HeyMath! Consultant: Chu
I have been working in Heymath for 4 months and a bit now. Overall it has been really fun. The company was going through a major transition period, after being mentioned in the New York Times. The key emphasis is currently on adding voice to the existing lessons. Enabling voice in lessons is a fun yet strenuous task. We have to write the scripts first, then go to a studio to record the voice. After that, we need to edit the audio files and add them to the lesson. It might sound quite complicated, but once you get the hang of it, it is not that tedious. Also, there are plenty of people to ask, if you ever get stuck.
Now it comes to the thing I liked the most about the company so far, the people. Every one in the company is very friendly and helpful. They provide me with help when I really need them. At the same time they are not too overwhelming so that it causes me to feel uncomfortable. This year, there are 4 of us from Cambridge, John (who has been in the company for more than 3 years), Daniel, Matthew and me. The rest are all Indians. As I mentioned earlier, everyone gets along really well..
Chennai is an interesting city, on the east coast of India. There is a (average) beach about 40 mins walk from the office. There is also a much better one (Mahabalipuram) about one and a half hours bus ride away. The city itself is rather quiet, not many pubs and bars; no where as modernized as London. However, it does have everything else you will need Shopping malls, supermarkets, cinemas, restaurants etc.
The living cost here is rather low, with the salary we get life is pretty comfortable. Back in the apartment, everything is pretty much well sorted. The room size is very reasonable. To the least, they are much larger than the average college rooms in Cambridge. Bathrooms are en suite and in addition, there are people to come to clean the apartment regularly as well (a very nice plus for people still wish to have their bedder around).
The everyday work in the office is quite diverse. It varies from creating tests for students, planning student activities, making lessons, quality checking other peoples' work, writing script for the voices, adding audio to lessons, etc. The online lessons etc are all produced with macromedia flash, which is quite easy to learn, and yet very powerful and practical.
In short, working in Heymath is suitable for people who:
- Want a break after university
- Wish to see a different part of the world
- Want to have a taste of what online teaching is
- Wish to become a teacher but not yet decided
- Or just simply looking for a unique, challenging as well as enjoyable job
