Job Discussion Forums

[LarssonCrew]

To be honest, and I'm no way affiliated with these guys, why not?

The recruiters often ask alot of you, demo class, tonnes of papers, asking you to jump through hoops, some even ask for demo and several lesson plans, references etc.

It would take a recruiter 5 minutes to sort that out. I can't imagine going to a recruitment consultant in the UK and not getting that sort of info, so why should they not give it to you if they are legit?

[Gummy Bear]

[Bud Powell]

The recruiters often ask alot of you, demo class, tonnes of papers, asking you to jump through hoops, some even ask for demo and several lesson plans, references etc.

For language schools, probably so.

Public universities, rarely. (It might cut down on the riffraff if FTs at universities were required to produce at least some demonstrable ability to teach).

[Bud Powell]

[Bud Powell]

[LarssonCrew]

Same way that a recruiter would find out if my information were true. There's ways to check numbers and check if the information about the current teachers is true.

Most foreigners can spot when a 'English friendly' member of staff who's Chinese fills out the email.

I was majorly screwed over by the first agent who brought me over to China. I was 23, fresh out of law school, came to China, saw a contract, then I came to China and it was a different school who met me at the airport, the contract was changed, single bedroom apartment on my own became 2 bedroom apartment for two teachers to share etc.

The problem was I had already arrived, spent a lot on flights and visa, and I was straight up lied to. What could I have done? Gone home? Wasted 10000 rmb + on flights for a few days in a hotel in Xi'an? No thank you.

[Bud Powell]

Same way that a recruiter would find out if my information were true. There's ways to check numbers and check if the information about the current teachers is true.

The question wasn't directed toward you, but since you answered...

HOW!? Would you call the SAFEA? The Labor Board? The PSB? The Bureau of Foreign Experts? The Bureau of Bureaus? How much cooperation could you expect knowing what you know about China now? What are the chances of your finding someone who speaks English well enough to help you? The City FAO might help you if you were in its office, but long distance?

Recruiters don't check anything, not even passport numbers. I blank out my passport number whenever I apply for jobs. I was hired by one school. The passport passed through the hands of the recruiter, the FAO, and the Ministry of Education, and then the Bureau of Foreign Experts. Nobody realized that no passport number showed in my passport until they had the letter of Invitation started. I have letters of recommendation on university stationary written by professors. NOBODY has ever called the universities.

I'm not picking a fight with anyone. Larssencrew, you have a reason to have a bad taste in your mouth, especially if you did your homework before you agreed to the job. Most of the people to whom I have spoken (not just responded to on forums) found themselves in bad positions because they just didn't do their homework before they left home.

My suggestion for anyone who thinks he wants to teach in China is to ascertain whether he is qualified emotionally, intellectually, and academically to teach at the kind of schools that he targets. When I first investigated China as a possible place of employment, language mills, language schools, etc. were , generally looked down upon as unsafe bets. (This I gleaned from reading numerous forums over a period of nine months). This attitude has changed, probably because the standards for both teacher and the schools have been raised.

I decided that the public universities were my cup. I applied to many areas that sounded good according to comments on forums. I must have looked at and compared forty or fifty contracts and spoke to two dozen recruiters and school FAO's before I settled upon one university. This process took at least six months.

That's how long I suggest one should prepare before he hops on a plane to god-knows-where. If one can't roll with the punches, he shouldn't complain when he gets K.O.'d as soon as he arrives, and he shouldn't expect last-minute answers to questions posed on a forum to ease his mind week before he's a'leavin' on a jet plane.

[Bud Powell]

The problem was I had already arrived, spent a lot on flights and visa, and I was straight up lied to. What could I have done? Gone home? Wasted 10000 rmb + on flights for a few days in a hotel in Xi'an? No thank you.

Did you call the recruiter? It's a good possibility that the school pulled a fast one on the recruiter too.

I found myself in an FAO's office at 12:00 midnight after I had just arrived. The scene was a lot like something out of a Cheech and Chong skit.

"Sign zee papers..."

I called the recruiter in the morning. The recruiter read the FAO the Riot Act.

I had to call the recruiter several times to get the FAO in line. The FAO was new to the job, so she thought it necessary to rule with a lead glove.

Fortunately, I had scoped out the recruiter as well as the school. While one was failing me, the other was knocking the other in line.

[Gummy Bear]

SORRY - DUPLICATE POST

[Yasuke]

Gummy Bear,

Im not sure if you work for the origination or not, but your information is useful…wondering if you have had any success actually vetting a recruiter with the information you are giving.

[muffintop]

Do two sockpuppets talking have the same sound as clapping with one hand?

[Bud Powell]

Sure, I'll take a 5 hour trip to Shanghai to check out my recruiter. Right. Uh huh. Is there a secret pass word or a special handshake involved to get into these places?

I've found TWO glaring errors in the CFTU website that trashes recruiters and recruiting forums. Sorry, I won't be astroturfed into visiting any website associated with CFTU.




***Corrected grammar

[Sir Winston]

[Bud Powell]

[LarssonCrew]

Omg Bud! I teach aviation English too!

We should all do the 'I teach aviation English dance'.