Job Discussion Forums

[True Blue]

I personally was lucky to get a fairly decent recruiter whose sins were limited to bringing me to China on an F visa, a trick that doesn't work any longer. But I just pulled this out of my inbox from a colleague which I thought is worth sharing with uni grads with an eye on teaching ESL in China.

"When I read this I got immediate flashbacks to some bad memories when I first came to teach my first gig in China 8 years ago. I would have paid $100 for this info bag then. The only thing different today is that the scam artists are not 100% Chinese - maybe only 50%. This is one post you should probably share with all of your friends and teacher colleagues planning on coming to China soon...

SPOTTING THE BAD APPLES BEFORE EATING ONE:

Put your recruiter to the smell test with these 10 Red Flags that indicate they are not to be trusted and are probably a shady unlicensed China job agent or worse still, an identity thief...

1. They cannot provide you a scan (not a photo) of their SAIC license issued by the Chinese government

2. They refuse to provide you their street address or a land line telephone number that can be traced in the event of a problem

3. They refuse to provide you a scan of their passport and/or government ID card that provides their real and full legal names - yet they demand that you send your passport scan to them!

4. They cannot produce an invitation letter clearly stating you need a Z VISA to work in China and/or tell you that you do not need a bachelors degree to work in China as a teacher

5. They tell you it is okay and just fine to come to work in China on an L, F, M, or X visa and you can convert it once you arrive in China.

6. They tell you that you MUST have a TEFL, TESOL, or CELTA certificate to work in China (Not true)

7. They offer to sell you a fake diploma, TEFL certificate, or letter certifying prior work experience (Any of these will get you jailed and deported)

8. They change the subject when you ask them the direct questions above.

9. They will not answer the above questions in a written email - only verbally on the telephone.

10. They tell you they will answer all of your questions only AFTER you send them your resume and passport scan!

Remember that 1 in every 5 foreign teacher applicants become an identity theft victim within 6 months of applying for a job in China. See: http://open.salon.com/blog/china_business_central/2013/03/13/phony_china_recruiters_now_target_5000_expats_monthly_1

So before even shooting off or uploading your resume, read this first: http://chinascamwatch.wordpress.com

For the current 2014/2015 China foreign teacher requirements contact your own embassy, the nearest Chinese consulate or embassy or read here in English: http://open.salon.com/blog/china_business_central/2014/09/07/new_china_foreign_employee_teacher_requirements_now_strict

The average China scam recruiter makes an average of $30,000 a month creating legal visa problems for others and although they may offer you some teaching job, you will become an illegal alien in China if you do not arrive in China with a Z visa already in your passport. If you take a pass on their low-paying job offers, they will still profit from you by selling your personal information to an identity thief. When all is said in done, this here is the link you should bookmark and read every time you are contacted by an unknown agent or recruiter related in any way to China...

https://chinascamreport.wordpress.com/2014/12/02/2015-china-tefl-esl-ap-school-job-recruiter-blacklist

[nashboroguy]

One thing I did before coming to China was to block out any "identity theft" information with painter's tape. It removes very easily form papers and documents. I told the recruiters and schools that I would provide them a clean version only after I had contracts, invitation letters and other documents in hand.

[3701 W.119th]

One thing I did before coming all the way to China was to research openly-available employment laws and regulations for the country, and then I ensured I adhered to them. Sounds hard? Really very simple, actually. 5 or 10 minutes, and an internet connection. This thread is pointless.

TB will be banned in a few days. We'll see him again in a few weeks.

[True Blue]

Finding China labor law links in English that are current is not easy and most young kids don't think to do that. If they get lucky they stumble upon Dave's eslcafe or a link like this http://scam-detector.com/forums/forum/employment-scams/192-3-ways-to-avoid-a-china-job-scam-recruiter-for-esl-tefl-ap-foreign-teachers

[nomad soul]

[BleedingBlue]

I'd like to see the flip-side of this coin. Let's see the 10-signs of teacher fraud - fake diplomas, home-made computer generated degrees, falsification of resumes, etc. That's a bit more exciting to me. But, I'm sure, nobody will come up with that since foreigners here are all candy, spice, and innocent beyond angelic abilities and it's "everyone else's fault" when it comes right down to it, right?

At one point I was the so-called head teacher, with recruiting, hiring duties. I'm happy to provide you a name list of those that provided fake/lies credentials as well as, unfortunately, one that got by us, and detected the fake degree (degree never obtained) only after nearly a year on the job.

Everyone comes around here touting the evils of "the man" and points out names, addresses, and so on. Maybe we should balance the scales and provide the equal frauds on the teacher side. I have no problem providing the names and PROOF of fake qualifications - it's easy to get a university to verify a degree or verify attendance, graduation and so on. I can provide 100% proof of my "claims" as they will be called by others.

Let's be fair and balanced.

[Non Sequitur]

Direct me to the recruiter chat site where no doubt they dish on bad FTs.

[The_Kong]

[water rat]

[The_Kong]

[Non Sequitur]

Bleeding does!
Kinda like Bizzaro World.
My fave post on the recruiter chat site would be:
'Hey these FT dorks still swallow the one about the L visa - right?'

[Bud Powell]

I think TB's days are numbered, and he knows it.

[True Blue]

[Bud Powell]

[True Blue]