1-StopEdu

I applied for a job with 1-StopEdu on ESL Authority. Two weeks later, I got an email from a hiring manager who lives in the USA. She had watched my self-introduction video on YouTube and wanted me to send her my teaching documents. Three weeks later, she asked me to connect with her on Skype. After our interview, she set up a demo with one of her managers in Seoul, for the next day at 11 am Korean Standard Time. The next morning, I sent two Skype messages to the manager, which she never answered, before calling her at the appointed time. She answered without a greeting or turning on her video, and after introducing ourselves, she said she was sorry and couldn't do the demo because it was a holiday in Korea. She also acted like she couldn’t give me the time of day, and without giving me any further instructions the call ended. I sent my contact in Arizona a message telling her what the manager had told me (the only Korean national holiday in April is Buddha's Birthday on the 30th), and the demo was eventually rescheduled for Friday, again at 11 am KST. I was sent a one-page handout with 'Appearance' as the topic, and instructed to do a 10-minute demo with a warm up, presentation and production, and a review, all contained within the 10-minute time frame. I confirmed and waited for Friday. On Friday, I sent the manager in Seoul a message at 8:50 am, asking if I could call her at 9 am sharp. She replied yes. When she answered the call, I told her who I was and we exchanged what I hoped would be a few pleasantries (they weren't; she was low-energy and disinterested from the start), and when I asked her to turn on her Skype video, she refused, telling me she couldn’t for security reasons. Nonplussed, I continued, "OK, let's get started." I asked her if she had the material for the lesson and she again said no, asking me to share it with her on Skype. I did. But rather than earnestly and cooperatively play her role as an intermediate-level student, she acted like a jaded office worker who could care less about developing any modicum of rapport with me. When I asked her a few ice-breaking questions, including where she was from in Korea, she acted as though my questions were a nuisance, giving short, unenthusiastic answers without asking me any questions in return. She seemed determined to make my demo as difficult as possible, making it almost impossible to have a friendly conversation with her. I trudged on, asking her to pronounce and paraphrase the vocabulary words, then asking her a simple opinion question using one of the vocabulary words, which she answered taciturnly. When I asked her to extend her answers to future conversation questions she basically refused. Then, in the next activity, which was using several questions to describe the appearance of Donald Trump, I instead asked her to think of someone she knew personally, and to use the pronoun 'his' to answer the question prompts in the activity. Again, she refused, asking if she could just describe Trump. I told her of course she could. She then sailed through the questions, giving the shortest, simplest answers possible and again making no effort to extend her answers (which I'd already modeled for her twice). I then pointed out one grammatical mistake she had made—"He looks like old."—and asked her to repeat her answer to that question. She correctly answered, "He looks old,” but acted put off when I explained the grammar point and actually tried to presume that she hadn't made the mistake in the first place. Her ungracious and uncooperative attitude perplexed and unnerved me. At this point, having already gone past the 10-minute mark, she stopped me, saying she was sorry, but the demo was over. Without so much as a thank you she told me her colleague in Phoenix would send me the result via Skype. Again, acting as though she couldn't be bothered, the call ended awkwardly. Suffice to say, my demo had been far from perfect. My futile attempts to get my mock student to open up and talk with me, or to engage in any sort of meaningful conversation, had been in vain. In the process, I'd failed to manage a quick review of the vocabulary and the key learning points of the class. While my demo had failed on multiple levels, I believe it was a setup from the get go. I also believe it's disrespectful and discouraging when people in positions of power think they can just walk all over people the way their manager in Korea did. One litmus test would be to ask them to put themselves in my shoes and to say how it honestly feels to be treated in such a manner. And I wondered: How could anyone be successful under such conditions? The next day came my answer: "Thanks for your demo. Unfortunately, we would not be able to offer you a position with our company." No reason, just a grammatically incorrect rejection. Really? This is what happens when a world pandemic forces qualified and experienced teachers into the degrading world of online ESL.

View Comments

Mitch Lilly says:

April 28, 2020 at 11:26 pm

I applied for a job with 1-StopEdu on ESL Authority. Two weeks later, I got an email from a hiring manager who lives in the USA. She had watched my self-introduction video on YouTube and wanted me to send her my teaching documents. Three weeks later, she asked me to connect with her on Skype. After our interview, she set up a demo with one of her managers in Seoul, for the next day at 11 am Korean Standard Time. The next morning, I sent two Skype messages to the manager, which she never answered, before calling her at the appointed time. She answered without a greeting or turning on her video, and after introducing ourselves, she said she was sorry and couldn't do the demo because it was a holiday in Korea. She also acted like she couldn’t give me the time of day, and without giving me any further instructions the call ended. I sent my contact in Arizona a message telling her what the manager had told me (the only Korean national holiday in April is Buddha's Birthday on the 30th), and the demo was eventually rescheduled for Friday, again at 11 am KST. I was sent a one-page handout with 'Appearance' as the topic, and instructed to do a 10-minute demo with a warm up, presentation and production, and a review, all contained within the 10-minute time frame. I confirmed and waited for Friday. On Friday, I sent the manager in Seoul a message at 8:50 am, asking if I could call her at 9 am sharp. She replied yes. When she answered the call, I told her who I was and we exchanged what I hoped would be a few pleasantries (they weren't; she was low-energy and disinterested from the start), and when I asked her to turn on her Skype video, she refused, telling me she couldn’t for security reasons. Nonplussed, I continued, "OK, let's get started." I asked her if she had the material for the lesson and she again said no, asking me to share it with her on Skype. I did. But rather than earnestly and cooperatively play her role as an intermediate-level student, she acted like a jaded office worker who could care less about developing any modicum of rapport with me. When I asked her a few ice-breaking questions, including where she was from in Korea, she acted as though my questions were a nuisance, giving short, unenthusiastic answers without asking me any questions in return. She seemed determined to make my demo as difficult as possible, making it almost impossible to have a friendly conversation with her. I trudged on, asking her to pronounce and paraphrase the vocabulary words, then asking her a simple opinion question using one of the vocabulary words, which she answered taciturnly. When I asked her to extend her answers to future conversation questions she basically refused. Then, in the next activity, which was using several questions to describe the appearance of Donald Trump, I instead asked her to think of someone she knew personally, and to use the pronoun 'his' to answer the question prompts in the activity. Again, she refused, asking if she could just describe Trump. I told her of course she could. She then sailed through the questions, giving the shortest, simplest answers possible and again making no effort to extend her answers (which I'd already modeled for her twice). I then pointed out one grammatical mistake she had made—"He looks like old."—and asked her to repeat her answer to that question. She correctly answered, "He looks old,” but acted put off when I explained the grammar point and actually tried to presume that she hadn't made the mistake in the first place. Her ungracious and uncooperative attitude perplexed and unnerved me. At this point, having already gone past the 10-minute mark, she stopped me, saying she was sorry, but the demo was over. Without so much as a thank you she told me her colleague in Phoenix would send me the result via Skype. Again, acting as though she couldn't be bothered, the call ended awkwardly. Suffice to say, my demo had been far from perfect. My futile attempts to get my mock student to open up and talk with me, or to engage in any sort of meaningful conversation, had been in vain. In the process, I'd failed to manage a quick review of the vocabulary and the key learning points of the class. While my demo had failed on multiple levels, I believe it was a setup from the get go. I also believe it's disrespectful and discouraging when people in positions of power think they can just walk all over people the way their manager in Korea did. One litmus test would be to ask them to put themselves in my shoes and to say how it honestly feels to be treated in such a manner. And I wondered: How could anyone be successful under such conditions? The next day came my answer: "Thanks for your demo. Unfortunately, we would not be able to offer you a position with our company." No reason, just a grammatically incorrect rejection. Really? This is what happens when a world pandemic forces qualified and experienced teachers into the degrading world of online ESL.
- Peter says:
  
  November 12, 2020 at 10:31 pm
  
  Thank you for your detailed report on the disgraceful treatment that you received from this unprofessional company. I will certainly stay well clear of them.
Karen Gabe says:

December 17, 2019 at 1:27 pm

Good morning!

I have a question. I am a citizen of the United States, but I live in Peru. Am I eligible to apply to teach with your company?
- mikedveenstra@gmail.com says:
  
  January 7, 2020 at 2:55 pm
  
  Sorry teachers must be in either the US/Canada or the UK.
  - Lynne says:
    
    January 23, 2020 at 8:50 pm
    
    mikedveenstra, do you have any info on pay rates?
    - mikedveenstra@gmail.com says:
      
      January 24, 2020 at 11:49 am
      
      Sorry, they didn't provide me with any pay details besides saying it depends on your experience and where you are located.

1-StopEdu Review

View Comments