Job Discussion Forums

[drjtrekker]

Yeah Sly, stay away, if for any reason... Principle!

I put a post on an ESL site where Horizoneslchina had quite a few ads.
I checked later for the ad, and it never showed up, but just by chance Horizon had a job offer for the very same uni that I had posted on!! (it's my old job, just doing a favor for my FAO).

Follow the advice of others...use them to figure out what school it is, and then search the school urself and email them directly.

jd

[Moon Over Parma]

I examined offers from Horizons and they were mostly nondescript. Once you receive a sample contract do read it carefully. On five different offers, each and every contract was very, very fishy. Three of the jobs were paying below average for their areas, and some of the schools they offer are notorious in EFL China circles. It was not a wasted endeavor, though. I discovered five new universities to put on a, "never work here" list.

I found my next university position by scouring Angelina's, using their vague description of the school, a Google search, and ten minutes of my time. I contacted the school directly and received a better offer than what Angelina's laid out. Like Horizons, I would avoid using Angelina's directly. Unlike Horizons, you can easily pinpoint some of the school's identities. Horizons keeps things incredibly vague, and none of the offers were for particularly reputable schools.

Perhaps its best to ignore any university that is too lazy to try and recruit teachers for themselves. It really says a lot about a university and its FAO when they have such little regard for future employees that they can't be bothered to do the recruitment work themselves. I've been lucky, but many have not.

[xiao51]

I have protracted dealings with Horizons, and with Simon, their "manager/owner", etc., etc. and I can confirm what the two previous posters have written. They are an "avoid". You are wasting your time and nothing good will come of them...except, as noted, bottom-feeder schools with bottom-feeder wages. I have used some good agents in my years in China but this one is NOT one of them at all. I don't get quite what they are up to and I was really, really hesitant to forward him my documents. I need because he pushed and said I was great candidate and then nothing, just nothing.

[Totemic]

I work in an office that also hires teachers for various schools. An old American guy was the 'recruiter' here, when I first started.

Ugh. Dude was an alcoholic, prostitute using, con-man talking dirtbag, who liked to brag how good he was at 'bullying' newbie teachers into accepting his lowball offers.

Man, I really wanted to punch that baboon in the face, but then he got sacked, and ultimately deported.

[Totemic]

As a followup to the above, the recruiter in question had a cash incentive, for every teacher he signed up. That financial aspect really brought out dude's slimy side, and also his level of contempt.

Once, when he was drunk, he bragged how he could sh*t teachers out like nuggets and rake in cash, easy as pie. He was the man! Ugh...

When he finally got sacked (for falling into pure delusion, essentially), the company brought in a young Chinese guy to replace him, and gave him a straight salary deal, with no mention of bonuses per hire.

Moral of the story: beware foreign recruiters who are only in it for the money, because in my experience, they don't care about anything than their commission.

I can forgive Chinese recruiters for just trying to earn a living, but sneaky laowai looking to take advantage of their own for personal gain is sick, IMO.

That's the worst kind of scum!

[vikuk]

Totemic - why was this guy deported?

[Totemic]

Oh, nothing sinister. Just the company canceled his visa, and he lacked the means to secure a new one in time.

He's back in the States licking his wounds, but I reckon it won't be long before he's back here, looking to leech off people some more.

[cosimocubs]

[dharma86]

what's the best way to find horizon's jobs independently? because they seem to be everywhere I look for jobs and it's getting annoying!

[NateInChina]

@ ralph

I would also be interested in contacting a good recruiter.

I am having some difficulty finding the contact info for schools in the areas around Hangzhou/Suzhou/Shanghai which are not through recruiters with bad track records (according to this and other forums).

[damasseur]

Watch out for some recruiting agents in Guangzhou!

[nickpellatt]

Bizarre, but everytime someone says 'dont use a recruiter, contact the schools directly' someone else pops up and asks Ralph for the recruiters details again

[DHAPhotography]

As many others have stated before, stay away from recruiters of any kind unless you can't find anything by going directly to the schools.

[relaxtischina]

Although this board is often full of good advice, a good recruiter who provides a wide range of services/advice can save their clients alot of time and hassle. Of course there are arguably dodgy schools/recruiters out there but there also those that treat ther teachers/clients well. Perhaps it is useful to ask "What type of services could a recruiter provide you which would best assist your life in China". ????

[JohnnyMarbles]

I went with a company called Horizon, I'm now teaching in Shenyang and everything is great. That's all I'll say about that. If your in the 5% that gets a good recruiter and you talk about it you get flamed hard on this website.