Job Discussion Forums

[MrJaredGamble]

Teach Away contacted me to pre-interview for an "international school" position paying "$3,300 - $4,000 usd" per month.

The trouble is, the job posting doesn't give the school's name. I contacted the recruiter and asked for the school's name and asked whether it is truly an international school or a language mill. Here's the response I got:

"Thank you for your email. During the first stage of recruitment process, our international school partners do like to remain anonymous to streamline traffic. What would happen after our prescreen interview is your application will be forwarded to the school. Should they decide to move forward with your application, they will want to set up a Skype interview. At that time, you will receive full disclosure of the school's name and website to do research and get prepared for your interview.

This is the school's international campus currently hiring English teachers.

Please let me know if you would like to move forward with our scheduled call."

Highly dubious. Should I even bother interviewing?

PS - As soon as my renewed passport arrives in the mail (2 weeks), I'm applying to a ton of university jobs posted on Profs Abroad.

Thanks,

J

[SH_Panda]

[nomad soul]

[MrJaredGamble]

Hahaha - how'd you know I'm a cowboy?

...don't answer that.

No, no - I posted my resume with Teach Away. I know that two of their recruiters are looking for jobs for me, so I didn't mean it's fishy that they contacted me. I meant it's fishy that the school itself won't even give its name to applicants. The posting simply calls the school "international school", and the description claims that, "as the school expands, it will begin to implement American curriculum."

After a couple weeks of intensely (obsessively?) researching the Chinese education system, I can totally see that kind of verbiage being used to cloak a shitty language center that's trying to nab itself some over-qualified white monkeys.

PS - how does one upload an avatar on this site?

Thanks as always for the input,

J

[nomad soul]

[Non Sequitur]

OP
Like all recruitment scenarios - China or other - you have absolutely no power. That is other than the power not to apply*.
Only when they say 'We want you', do you have the option of saying 'Do I want them?'
You are front end loading the process with too many questions and doubts. Leave those until later.
*The other protection you have is spreading your risks by having multiple other applications on the go.
This is the height of the hiring season now for Sept start. You should be busy on those rather than agonising over whether to let your interview go ahead.
The smooth tone of the response you quote indicates that applicants like you are not uncommon.

[JamesD]

[Mike E]

[withdrawn]

[jimpellow]

As Teach Away has a fairly decent reputation I would go ahead with the interview and just play it cautious if it moves forward.

I went through this a few years back with a reputable recruiter out of Hong Kong and the new nameless international program which they represented ended up being a true disaster, led by a scam artist who roams China cashing in on the high school prep craze. Luckily I only read about it on boards later on, as I backed out after pre arrival miscues on their part.

Your experience may differ.

Those international programs are sort of funny. They are usually completely screwed up in the beginning, but the desire for quality is usually there. Within a few years, they are only half screwed up but the desire for quality is usually gone.

[MrJaredGamble]

I did end up taking a job I found through Teach Away, but not the school previously mentioned. Actually, it was simply a job that Teach Away posted, for which I applied directly to the school, but on the Teach Away website.

Anyway, it's an amazing school, and I really lucked out.