Confusing Interview

[markclover]

So I have a degree in Business English, the TESOL and experience teaching at universities.  The Business Degree is exactly what they need.  They don't need marketing, they don't need accounting.  They need someone with an English Degree.  I went for a job interview and there were ten people going for the same job.

 

In the first few emails they asked me for 300 baht for ''administration fees''.  So I paid it.

 

The job is English Teacher / English Lecturer.

 

The following races were in the waiting room:

 

Filipino woman

Filipino man

Filipino man

Malaysian woman

Indian man

Thai man

African man

African man

British man (me)

 

So they gave the job to the Malaysian woman.

 

I spent 6 years of my life to get to that point, and a non-native came along and somehow lands the job.

 

These people can barely speak English, and they get a job teaching English at a university.

[Lemsta69]

from what I've read it's been trending that way for some time so why is this a surprise to you?

[Will B Good]

Maybe she had other attributes?

[userabcd]

So they gave the job to someone who met their standards, who fit in with their requirements.

 

It sound like entitlement and complaining as one who did not leave an impression with the potential employer.

 

Just have to keep trying at getting employed where you will fit in.

[greenmonkey]

why are they asking candidates to pay 300 baht for the privilege of applying for a job!? Honestly... talk about 'Thailand only'

[Will B Good]

I recall from my days of doing an MBA a lecturer explaining most interviewers make a yes/no decision within the first 30 seconds of an interview. The rest of the interview is then structured to support that choice.......frightening.!

[fdsa]

If it is a serious university they might just do not want the hurdles of reporting your employment and paying taxes to your home country, and a Malaysian woman could have had a Thai passport which significantly simplifies the legal stuff.

[worgeordie]

They were cheaper , and good enough for the job.

regards Worgeordie

[orchis]

These jobs attract another demographic nowadays mainly for budget reasons and you seem to fall out of it.
I think you are looking in the wrong place(s).

[Swiss1960]

1 hour ago, markclover said:

I spent 6 years of my life to get to that point, and a non-native came along and somehow lands the job.

 

These people can barely speak English, and they get a job teaching English at a university

Something in the package you presented was inferior to the package of the chosen candidate... maybe your salary request, but given your mail, it might just be your attitude... 

[StayinThailand2much]

In Thailand, hiring teachers is not about qualifications, skills, experience, proficiency, or accent.

 

It's about:

1. cheapest

2. female, if possible

3. youngest

4. 'most handsome' in the eyes of the interviewer(s).

 

The OP didn't get the job as employers always prefer female applicants, no matter her qualifications, English proficiency, etc. The Malaysian woman probably had a higher English proficiency (accent, grammar skills) than the Filipina. Or maybe she was younger and more attractive. (If there had been a Russian or Swedish woman, asking for the same salary, then that applicant would 'automatically' have gotten the job.)

 

The OP didn't have a chance with two female applicants in the room. With only male applicants, the job would have gone to the applicant with the lowest salary expectation.

[KhaoNiaw]

All the others "can barely speak English"? Really? Maybe the Malaysian woman has a degree in English and 10 years' experience teaching in universities. Maybe she was more qualified than you.  Standard Malaysian English (as opposed to Manglish) is not so different to standard British English, mainly it's in the pronunciation. Maybe her English is fine for international environments and met the criteria they were looking for. Or maybe they could just pay her less?

[scubascuba3]

Op, who was the best looking Malaysian woman or Filipino woman? i suspect the interviewer preferred the Malaysian

[HappyExpat57]

The 300 baht up front fee should have been enough of an indicator that something was fishy.

[Sparktrader]

1 hour ago, Will B Good said:

I recall from my days of doing an MBA a lecturer explaining most interviewers make a yes/no decision within the first 30 seconds of an interview. The rest of the interview is then structured to support that choice.......frightening.!

Personality mostly

[jak2002003]

Hmmmm.   

I spotted a few grammatical mistakes in the OP's post.  I was a bit surprised considering his opinion that he was by far the the best candidate for the job.

 

His post come across as rather entitled and a tad arrogant, not to mention raciest.

 

Maybe his manner  also came across like that in the interview and gave his potential employers a bad impression?  Or, maybe he simply asked for too much money? 

 

 

[CharlieH]

Nothing confusing, welcome to Thailand.

 

She ticked the boxes for them, you didnt.

Move on to the next, that one wasnt meant to be.

[FriendlyFarang]

3 hours ago, markclover said:

So they gave the job to the Malaysian woman.

 

I spent 6 years of my life to get to that point, and a non-native came along and somehow lands the job.

Maybe she has an education degree, and is thus (at least on paper) more qualified than you.

[tgw]

@OP:

would you like to work for an employer making such recruitment choices ?

 

I didn't think so...

[Nickelbeer]

3 hours ago, Swiss1960 said:

Something in the package you presented was inferior to the package of the chosen candidate... maybe your salary request, but given your mail, it might just be your attitude... 

If she was an attractive female, that's likely what made the difference. Expecting fairness in a job interview in Thailand is just asking for disappointment.

[Moonlover]

5 hours ago, markclover said:

I spent 6 years of my life to get to that point, and a non-native came along and somehow lands the job.

Who are you calling a 'non-native' sir?

[itsari]

46 minutes ago, Moonlover said:

Who are you calling a 'non-native' sir?

I am uneducated but i know what the person was saying . Many schools ask for native speaking English teachers . Got it ?

[Moonlover]

5 minutes ago, itsari said:

I am uneducated but i know what the person was saying . Many schools ask for native speaking English teachers . Got it ?

I wasn't asking you. Got it?

[KhaoNiaw]

17 minutes ago, itsari said:

I am uneducated but i know what the person was saying . Many schools ask for native speaking English teachers . Got it ?

But the OP didn't say they were asking for native English speakers. He just thinks as a native English speaker he was entitled to the job over someone whose language may be as good as his and whose qualifications could be better (because "Business English" is hardly likely to be master's level is it).
Anyway, not running away from a job that he had to pay to go to an interview for was probably his major mistake. 

[Slip]

Nonsense springing from an overactive sense of entitlement.  Sad really.

[DavisH]

If this is a college/university, they may prefer an applicant with a higher degree - a step higher than those of the students you are teaching. So at least a Masters may be required for teaching bachelo degree students.  Perhaps the successful applicant had that? 

[metisdead]

A post with a racial slur comment toward people from the Mediterranean region and the Middle East has been reported and removed.

 

A grammar police post has been reported and removed.

[Iamfalang]

17 hours ago, markclover said:

In the first few emails they asked me for 300 baht for ''administration fees''.  So I paid it.

I would never consider this company.   It's a company, they are for-profit, let's not kid ourselves.

 

Dude, yo, yo, my man, listen up..........There are like a Bil of peeps who speak English as their 1 language on this big rock.......some of them ain't no good at it, and some from the non-non-non are actually more EDUCATED, PROFESSIONAL, and a better fit for certain companies.  

 

I remember a school hired a native for a teaching job; he showed up, smoked around the students, talked soft (students couldn't hear him), and never smiled.  He was fired after one day.

 

But he can speak the tongue!!!!!?!??!?!!?    yea, it gets you the interview.....maybe....that's it.  

[cdemundo]

One of the big advantages of a teacher that is a Native English Speaker is that beginning students can model their pronunciation on their teacher and as a result will speak English with a more easily understood accent.

I think this is less important at the post-secondary level.

That ship (learning pronunciation) has sailed by this time, speakers of English as a foreign language probably have formed their pronunciation habits by the time they reach university.

Having a natural accent is the only facet of language ability that I know of where a native speaker will (nearly) always be better than a non-native speaker.  

 

 

[simon43]

Sounds like you dodged a bullet.  Move on, (after you request the return of your 300 baht, which is definitely what I would do if the employer wants to avoid unwanted bad publicity...)