Job Discussion Forums

[adamelnerdo]

I worked for this company briefly and would like to share my experience.

Their recruiter is a young woman named Anastasia living in Turkey. I was hired after a Skype interview with her. I signed the contract and committed. She ordered the invitation. After the invitation I went for my Visa like normal.

This company does not offer you a flat which in itself is pretty lousy as almost all companies do. She said they would guarantee 16 hrs at week at 950 rubles. Easy summer gig.

Anastasia stopped responding to emails. She always wanted to answer questions in person on Skype not by answering emails or by answering Skype messages. I started to get concerned but had paid for a visa and a flight by this point.I was trying to find out where my lessons were so I could find somewhere to live, where the office was and who I should contact when I arrived. I sent 4 different emails over one week starting on April 27 and she still hadn't replied. I would not have went if I hadn't invested so much money already.

You pay for your flight, visa, rent and living expenses.... company gives you nothing. The recruiter is deviant she will say things like oh no it probably won't be, normally it isn't, it usually takes.....

Anastasia finally responded on May 3rd said ok here is the address to the office I have told the reception you are coming tomorrow for an interview. Ummm what I have a contract for a job with you.... and I am only arriving on the 15th.....

Their office takes about 1.25 - 2 hrs to get to depending on where you are coming from. It is located outside the MKAD so you know it's far.

I was asking about pay dates and such and couldn't get a straight answer out of anyone I spoke to. The HR manager said she would get back to me and never did. They say paid every 2 weeks but it is misleading. You submit your pay sheet for the month on the 1st and then 2 weeks later you get half and one month later you get half.

They'll ask you to go to the office for anything they want regularly, including when Anastasia forgets to do something in time.(Anastasia also does their visa stuff for you). As well you have to go there for pay.

I had received 5 class registers 3 of which had the wrong times causing me to be either very early or very late. I gave my notice I had spent more than 1000 for all expenses so far and had not received a penny and would only receive 26000 rub for the next month, on top of how these guys behave was enough for me.

I asked the Anastasia the penalty costs for breaking the contract and she just ignored me again. I went to their office (a 2 hr trip to get there) to hand in books to the HR manager and he said put them there I'll sign for them later. I said no you will do it now. (it's in the contract you have to have these signed for or they will charge you for them )

I asked the manager how much I would be penalized for giving my notice (which is allowable by the way in the contract , 2 weeks notice) and he actually smiled and just said oh you'll have to talk to Anastasia (in Turkey) about any contract points she is the one you have an agreement with, even though he was just speaking to the accountant about the situation and my pay.

They charged me 2000 rubles for the invitation ( which I told them I didn't need because my hostel gave me one and hostels give them to you for free) , 1800 for medical insurance, 2500 rubles for a registration, 2000 to withdraw my passport from the visa process . 8300 rubles, they charged my 8500 and never gave me a receipt for anything.

So I had spent about 1400 usd to get a blood test, visa, flight, room for one month, living expenses and made 48 000 (800 usd ) rubles and still had to pay for a flight out. You do the math ... in my opinion there are much better companies to work for.

I have emails and such to verify my claims and if anyone wants more info about these guys don't hesitate to message me.

[maruss]

To be honest, when I worked for them back in 2006 it was on a freelance basis-I was already living in Moscow and never expected anything more than just payment for my lessons, which I did get, although there were some very odd things about the firm and how they operated etc.They did move offices from Christy Prudiy to Tverskaya while I was with them, both very central so there was no problem about access-I am curious to read where they are located now?
There were Russian teachers who earned far less than me and other ex-pats and also some obvious internal problems within the firm after they moved-the atmosphere among the staff became very strained at one point, so much that I almost felt afraid to go to the office as I had been doing to use the internet etc.Overall, the opinions I heard about them from other people was that it was a rather strange firm, but o.k for freelance lessons if they got to like you?All you wrote about this mysterious lady in Turkey sounds very fishy indeed but also not so unexpected from them!I am sorry to read about your bad experiences with them, especially as you ended up badly out of pocket-sadly such things are not unusual in Russia, as you will read from other postings on this forum.Anyway, I'd be interested to read more about them and also any other comments you have?

[adamelnerdo]

Hey Maruss,

Yeah that sounds about right. The woman in Turkey is Anastasia , I didn't put her name couldn't remember if we should post names here. They are now located in Greewood business park, outside the MKAD.
https://www.google.com.ua/maps/place/Grinvud+Biznes+Park/@55.8701611,37.4009799,16z/data=!4m8!1m2!2m1!1sgoogle+maps+greenwood+business+park+moscow!3m4!1s0x46b5479d3a98e9d5:0xf685243df713c8d1!8m2!3d55.8698153!4d37.4063933