Job Discussion Forums

[Paulusmack]

Can anyone suggest an ethical and reliable recruiting agency for China? Thanks.

[The Ever-changing Cleric]

You're about to be inundated with posts warning you off of recruiters. Personally I've never used one but a good friend of mine used to be a recruiter, and I would have recommended her if she was still doing that but she's not.

Have you tried to search for a job on your own yet? If you have and failed, then a recruiter is an option. Do a search on the job related forum, there are posts containing names of recruiters you can trust and those you can't. but take everything with a grain of salt on here. Just as recruiters, some posters on this forum have an agenda as well.

[Paulusmack]

Dear Preacher of Impermanence,

Thanks. I was expecting replies warning me of such. Yes, I have been doing it myself but now I am thinking about using a recruiter's assistance. I am hoping not to experience the same negative things others have from using the dodgy outfits. I guess it's crap-shoot, eh?

[The Ever-changing Cleric]

when you do experience all that negativity, be sure to keep a copy of the good book in your left breast pocket.

[Alexis009]

Well. I am a newbie, and the thought of recruiters sounded too good to be true. A friend in the ESL business? Someone to take care of all the hard stuff in finding a job? Yes please. Of course, any veteran would just laugh at these statements.

I went thru like 4 different recruiters, until finally I found a job I could do for a year. The internet has changed, though, in the past ten years of rampant internet ESL recruiting. There's a lot of groundwork to cover if you want to search for a job. It's easy to type in google search a city name and "ESL". BUT you'd just get obsolete or otherwise terrible job postings. A recruiter streamlines the process in pure middle-man philosophy: he figuratively 'places' you in a 'suitable' position. Network ESL is one such outfits, where you really don't get to browse a current list of schools (theirs is horribly outdated and clunky and useless), they just send you the jobs that they get paid the most from.... Then they lie to you. And gouge your salary.

Other recruiters offer up a no-BS database of potential schools, updated regularly, with all details listed, with contact info hidden until you talk to the recruiter about it and they set up an interview. This is probably the best approach. It's an easy, searchable list basically, and the recruiters are very nice and offer advice on potential contract details, school details, etc that you have a good chance at getting. Angelina ESL is one good recruiter like this. Horizon ESL is another, one that I particularly like since the recruiter Simon is so friendly and nice.

Personally, I found my job from a recruiter, but only because I had a city in mind and found that recruiter (GMSC) listed it in some random classified section of an ESL website. It was just an email with my info, saying, "Hi, give me this school's email" and then that's the last I heard from them. Who knows, maybe they'll get some money. Who cares, I got exactly what I wanted.

And that's what I have to say about recruiters--- If you're careful, and know what you want (school, city, etc), Who cares where you find that job! From a recruiter, or website, in the end you'll end up with a school that YOU chose.

[The Ever-changing Cleric]

[mat chen]

Caroline Huang with Aston is the best.

[mrklink]

I've also been a bit miffed with finding suitable positions. I've a few resources that provide listings but most seem to be for training schools and I'd prefer to find another university position. The current school I teach in has served me fine for a first position and I was lucky enough to sort of stumble into it. Currently I have a better idea of where I might want to teach but my process of sniffing out jobs, contacting people and inquiring about positions is cumbersome to say the least.

Ergo, I mean to ask a question of internet infamy:

Is there an easier way?

[Alexis009]

[Paulusmack]

Thanks everyone for being so helpful. I now have a little list to work with so we'll see how it plays out using a recruiter's services. Figured using a good one might help avoid trouble in sorting out all the legalities and match my qualifications with decent schools. Or I could get screwed over, which is why I posed the question to y'all in the first place.

[obe]

@ The ever changing cleric: any chance you could share that link with me?