Update 04-02-2019: I am no longer connected with Bizmates and I have no plans coming back to the ESL industry. Nevertheless, I am retaining this blog entry because Bizmates is still the best online English school I've worked with. If you have questions, please ask Bizmates your referrers directly.
This blog entry will talk about the company I’m with. I’ll talk about our founders, the people behind the operations, and the steps I went through the hiring process last November 2014. Before discussing the hiring process, I’ll talk about how I discovered Bizmates and the experiences I went through prior to my application.
THE COMPANY AND OUR CLIENTS
I’m an English trainer at Bizmates
Philippines, Inc. (Bizmates for brevity). Bizmates is the first and only online
Business English school involved in the training of Japanese individuals
seeking to succeed in their careers using the English language.1 Since English is an international
communication tool, our goal is
to help our students succeed in global business.2 In a
nutshell, we teach Business English through Skype to Japanese students using
our Bizmates modules. We have different kinds of students like corporate
employees, self-employed specialists, and soon-to-be professionals such as
Senior university students.
OUR FOUNDERS
Our boss and co-founder, Mr.
Hika Ito is our Chief Quality Officer. He is the creator of the
Bizmates Program. He is a Japanese national who was born and raised in Canada,3 which explains why he speaks English very well. He is really cool and of
course, credible. His credibility is a good marketing tool for our prospect
students to enroll in Bizmates. Our Filipina co-founder, Ms. Minette Francisco
is also very approachable. She is our Chief Operating Officer. I really like
the way she drafted our contract and company provisions because they are worded
simply. She also taught us a lot about integrity.
OUR
TRAINER SUPPORT
Our Trainer Support team is very
efficient and effective in assisting our trainers. I must say that they are
high-caliber professionals especially that they really know their job. So what
do they do? Let’s say if some companies have Customer Support to assist their
customers, then we also have our Trainer Support that assist us through Skype.
HOW
I DISCOVERED BIZMATES
To my friends and
acquaintances who are reading this, most of you know that I used to be
with RareJob before
working with Bizmates. To others, the reasons are not yet clear why I left
RareJob especially that I was comfortable with them, their teaching methods,
and of course, my loyal students. I was hesitant of leaving at first especially
that I’ve been with the company for three years. I learned about Bizmates
through a mutual friend on Facebook4 last August 2014, while reviewing for the bar exams. I’ve heard many good things about Bizmates
that is why I was not surprised to know that many are interested. Some of the
people I met on Facebook applied, however they were not shortlisted for initial
demo or interview. Upon knowing about this, I realized that Bizmates must have
a very stringent screening of applicants. Last September 3, 2014, I stopped
teaching at RareJob while keeping my inactive status. I used my vacant time to
refresh on my bar materials in preparation for the 2014 Bar Exams last October.
There were times that I can’t stop thinking about Bizmates during the last
month of my bar review. In fact, I find the offer of their recruitment video
very attractive that is why I mentioned my plans of applying after the bar
exams to my family, co-tutors and my fellow bar examinees. I even asked advice from my
brother and sister-in-law on how to be shortlisted. I celebrated my 33rd birthday last October 28, 2014, thanking God that the bar exams were
over. I was also happy that I was ready to move on. After a lot of
soul-searching, I submitted my Pre-Termination Notice to RareJob through
e-mail. They replied to me on the same day, informing me that it would take 3
working days to have my profile removed from their website.
So, why did I leave my former
company? Well, I like my former company but my then prospect company (Bizmates)
offers higher pay and their contract meets the legalities that I want. So, I
took the risk of leaving RareJob, hoping to be shortlisted at Bizmates. Now that I’m with
them, I’m happy.
THE
HIRING PROCESS
Last November 3,
2014 I immediately applied at Bizmates. I really indicated in the online
application form that I am serious with my application that is why I made sure
that by the time I apply, I’m no longer connected with their competitor or any
other online English schools. I received their e-mail the next day,
November 4, 2014, asking me to book an interview. I had my initial demo last
November 12, 2014 with one of the recruitment specialists. He’s actually very
nice to me and he endorsed me for materials training with one of our mentors
last November 17, 2014. After passing the materials training, I was endorsed
for final demo with our Quality Assurance Head last November 24, 2014. Last
November 25, 2014, I announced to my friends that I got the job as an English
Trainer at Bizmates. The hiring process I went through took three weeks,
although some trainers who were hired ahead of me were able to teach in two
weeks from their application. The reason why the hiring process took a while is
because of the high number of applicants. As you’ve noticed, the gaps of the
demos I went through range from 5 to 9 days. As to the prospect trainers, who
knows? Maybe you’ll experience faster hiring process. As of now, we’re still in
need of trainers. So, if you have the qualifications and technical
requirements,5 we
encourage you to apply.6
My explanation may be lengthy but
still limited as
to what type of questions the interviewers would ask and sample materials we
use. I did not even mention the names of our key persons because I am not
sure whether it’s proper to tell. I cannot disclose everything otherwise, I
might be liable for the crime of revelation of industrial secrets under the
Revised Penal Code.
THE
THINGS I LIKE ABOUT WORKING WITH BIZMATES
Last January 28, 2015, I got the position as one of the assessors. So
now, I’m a trainer-assessor. One of our mentors at Bizmates and my close
friends can really tell that I enjoy teaching Business English. Aside from
the perks of having a flexible schedule, handsome pay, less hassle from commuting, and
efficient administration, I can apply the concepts I learned in law school
especially Commercial Law! We can talk about sales, insurance, intellectual
property, and even income tax. I used to dread these topics way back in law
school and during the bar review because I find them too technical. But
now, I can’t believe that I am discussing these things with my students who are
CPAs, patent attorneys, and soon-to-be professionals who will work in banks and
insurance companies. Well, I used to be an HR Staff from a company which
distributes Nestlé products but I have very few students belonging to the HR
department, that is why I cannot relate much of my past work experience. Most
of our students choose trainers who can relate to their field of expertise. For
example, software engineers would choose trainers who have background in
Information Technology, Computer Science, or other related fields. Physicians
would choose trainers who are also physicians, nurses, medical technologists or
other related fields.
I must also say that Bizmates has
changed me from having an apathetic attitude to being a compassionate and
sensitive trainer. There was even a time that I went through the extra mile to
apologize to my student for my shortcomings. As the saying goes, “A little
humility can go a long way.” From the way I assess myself, I must say that I
may not be that good BUT the reason why my students rebook my slots is because
they can see that when I teach, I put my heart into our lessons. The more I
research and teach, the more I learn new things.
So, my blog entry ends here. I hope you
are enlightened with my post.
To know more about Bizmates, please check the sources below.
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