre.

Kindergarten's here in China generally teach from ages 3 to 9, with training schools teaching up to ages 16, and may also have private classes for adults.  Class sizes vary from anywhere between 4 and 20 students (and in some cases maybe even 30), whereas public schools can potentially have class sizes up to 80.  No that's not a typo, and yes you read that correctly - eighty.