Speaking Success System

TeacherMark

This Los Angeles based remote English school engages in unfair hiring practices. After applying though Indeed.com, I was immediately sent an online grammar test, which I easily passed. I was then sent an opportunity for a face-to-face interview. Their headquarter is located in the Los Angeles time zone, so I had to stay up until 2:00 am, since I am in Beijing time. I had to stay up for their nearly hour-long interview even though most of their online students, as I was told by them, are in Japan! So, why don't they accommodate the applicants by adjusting their interview times to conform to the Japanese time zone?

During the interview I was first told, by Joel I believe, how pleased and happy he was that I appeared 15 minutes early for the interview. He then explained how amazed he was by my comprehensive resume, with over twenty-two years of experience. He was very pleasant and went on to discuss how the business came into existence and how he and his sister, Judy, acquired the business from their father (or something to that effect).

He then proceeded to have me give a mock lesson concerning material that had been provided by his sister Judy, where I had to explain the usage of modal verb expressions such as, must have, might have, could have, and just "was." He said I did very well and commended me on my presentation, noting how well I had prepared by even making a chart to show the relations of these expressions. So that was actually the big test. At one point, however, I was asked to explain the difference between "maybe" and "may be." I was caught a little off guard, since I have never dealt with this before. I told him the expressions have two different meanings, and I tried to give example sentences that showed the difference in meanings. I gave, "He might come, maybe." and something like "He may be here tomorrow." While the first sentence would have been better expressed as "Maybe he will come," it still got the point across that the meanings were quite different. I only later realized that "maybe" was an adverb, while "may be" was the main verb structure of the sentence. In any real-life situation, I would just take a moment to research the situation on my cell phone, which would take no longer than a few seconds. My exhibiting a little clumsiness here was the only thing I feel I could have been slighted for.

After that, there was just more discussion to get to know me. It was mostly just like small talk and pleasant. At one point he asked me what my greatest weakness was, and I explained that I wasn't so good at coming up with activities off the top of my head, in that I mostly like to do serious teaching. He said that wasn't a problem, since this was an online job, and they supplied their own materials. Therefore, he gave me the feeling I would be hired by telling me that was no problem. I explained I would be a good candidate since I was near the same time zone as Japan. He then took the time to check on his own and found to his contentment that I was only one hour away. Here again, I was certainly given the impression that I would be hired by his verifying on his own that my time zone was only one hour different from Japan's!

At no time did I feel any negativism or that I hadn't preformed quite well, and I received essentially complements and kudos throughout the interview! The three children and their father who live with me all stayed awake during the interview and listened in the background, and all were happy that I did so well.

However, about a week passed without any notice, so I asked them what the results were, and here is the massage I received:

"Hi Mark,

I hope you've been well, and thank you again for taking the time to interview with us.

I apologize for the delay in getting back to you, I've been struggling a bit with my health.

At this time, we aren't able to extend an offer to you, but we wish you the very best of luck in all your future endeavors.



Take care,
Judy"

I was greatly disappointed, to say the least, and actually traumatized. I feel there are no words to describe how loathsome these individuals are to put people through all of this, give them positive vibes, and then not hire them. They are pure scum in my opinion. Don't work for them! They don't deserve you.