Job Discussion Forums

[evaforsure]

Whether the general use of recruiters is wise or not could be measured by the amount of pay they can secure for the applicant. It is my contention that recruiters make their money on the numbers and not on the individual negotiation. To negotiate a raise of 200 to 500 RMB would make a heck of a difference in a month's pay but will yield little in the way of additional commission for the agent so they will often push the applicant to make the first deal and not hold out for higher pay. The main reason to not use a recruiter is they have their own interest at heart. Remember, that is your money the organization pays the "headhunter".

[AussieGuyInChina]

[clark.w.griswald]

The great majority of recruiters of foreign teachers operate just as you have outlined - they get a fixed payment based upon the successful introduction of an applicant. They don't care how much you get paid as that is between you and the school. If you two agree then the deal is done, if not then the recruiter doesn't get paid.

I have also indicated a number of times in the past that it may be worth employing a recruiter to act as an agent for you. As it is the school pays the recruiter so there is little incentive for the recruiter to negotiate your pay beyond simple negotiations. If the teacher paid the recruiter and there was a guarantee that the school would not pay that recruiter for you placement, then you would the customer and you could therefore dictate how much you wanted. The downside of course is whether or not the school thinks that you are worth the money.

To my mind a head hunter is someone who recruits people with talent and finds work as per their salary requirements, while a recruiter just places teachers. I doubt that most head hunting organizations would have an interest in handling foreign teacher placements as the salaries are not high and therefore neither would the head hunters commission.

[OGFT]

Clark this sound far fetched. Do you know of anyone who has hired a headhunter or recruiter (same thing to me) to represent them in salary negotiations.

[seperley]

I was hired by a school through what I thought was the FAO. It turned out that it was not the FAO but an agent using the FAO's email. I accepted the position based upon the agent's alleged firsthand experience with the school.

I had already agreed to the contract when the agent tried to sweeten the deal for me. She said that if I was looking for a Chinese wife, she would be happy to consider marriage. I thought at first that she was trying to determine my agenda. I respectfully declined. She sent me numerous photos of herself anyway.

When I arrived in China, I told her that I was currently in a relationship. She became angry with me for "hiding" that fact from her. She DID help me to buy a cell phone and she did help me to establish my internet account. I was grateful for that.

The school was not all that she represented it to be, though it was a public university as advertised on its web page.

I began receiving IMs from this woman. The messages were of a suggestive nature, and I refused to accept any offers from her. In fact, I cut off the yahoo account that she had set up for me on my computer.

Halfway through the semester, she called me and told me that she thought that she could find a way for me to break the contract and go to a better school in the city in which she lived. I was extremely wary of this woman as well as her latest offer. She had previously told another foreign teacher that she and I had made plans to spend a week together in Shanghai (at my expense, of course). This was quite far from the truth.

The FL department wasn't at all friendly to the foreign teachers. The school looked as if it might have been some sort of reeducation camp at one time. The place was (for the most part) a nightmare, along with the goofballs that she herself had hired to "teach" at the school. None displayed any evidence of formal education past the sixth grade (and I have doubts that any of them actually finished the sixth grade without the help of an agonized social promotion).

Would I consider accepting an offer through an agent again?

Never.

Before I EVER accept ANY position at a school, I will visit it first, just as anyone with half a mind would do back home.

[patsy]

what a riot, yes, i also think it's really good to visit the school if possible, even just to walk through the campus, so if they tell you things like, "we have an olympic swimming pool you can use", and it's really just a fountain with a statue of a famous person, you can discern this thing for yourself.

[upchuckles]

Sounds like the OP didnt do enough research before going to China.. Not all recruiters are bad, when I first came to China, I went through an american company that was very proactive ensuring a good experience for our group making sure everything was legal and explained each step of the process. Our salary was not garnished and our contract was direct with the school, in fact we had higher salaries than the teachers who were here for two years.

Its your own fault for not doing research and coming to China on a Z visa.. There are tons of information available about this subject. Blame yourself.

[intoaction]

seperley, that is SOME story

[clark.w.griswald]

[englishgibson]

the "lack of z visas" is a rather interesting phrase in the heading of this thread...there's a difference in between a Z visa and a Residency Permit (sticker) for the purpose of work..i believe that there might be some kinda connection in between there

Z visas were very common before...Residency Permits in our passports have become more common (a regulation) recently...i bet recruiting companies as well as those recruiters/agents have been rather perplexed

peace to clark's knowledge and experience
and
cheers and beers to all hard working FTs in china

[A'Moo]

[latefordinner]

Clark, what's the difference between an agent and