Recruiting foreign teachers: accurately matching needs and building high-quality teaching teams

Driven by the wave of globalization, both schools, training institutions and enterprises, the demand for foreign teachers continues to grow. Foreign teachers can not only bring authentic language environment, but also broaden students' horizons through cultural exchanges. However, it is not easy to recruit foreign teachers who meet the needs. From qualification examination to teaching style matching, every link needs to be carefully controlled. The following combination of recruitment needs under different scenarios, combing the key steps and practical skills of recruiting foreign teachers, to help you build a high-quality teaching team efficiently.

1. clarify recruitment requirements: precise positioning is the basis for efficient recruitment

Before recruiting foreign teachers, it is necessary to clarify the core requirements of foreign teachers according to the type of organization, student group and teaching objectives, so as to avoid the waste of resources caused by "wide net" recruitment.

1. Determine the language and cultural background according to the student group

Different students have significantly different needs for foreign teachers. For example, kindergarten or primary school English initiation courses are more suitable for foreign teachers who are cheerful and good at interaction. Foreign teachers from English-speaking countries such as Britain, the United States and Canada are more popular because of their pure pronunciation and cultural closeness. For adult business English training, foreign teachers with working experience in multinational enterprises or familiar with specific industries (such as finance and technology) can provide more practical teaching content. A language training institution once recruited a South African foreign teacher who is good at teaching teenagers because it did not specify the needs of the students, which led to the feedback of adult students that "the course is too simple" and finally had to recruit again.

2. Set teaching experience and qualification requirements in combination with teaching objectives

If the goal is to improve students' test-taking ability (such as IELTS and TOEFL), priority should be given to recruiting foreign teachers with relevant examination and guidance experience, familiar with the types of questions and scoring standards; If you focus on oral and cross-cultural communication, you can relax the requirements for examination experience and focus on whether foreign teachers hold international teacher certificates (e. g. TEFL, TESOL) and classroom management skills. For example, when an international school recruits foreign teachers, candidates are required to hold TESOL certificates and have more than 3 years of teaching experience in primary and secondary schools. After strict screening, the teaching satisfaction of new foreign teachers has increased from 70% to 90%.

3. Consider working time and location flexibility

The working hours (full-time/part-time) and working place (offline/online) of foreign teachers need to match the organization arrangement. For example, offline training institutions need to confirm whether foreign teachers accept fixed campus teaching and whether they can adapt to morning and evening classes or weekend scheduling. Online education platforms need to pay attention to the time zone of foreign teachers (such as European and American foreign teachers suitable for domestic evening courses) and network stability. An online education company once recruited an Australian foreign teacher because it did not communicate the time zone in advance. However, due to the conflict with the class time of domestic students, the participation rate of the course was less than 50%.

2. multiple channels to publish recruitment information: expand the reach of high-quality foreign teachers

The channels for recruiting foreign teachers directly affect the quality and quantity of candidates, need to combine budget and demand to choose the most suitable combination.

1. professional foreign teacher recruitment platform: accurate matching of industry resources

domestic platforms such as "foreign teachers in China" and "joint employment of foreign teachers" focus on the field of foreign teacher recruitment, it brings together a large number of foreign teachers who hold valid work permits and international teacher certificates. These platforms usually provide value-added services such as resume screening and video interviews, which can greatly improve recruitment efficiency. For example, after a language school released recruitment information through a professional platform, it received 20 resumes that met the requirements within a week, and finally successfully recruited 3 foreign teachers. The recruitment cycle was shortened from the original 2 months to 1 month.

2. International Exchange Office of Colleges and Universities: Mining High-quality Fresh Graduates Resources

Cooperate with foreign language colleges or international exchange offices of Beijing Foreign Studies University, Shanghai Foreign Studies University and other universities, access to graduating foreign students or exchange students. Although these candidates have limited teaching experience, they have strong language ability, good cultural adaptability, and relatively low salary requirements for new entrants to the workplace, so they are suitable for training as reserve teachers. For example, a training institution cooperates with universities to carry out the "Foreign Teacher Internship Program" to provide teaching training and practical opportunities for foreign students in juniors and seniors. Those with outstanding performance will be retained directly after graduation, which not only reduces recruitment costs, but also ensures teachers. Stability.

3. Social media and industry communities: expanding the scope of information dissemination

Publishing recruitment information on social media platforms such as LinkedIn and Facebook, or join WeChat and QQ communities such as "Foreign Teacher Recruitment" and "International Education" to reach more potential candidates. For example, after an international kindergarten released the recruitment information in the Facebook "Beijing Foreign Teachers Group", it attracted 5 foreign teachers who met the requirements to contact actively through forwarding by members of the group, and 2 of them finally joined the company. In addition, it is also an efficient and low-cost way to encourage existing foreign teachers to forward recruitment information and use "word-of-mouth effect" to attract peers.

3. a strict screening process: ensuring the quality and compliance of foreign teachers

The qualifications and backgrounds of foreign teachers directly affect the quality of teaching and the reputation of the institution, multiple rounds of screening are required to exclude risk candidates.

1. Preliminary screening: verification of basic qualifications and experience

After receiving the resume, focus on the verification of foreign teachers' work permits (such as "Foreigner Work Permit"), international teacher certificates (TEFL/TESOL), academic certificates and proof of teaching experience. For example, when screening resumes, an organization found that the TESOL certificate number provided by a candidate could not be queried in official website. After further verification, it was confirmed that it was a forged certificate, thus avoiding potential risks. In addition, through the teaching description in the resume (such as curriculum design, student feedback), a preliminary assessment of whether the teaching style of the foreign teacher matches the needs of the institution.

2. video interview: observing teaching ability and cultural adaptability

video interview is a key link in evaluating foreign teachers, and it is necessary to design targeted questions and simulate teaching scenarios. For example, foreign teachers can be asked to explain a language point (such as "now and finish") for 10 minutes to observe their teaching logic, interaction and ability to correct mistakes. By asking questions such as "how to deal with students' distraction in class" and "how to design cross-cultural thematic courses", the ability of classroom management and cultural integration is evaluated. In an interview, a school found that although a foreign teacher had strong language ability, he explained grammar in Chinese all the way, which was inconsistent with the "all English immersion" teaching required by the organization, and was not hired in the end.

3. Background check: eliminate security and compliance risks

For foreign teachers who pass the interview, background check is required, includes proof of no criminal record, former employer evaluation and health certificate. For example, during a background investigation, an organization found that a candidate had been fired by a former employer for violating school rules. After further communication, it was confirmed that he had a problem with a careless teaching attitude and terminated the recruitment process in time. In addition, confirm whether the foreign teacher holds a valid work residence permit to avoid being unable to teach legally after entering the job due to visa problems.

4. optimization induction and training: improving the retention rate and teaching level of foreign teachers

Recruiting foreign teachers is only the first step. Through perfect induction support and continuous training, it can help foreign teachers adapt to the environment quickly and improve teaching satisfaction and retention rate.

1. Provide comprehensive onboarding support

Prepare a detailed onboarding manual for foreign teachers, the content includes institutional rules and regulations, syllabus, student information and common life services (such as hospital, supermarket location). Arrange senior foreign teachers or Chinese teachers as "mentors" to help new foreign teachers familiarize themselves with the teaching process and solve life problems. For example, a training institution provides a "one-to-one tutorial system" for new foreign teachers. The tutor communicates with the new foreign teachers once a week to answer their questions about teaching and life. The adaptation period of the new foreign teachers is shortened from the original 2 months to 1 month.

2. Carry out regular teaching training

Organize training regularly according to foreign teachers' teaching feedback and students' evaluation, the content may include the learning characteristics of Chinese students, local cultural taboos, and emerging teaching methods (such as project-based learning). For example, a school conducts a "cross-cultural teaching training" every quarter, inviting cultural experts to explain Chinese festivals, etiquette and other knowledge to help foreign teachers better design cultural integration courses. After the training, the teaching satisfaction of foreign teachers increased from 80% to 95%, and the participation rate of students in cultural courses also increased significantly.

3. Pay attention to the career development and living needs of foreign teachers

Provide promotion channels for foreign teachers (such as promotion from junior teachers to subject leaders), or support them to participate in international teacher seminars, obtain higher-level teacher certificates, and enhance their sense of professional belonging. At the same time, pay attention to the life needs of foreign teachers, such as assisting in handling residence permits, providing housing subsidies or organizing group building activities to improve their life satisfaction. For example, an organization provides foreign teachers with "housing + transportation" subsidies and organizes cultural experience activities once a month (such as visiting museums and learning calligraphy). The retention rate of foreign teachers has increased from 60% to 85%.

the recruitment of foreign teachers needs to take into account "accurate demand matching", "multi-channel information access", "strict screening process" and "continuous entry support" in order to form a high-quality and high-stability teaching team. From defining the recruitment objectives to optimizing the entry experience, the dedication of each link will be transformed into the learning achievements of the students and the promotion of the reputation of the organization.