I recently applied for an English speaking teaching position at Klubmigros Luzern (they look for English native speakers). The application was written in English and the reply was in German and pointedly said that i could not work there because they could not see any qualifications related to teaching adults and I did not have german to the standard of b2/c1 (i was applying for the english teaching position, not a english/german teaching position). I had addressed this in my cover letter, stating that i had taught adults but did not hold a qualification to state this. So i replied and reiterated this fact, as well as the fact that i had translated her reply so that i can read the letter.
Well, she did not like this and wrote an email back, in ENGLISH, trying to throw her power and status around. Unfortunately, in her haste, she addressed the email to herself !!!! How basic is she??!!! It was my pleasure to point this out to her, and yes.....this morning i got another email. Now.. i am a female, she has addressed me as a female through all this, but this morning the letter was addressed to a 'Mr'. i didnt even bother to open it.
My aim was for her to realise how dumb and stupid she actually is, and i succeeded, as she is obviously upset!!! Rule no.1 with email: ALWAYS check what you write and who you write it to. You learn that in email 101 :-)
Score 1 for the foreigners trying to make it in this country there are so many of us here that are so well educated but can't get a suitable job due to our status and inability to speak german/swiss fluently.
I don't know what to say. Clear score or almost as nit-picking as the locals? ... Time will show.
The swiss are in LOVE with CERTIFICATES . Unless you can prove - in written form - that you're a teacher, you won't get hired.
It's the same for the locals btw. And I don't think that language school prefer swiss over foreigner in general. The ones I've been to (migros and others) employ many foreign born people.
This is not unusual, especially if there are a number of intended recipients who may not know each other (not the case here, I presume): You put your own name in the To: box, then put the recipients' names in the BCC: box to preserve their anonymity.
Your correspondent has, perhaps, got into the habit of doing that with all her emails, in order to avoid embarrassment on those occasions where she needs to do it.
Just a hint, though: Antagonising potential employers won't win you any brownie points, even if they are being unprofessional themselves. Most of the school owners around here know each other, and are more than happy to spread warnings about potential unwelcome applicants.
Come on Hellokitty, they aren't even obliged to give an answer to your application, but by doing so and explaining their refusal they showed some courtesy which you clearly didn't. Pointing out to her that she replied the mail to herself... and that with your potential employer.. I don't know what to say, but I certainly wouldn't employ someone as tactless as you. Keep your manners and stay correct, even if you feel your job application shouldn't have been refused or the tone could have been slightly different, you can't force your employment onto them! And if they want a native English speaker who speaks some Germanm with qualifications to teach adults (which is not the same as experience to teach adults), who are you to critizice that ?
... grow up, this is not how you apply for a job...
You do realize that you're in a non-English speaking country ? ... People speak (Swiss-)German here, people you'd be teaching by the way... the very reason why speaking German might be helpful as a teacher.. sorry to point out the obvious, but you're quite clueless for someone who claims to be educated.
Would a "Swiss-German" speaking person with NO ability to speak your local language in your country (English or whatever) have it easy to get a job??? As someone else mentioned, you are here in this country...They are not going to change their language only because you can't make a living
Once you've gotten over with being really pleased with yourself, I just have a few questions for you -
1. Did you read the JD for the requirements? Or was it a cold call application on your part?
2. Did you ever consider that people who want to learn English have zero or minimum knowledge of the language, hence thats why they are picking up the language?
How will you ever explain to them proper usage of grammer if you dont speak German to a satisfactory level at all?
3. If you ever open up a language school, will you employ someone who claims to have, oh I dont know, 10 years of teaching but absolutely zero certification to show for it, when its required by law that your teaching school can only employ teachers with certs?
Lastly,
4. How can you teach English if on your profile, state "Australia" as Nationality rather than "Australian"?
Not really ashishshah, the business language in Switzerland, except in multinational corp./org. is German and French, Swiss-German even, very seldom English. French is much more a requisite for office jobs in the German part of Switzerland than English, and will much easier get you a better salary than English. I am aware that some expats might be living in a bubble, but a little reality check at a normal Swiss KMU (small to medium sized company) and you'll quickly find that extremely few or even nobody actually speaks passable English, it just isn't required. I work at a very large multi-national company, one of the bigger employers in Switzerland, and even at the top management not everyone speaks English, because eventually we have our customer base here in Switzerland and most employees are Swiss and Germans. By not speaking German and/or French you exclude yourself from at least 90% of the jobs in Switzerland. By no means is English as widely spoken or accepted as you suggested. And by just speaking English you just can't teach Swiss who don't properly understand it yet, and that is probably the majority who visit a Migros Klubschule English course!
I also worked for a medium-sized Swiss company and only a couple of the engineers spoke English. There was simply no need in the office environment to be able to speak English.
I was there to oversee reports and projects in English but had to speak on a daily basis to colleagues in German, which is fair enough.
I think the OP missed the point that her function would be to teach English to clients but she would be working for a Swiss company and would need to communicate with colleagues and understand all sorts of literature from company memos to salary slips in the local language.
Having said that, I do know several English teachers who only speak rudimentary German/French at best but are gainfully employed as teachers. Only difference is that they are employed with internationally based companies or schools.
To the OP - just a bit of advice: even if the person doing the recruitment is a complete knobhead and couldn't be professional if his or her life depended on it, remember he or she is the one sitting comfortably in a job so already has an upper hand.
If you sink to their level the only one who loses out is you. Keep your professionalism and you can keep your head high and feel (internally) smug.
Thats weird, i just got a job as a swedish teatcher in migros klubschule(swedish is my native language) but being a teatcher is a total new experience for me. Im sure you can get a job as an english teatcher in another migrosklubschule. Make a new try!!
Any teacher worth their salt will tell you that teaching basic level English, you are often faced with older adults who haven't done high German grammar since their school days.. so, not only do you have to remind them of German grammar, but also need to translate grammar points from English to German(especially present and past perfect).
I agree with DB and rather than feeling pleased with yourself Hellokitty, I'd be a wee-bit worried now in case she now gives other schools the head's up regarding an unpleasant experience she has had with an applicant. I get the feeling you're terribly young
Next time you apply for a job, try talking and getting to know the School - if they don't have something for you, maybe they know of another School that does.
I can understand the OP's frustration. Recently I applied for a job, I fit all the written criteria and even had more to offer. I thought I was a shoe in. Not to mention that it was my dream job. After endlessly waiting for my invitation to an interview I finally got a rejection letter. I was floored, and dumb-founded as to how they could have come to such a decission as to cut me out of the running at such an early stage. So I called for some feedback. Now where I come from, this is my right, so when the woman refused to discuss it with me. I tried to insist, stating that it not only helped me with future job applications but also proved that no discrimination had occured, like for example in Australia, where nothing more than a persons qualifications count. At this point she laughed at me and said that no such rights existed here. Iasked her if she really thought it was funny that Swiss workers' did not have the same rights as those elsewhere, because actually, I found it a bit sad. Thus ended our conversation. About 5 weeks later, the same company advertised the same job. I didn't even bother, knowing that as soon as she saw my name my CV would end up in the bin.
So, having said that, do you simon-ch, totally agree with this system here in Switzerland, where as you say, the don't even have to reply, or would you like to see more rights for applicants?
Exactly my point. Quite a few other countries in the world have English as the Business language and not a local one.
Living in a bubble ? Ahem...I wont say anything here.
Yeah well, me too. And I can speak passable German, but I rarely need to fall back to it. A multinational company would be truly multinational only if the language for business is a universal one. Otherwise, its just a big company.
Here, no. Thats why I said for jobs where customer contact is needed, it makes sense.
I agree. And I didnt touch the OP's point. Mine was just an associated rant.
Rule No2. Do not burn your bridges behind you - which applies not only to CH but to anywhere in the world and especially here in small Switzerland, and more on cantonal basis this rule is very crucial to be observed. You would always want to have your "account clean" no matter you feel how badly your potential employer treated you or he was wrong but unfort. this a small world and given a current recession on the market the jobs are scarce and it shrinks even more (analogy like e.g. client is my master or paying Swisscom or Billag bills regularly, correct me maybe it's a wrong analogy to Billag though !). Try to stay cool and move on in professional demeanour. Good luck with your future job hunt
But it is soooo hard to fight the indignation when you really feel you should have had a shot. Having said that, I will not do this again here in Switzerland. No good banging on about how the "over there" it's done better when here, it is what it is.