Job Discussion Forums

[Austrian]

As I'm currently looking for a decent teaching job starting next fall or perhaps even for this summer, which recruiters should I consider, which are good and (fairly) decent to deal with?

As this board might not want posters to speak badly of the worse and worst ones, please pm me with any specific warnings.

I just came across Tony Lee and Buckland, but the latter one might be a school chain - still haven't looked at them closely enough.

Thanks in advance.

[tony lee]

Recruiters are all liars, cheats and rogues -- ask anyone.

Just to clarify -- Tony Lee has been doing recruiting for one college for a few years and briefly helped another school out as a favour. He is now working for China Services International (Chinajob.com) and hoped to be able to make a difference.
Unfortunately he is getting more than a little pissed off because schools will just not provide the sort of information that teachers NEED in order to make a stab at picking out something reasonable. It is not just one or two schools -- they ALL seem to think everything is a state secret and can't be divulged -- AND the are still under the misaprehension that we westerners should be pathetically grateful to get a job.

He hasn't given up quite yet -- today he got one questionare back with more than 90% of the questions answered. Whoo Hoo.

Tony Lee

[Austrian]

So, are you Tony Lee? - as your last sentence seems to somehow give that away ...
2nd question: Is it worthwhile to contact you?

[tw]

I take it that you are caucasian? Well then, just post a few job-wanted ads on some of the TEFL web sites like Dave's and trust me, they will come looking for you and you will get a lot of offers from both employers as well as recruiters.

[Austrian]

tw,
yes, I am. My drawback is that I have an Austrian passport and everybody seems to only accept applications from the right passport-people.
The other reason for my question is that I would like to know which ones to consider and which ones to rather forget. I am already in the country, have been here as a volunteer for the past semester, so I've paid my dues and don't want a crap-job ...
Angelina's Cafe, The Network - any info on these anyone?

[tw]

OK, let's put it this way:

(1) You can speak English
(2) You are white
(3) You don't look Chinese <--- VERY important!!!
(4) You obviously have experience
(5) You probably have a degree
(6) You are already in China

Just walk into any language school and they will gladly have you working for them. After all, you won't be the first non-British European to be teaching in China. There are many of them. In China, pretty well anyone who doesn't look Chinese can get a teaching job unless you are African.

Thread on Angelina's:

[tony lee]

the problem is that even if you have a good look at a school there is no guarantee that it will turn out well. There are too many factors, one of the most variable ones being yourself.

I can't see a lot of advantage in using a recruiter if you have had a bit of experience in China and know what to look for in a contract and be able to read between the lines of an advertisement. A good recruiter will help you with the procedure and stop you getting anxious about delays and requirements and really good ones will warn you about iffy parts of the contract and things you might not be aware of such as travelling between campuses, block teaching schedules, curfews and lock-ins and accommodation, but even then there are no guarantees whatsoever.

Read posts elsewhere about the dangers of teaching illegally -- thread is "help, need urgent legal advice".

Many schools can't or won't change your visa from a tourist or business visa to a z visa -- and there are other threads on which provinces may or may not allow a changeover to a z visa.

You have several options available and only you can know what might work, but yes, I have many Europeans on my list and unfortunately they are not moving off my list, even ones who are 100% bi-lingual and have been teaching ESL for years. Today I had a school knock back a very experienced and super-qualified ESL teacher who was born and bred in England because he had a middle-eastern name and appearance. Multiculturalism or even ethnic diversity is not something that is within the experience of China's Han majority.

[KateCee]