Job Discussion Forums

[Worldly]

ANGELINA�S INTERNATIONAL PLACEMENT SERVICE
A Candid Review by an Experienced Professional
February 24, 2009

INTRODUCTION: This is a candid, honest review of ANGELINA�S INTERNATIONAL PLACEMENT SERVICE. My motivation for submitting the review is to warn prospective educators of highly questionable recruiting practices by one of the largest recruiting agencies in China. I have no hidden agenda for submitting this review. My purpose is to inform and warn, only.

Angelina�s International Placement Service is a recruiter for teachers in China. This organization is also known as:

- Angelina�s ESL Caf�
- ANESL
- ANESL China

PRELIMINARY CONCLUSIONS: Angelina�s International Placement Service is an unprofessional and untrustworthy recruiter. Truth-in-advertising is an unknown virtue at Angelina�s. Despite their claims, you may NOT receive friendly and personal service, quick responses, helpful suggestions, or a tracking report on your application. WARNING! Their advertised website: http://www.MyChinaJob.com/ may possess suspicious content, and may be filled with malicious software (see details, below). In my opinion, it appears ANESL is interested in young, gullible, and inexperienced teaching applicants, only. If you question their recruiting techniques, or reject their counter-offers, be prepared to be summarily rejected from further assistance and consideration.

MY RECOMMENDATION: Give Angelina�s a pass! Don�t bother! Don�t remit your personal documents to their staff! Apply to universities, directly!

BACKGROUND ON ANGELINA�S INTERNATIONAL PLACEMENT SERVICE: ANESL advertises heavily on Dave�s ESL Caf� Job Board. Here are a few claims from their ads and website, followed by commentary, where applicable:

- As the largest agency in China, Angelina's ESL Cafe serves only serious applicants and Employers! (COMMENT: It�s possible they have serious Employers as clients. However, as a serious, well-educated, and highly-experienced educator, their service to me was very questionable).

- ALL applicants who apply for a teaching position in China through our organization benefit from the following:
- You will be offered:
-- A Special Gift (COMMENT: I applied for a position, but was never offered a gift)
-- A Foreign Expert Certificate;
-- A Round-way air ticket for a one-academic-year contract;
-- A Free well-equipped apartment;
-- RMB5,000-36,000 per month, depending on qualifications and teaching experience (COMMENT: If you look closely at their current job list, there are numerous positions advertised for much less than RMB 5,000/mo.)
-- Paid holiday and other allowances;
-- You will work 12-22 academic hours per week;
- You also will be offered:
--a friendly and personal service, quick responses, helpful suggestions, tracking report on your application (COMMENT: In my case, not even close!)

ANGELINA�S WEBSITE: In their ad on Dave�s ESL Caf� (posted Monday, 16 February 2009, at 10:27 a.m.), they refer consumers to their website at: http://www.MyChinaJob.com/ WARNING! Before opening this link, consider the following data provided by Google Advisory Service:

- Of the 97 pages we tested on the site over the past 90 days, 17 page(s) resulted in malicious software being downloaded and installed without user consent. The last time Google visited this site was on 2009-02-20, and the last time suspicious content was found on this site was on 2009-02-20.

- Malicious software includes 27 exploit(s), 20 worm(s), 17 trojan(s). Successful infection resulted in an average of 11 new processes on the target machine.

- Malicious software is hosted on 16 domain(s), including wew2223.cn/, rrrryyyaa.cn/, qqqqkkkss.cn/.

- 2 domain(s) appear to be functioning as intermediaries for distributing malware to visitors of this site, including nuclear3.com/, bengchiee.cn/.

- This site was hosted on 1 network(s) including AS23724 (CHINANET).

MY BACKGROUND: I�m an experienced educator with advanced credentials. In early January 2009, I decided to seek a university position in China. From posts on this forum and other research, I knew my timing was not great, and it would be a challenge to find a quality position. Hence, I enlisted the assistance of Angelina�s International Placement Service. I perused their job list, chose a university, and remitted, as requested, the following personal documents to their staff:

- Detailed resume (CV)
- Images of my advanced degrees and TESOL Certification
- Image of my passport (main pages)
- A professional photograph

I was very careful and deliberate when choosing a university in China. Not only did I meet all the requirements specified in ANESL�s ad, I received an advanced degree from the equivalent �specialized� American university.

DISCUSSION: To their credit, Ms. Rita Liu, ANESL, acknowledged receipt of my documents in one day. I was assured by Ms. Liu that my application and documents would be forwarded to the university in a timely manner.

After three days, I was informed by Ms. Liu that the university did NOT want �male� educators.

NOTE: On the original ANESL advertisement for the university, under the �Gender� column, the word �both� is prominently displayed. To this day, and after several ANESL updates to the ad since my application in January, the ad still reads �both� under gender wanted.

Given my advanced credentials and experience, I was skeptical about Ms. Liu�s conduct and rejection rationale. My skepticism was heightened when Ms. Liu immediately counter-offered with two other institutions (NOTE: in business, this counter-offer tactic is often referred to as bait-and-switch). The counter-offered institutions were totally unlike the university I applied for (i.e., they were colleges, not universities, and not even close to the location of the originally requested institution). It was obvious that little or no analysis accompanied the decision to counter-offer the institutions.

I declined the positions. I pointed out to Ms. Liu that ANESL�s ad for the desired university was gender �unspecific.� I also kindly reiterated that I received an advanced degree (Master of Science) from the equivalent specialized university in the USA. I was certain the specialized university, upon examination of my credentials, would be interested in my services, regardless of my gender. I then received the following reply from Ms. Liu:

�Frankly speaking, it is proving that the schools are very choosey now. Because much more candidates, but not so many schools available���.. Anyhow, wish you well in your job search!�

In essence, because I challenged Ms. Liu�s questionable service and conduct, and because I rejected her counter-offers, ANESL, the organization that provides ��.friendly and personal service, quick responses, helpful suggestions, and tracking report on your application,� was terminating their service to me, and was no longer interested in assisting me!

Appalled by ANESL�s service and performance, I sent a complaint and copy of all correspondence with Ms. Liu to senior-level management of ANESL. I received a reply and apology from Ms. Vivilin Yang of the Beijing ANESL Office. She offered to assign me to a different colleague. I accepted.

Unfortunately, after six weeks of waiting for assistance from the new colleague, I received no further communication from Angelina�s.

I recently sent another letter (complaint) to the CEO of ANESL, with a copy to Ms. Yang and Ms. Liu. The result�..total silence�.I�ve been ignored!

How�s that for �recruiter professionalism� and �customer service� in an industry that claims to have hundreds of unfilled university positions every semester?[/i]

[Ariadne]

I'm curious. After receiving no assistance, did you appy directly to the university that interested you?

.

[evaforsure]

[Hansen]

Worldly, You might want to surf on over to Middle Kingdom Life and complete the psychological profile to determine whether you are suited, personality wise, to teach in China.

You got fairly standard treatment. Indifference, disdain, and outright contempt characterize the way many FT's are regarded.

I guess it took me about three months to arrange a job and arrive in China. That was a few years back. Some pointers:

Deal directly with the school you want to work at.

Accept nothing less than a "Z" visa prior to arriving.

Have a few thousand dollars available for quick escape.

Be prepared to leave your job in China, if necessary.

Things are definitely tightening up here. Male teachers, banging students indiscriminately and defiantly, have been a serious problem at some schools. As you can see, some of what you were told is true.

If you are truly a professional and seeking professional fulfillment in your area of expertise, China is an unlikely place to find that fulfillment. You can have a try.

Thanks for the heads up regarding malicious software. Again, very typical of China. A lot of the document requests may have more to do with counterfeiting than finding applicants a job, so watch what you send out. Logos, insignia, seals, are in demand by fraudulent document makers.

[evaforsure]

[xiao51]

[Worldly]

[roadwalker]

[Worldly]

[Worldly]

[China.Pete]

"I'm curious, what type of profile do you think one needs to teach in China? Can you put it in terms of Myers-Briggs, or other well-known personality inventory?" -- Worldly

The irony may be that you, an apparently highly qualified Western job-seeker, have stumbled upon a site which, if the comments on this thread are any guide, is primarily interested in inexperienced foreign "teachers" who are willing to work for very little pay at relatively low-ranked universities in China. Rather than accept their giving you such short shrift as a kind of favor, you insist upon taking considerable personal umbrage at it. It's the kind of attitude which can cause you no end of misery in China.

[YankeeDoodleDandy]

China Pete, you speak the Gospel truth. When in China, expect the unexpected. Cheers and Beers to new English teachers in China. Thanks EnglishGibson.

[drjtrekker]

[evaforsure]

[Hansen]

The personality profile on Middle Kingdom Life is quite informative. Whether you take its advice or not, its definitely an accurate characterization of what life can be as an FT in China, at least the life of some people.