Job Discussion Forums

[dmk1967]

A few weeks back I saw this job advertised, MOD EDIT. I emailed them to confirm the "visa support" part (so many jobs say this but in the end reject me because I need the visa) and they replied pretty promptly so I went ahead and sent them my resume. They replied back with an application for me to complete, which I did. Last week they followed up by sending me a questionnaire to complete; it had some bizarre questions on it, like "If you don't get hired for this job, why do you think that happened?" But, I completed/emailed back. Today I received the following email saying I'm hired and please send 773 bp (note that I have yet to speak to anyone directly via Skype or phone):

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Congratulations to you (my first/last name here, which makes it appear like it was automatically generated),

You have been offered a position as an ESL English Teacher at Adult Care Assessment Limited. Attached is the offer for employment. Please find the detailed employment information in the attached job offer letter.

Please fill the attachments; VAF-9 Appendix5 and the VAF9-PD, return these along with the signed job offer letter.
Note: we could provide assistance in filling out both forms.

Upon confirming your job offer letter, we would need to finalize your visa processing. You should provide us the following:
1) Soft copy of your Passport Data Page
2) Soft copy of your Passport Photograph with white background
3) Soft copy of an official document confirming your provided address
4) Your nearest British High Commission in your current location
5) Payment confirmation of 773 Great Britain Pounds

Above cost includes:
Tier 2 working VISA application fee 575 GBP
Solicitor fee 125 GBP
DBS criminal check 44 GBP
Courier Charges of Hard Copies 29 GBP

Make payment to (bunch of bank account info here)

Upon confirmation of the above requirements, we would further on with the preparation of all you need to start your work in the UK.

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I find this whole thing rather bizarre. In addition to not speaking to anyone via Skype along with everything else that goes with getting hired (sample lesson plan, references), I tried to find info on both of these places and, while nothing screams "scam" per se (a whois lookup reveals it's registered in the UK, not Russia or Nigeria), the recruitment website does have some bad English throughout the site. I managed to find a website for "Adult Care Assessment" which does have both the recruitment agency and the teaching job shown on their "careers" page, MOD EDIT, but on further searching I came across some legal postings stating this is a "dormant" company.

So...is this a scam? My first instinct was to email the address on that website but the whole site could be fake as well (doesn't really come across the same as all the other English training organization websites I've seen).

[spiral78]

No actual school in the UK is going to try to jump through the significant legal hoops to get a work visa for a non-EU citizen. THIS IS A SCAM.

DO NOT SEND ANY MONEY.

Even extremely highly qualified and experienced non-UK teachers can't compete with the numerous locals who want the jobs. It's simply not logical and THIS IS NOT A REAL OFFER.

Please note that NO job offer requiring 'visa' fees up front is real.

[dmk1967]

[spiral78]

Sure, if you want to be altruistic. It won't get you anything, but you might help save someone else - as you did by posting this BS here!

[TeacherTim]

I've done a few searches and they are registered on Company House, but their address of

Tech Center Limited
209 Edgware Road,
London
W2 1ES

is actually a mobile phone shop, unless, they have premises above. Either way seems a bit dodgy as from personal experience it only takes a morning to register a company.

Agreed, avoid. Plenty of local applicants or EU citizens could fill that position. Recruiting from overseas makes no sense at all.

Update

Just checked out two job ads they've done. Both pay over the odds and have a housing allowance. In fact, they're more or less identical, except one is in Sussex and the other in Texas!

Their website is also very unprofessional and hosted in Denmark.