Administrator needed to go back to school
A small, relatively new, international school is looking for a school administrator who has a mature disposition and is interested in working in a stable environment.
The Think International Kindergarten uses the Canadian curriculum and is devoted to the education of local and expatriate Hong Kong children in English and Putonghua.
'We started three years ago and we now run [classes] from kindergarten and from [primary school] Grade One to Grade Four,' said kindergarten principal Lily Choy.
'Right now, we have more than 60 boys and girls but might well have 100 by September. We are one family and address the curriculum according to the individual, so we are able to follow up the individual needs of the children.
'The school is new and, until now, we used teaching staff for this job.
'However, we found that we needed to split up responsibilities to make this more effective,' Ms Choy said.
Applicants should bear in mind that whoever lands this role would be asked to serve as an office administrator in a school environment.
'You will work as a kind of general manager - someone who is responsible for the operation of the school, not in terms of the academic side of things but in terms of the operation of the office, the maintenance of the school and being in contact with the children's parents,' she said.
As day-to-day duties will see the incumbent spending most of the time answering inquiries from parents of all nationalities, applicants should be fluent in Chinese and English.
Applicants should possess enough Cantonese to manage a team of five staff and must be comfortable supervising and arranging jobs for the kindergarten's drivers, cleaners and cooks.
Ms Choy said the ideal candidate would be someone who was mature, pleasant and flexible.
'When somebody makes a complaint, you must be able to handle things in a pleasant way and be happy to smooth out problems rather than make them bigger,' she said.
'You should think about things in positive ways and communicate with parents and the teaching staff.'
Although it is not necessary to have a degree, it will certainly help weigh the balance in your favour.
At least five years of work experience and a strong business background are also definite pluses.
'This doesn't have to be administrative-side experience but, of course, if you have office administration experience that would be great,' Ms Choy said.
Although promotion prospects were limited, she said that the role enjoyed the distinct advantage of being in a very stable environment.