Job Discussion Forums

[EnglishTutorBeijing55]

Hey fellow ESL teachers/English teachers,

Recently my friend has been thrown in jail due to the police cracking down on foreign teachers here in Beijing, working illegally. Needless to say, he was working for Rebecca Tang and was recruited by Eric Winder in America from a website called <www.BeijingTeach.com>

90% of what that website shows you is bullshit. DO NOT BELIEVE IT. If you know anyone applying or is currently working for her, tell them to ditch the contract and find an alternative AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. REBECCA TANG IS A BAD PERSON WITH BAD INTENTIONS. The website claims "free accomodation" this is a lie, she takes it out of your paycheck and uses it toward your rundown apartment without sheets, utensiles for the kitchen, shitty wifi, NOTHING. She is also taking more than 60% of what you earn and if you do not have a college degree she will want you to buy a fake one and she'll "handle the rest". DO NOT DO IT. The police will catch you as they are becoming more strict here in Beijing. My friend was working one day and the police did a sweep of the complex he was working in and they detained him in a cell for more than seven hours then was questioned then put in prison for two weeks. Rebecca Tang did nothing to aid him.

It's on both ends of the spectrum, DO NOT TRUST ERIC WINDER OR REBECCA TANG. THESE ARE BAD PEOPLE. THEY WANT TO SCAM YOU.

It has cost my friend more than enough time, money and frustration dealing with all of this and she still didn't pay him what's owed him after a month's work and he was also deported.

Consider your future in China.

GET AWAY FROM HER WHILE YOU CAN.

[Dan123]

Hah, I'm sure I tried using that website over a year ago before my first job. I was adamant about needing a work visa for me to be willing to accept any job, and he (Eric?) kept feeding me bullshit about how hardly nobody in China has a work visa and that if I'm not willing to accept this "small" thing (working without a visa), then I should choose to work in another country because China isn't for me

edit: yeah, found the old email

[Markness]

Sounds like a recruiter I used when I first came to China, "Buttland", er should I say Buckland. They do the exact same crap. Try to get you in on a business visa. Make you go to hainan to get a Z visa that is only supposed to be for there. Give you a "free" apartment. They gave similar to a university salary but the schools were paying them in the range of 12-14k RMB a month. I also intercepted an e-mail that they accidentally sent to me. Pretty much saying that they like to keep the "laowai" in the dark. The missus translated for me and wrote back to them saying how rude they are. They said that they were "just joking". They have the perfect business model in the sense that they tell the schools that the laowai are unpredictable and unstable and that they are needed in order to keep them going. In reality, we arrive in the city and are making much lower money than the average teacher and teaching farmers children English, which is akin to pulling teeth. This causes teachers to bail after a semester since there is nothing to keep them there.

The owner of the company is in jail now so karma has bit them in the arse. But you cut the hydra's head off and two more spawn. These recruiters I tell ya..

[Plume D'ella Plumeria]

Rebecca Tang is pure evil. I once had an unpleasant encounter with her. Her hair, clothing and eyes resembled those of a witch. The hair was parted in the middle and pulled tight. The dress she wore was long, loose, flowing and patterned in an odd way. Her eyes glittered in an alarming way. She was cold, aloof and dismissive.

Thankfully, I chose not to work with her; her demeanor was just that scary.

She seems to change her first name the way others change their socks - pun not intended. Last I heard, she had incarnated herself into "Olivia." She seems to like poly-syllabic first names. The next one could be Merry-go-round for all I know.

Stay far away from her. She is a crook and has no one's best interest at heart other than her own. And that would be spelled S-C-A-M.

[listerialysin]

It's simple. A work visa is a work visa. A visitor visa is a visitor visa. Anyone stupid enough to not follow the law (easily readable online) and unable to use common sense deserves what they get.

[Simon in Suzhou]

Really, it's very simple.

-Don't go to work ANYWHERE in China without a Z-visa in hand. PERIOD.

If you don't have the minimum qualifications to get a Z-visa, then everything that happens to you is on your own head. Working illegally is asking to be taken advantage of. There is no honor among thieves. Duh.

[buravirgil]

I couldn't access <www.BeijingTeach.com> without turning on the vpn. Maybe this company has already gained some attention from Chinese authorities.

Based in the United States as East-West LLC. Listed by the BBC (Better Business Bureau), but not accredited, and accorded an A-rating because no complaints have been filed.

I think warning people on the ESL Cafe is cool, but depending on what you friend wants, they have some choices. Recuperating a loss is possible given the breaches of contract are so blatant, but it requires an effort of finding a lawyer willing to work on contingency that sees it as worth their time. Which is a matter of their discerning the likelihood East-West would quickly settle to have this particular case "go away", and your friend would likely have to agree to non-disclosure as they've been compensated for their loss.

I'll add much of the OP is bloated by a well-meaning rhetoric that isn't the fact-based summary potentially interesting to a lawyer. A time-line of simple facts will best serve your friend.

[albalburge]

I could not agree with this more. I've heard so much trash spouted by people about BeijingTeach and Winder. I came over to China through BeijingTeach over 2 years ago. I was a graduate with no prior teaching experience. I was given the exact low down by Eric as to what someone in my position could and should expect from china, and in particular Beijing. There were no lies, no BS. The thing is I was honest to him about my qualifications and my intentions of being in China; which was to gain experience of teaching regarding becoming a qualified teacher in the UK. Eric was always upfront and honest about the process and what I should expect. I got exactly what was promised; a job with an average local salary (for Beijing) and an apartment (decent area, decent location) within the third ring road. It wasn't the Ritz but it was somewhere to bed down while settling in. What do some people expect? To come straight from college/uni in the states or UK and walk straight into a 20000 RMB teaching job and a cute little house in Gulou without ever having set foot in a classroom before?
Please. Be honest with yourselves. I've met too many people who complain about recruiters etc. Be honest about your intentions and your ambitions before hitting out at people who are honest enough about wanting to recruit you for business purposes. BeijingTeach is a recruiter; it's not a jobs creation program or educational aid initiative. It's a business. I got a good enough job and a soft enough landing in china through them, and some good honest up-front advice to go with that. Nothing more and nothing less. I'd recommend them to anyone wanting to come over to China for the first time. What you do with your life and career once you get here is up to you. As someone who has been there and got the t-shit, so to speak, I'd certainly say Beijingteach is well worth talking to and considering.
Rant over. DO YOUR HOMEWORK. Don’t blame recruiters for your unrealistic expectations not being met.

[Dan123]

[Markness]

[Hermosillo]