Job Discussion Forums

[JDunn]

i heard from a teacher who worked for them in Taipei and she said it was legit. anyone have a negative experience with them or have any advice for me? in the scam warnings it always says dont send money before hand or get a criminal check or health clearance until you get to the country but it seems to me that almost ALL of the companies that would recruit or hire you to teach would want these things beforehand. whats the deal? am i supposed to just go over there with no job planned and hope someone hires me or do i send them copies of my degree, criminal record check, health clearance before i get placed. it seems there is a lot of conflicting advice here. hess (taiwan) asks for the following info:

University Degree

Must be able to sign a one year contract
All our contracts are one year in duration. In order to follow Taiwanese law, we cannot offer short-term, seasonal or summer contracts.


All native speaking teachers must speak English fluently.
Must be physically and mentally healthy
All our teachers must pass a health check in order to gain legal working status.

Criminal Record Check
You must provide a criminal record statement from your home country.


advice???? i am a seasoned teacher here in the states and would like to teach abroad for a year but im wary of all of the scam artists out there and its really hard to figure out who is legit and who is not since it seems like everyone has complaints about someone.

i was also considering chinaprogram.org which is a school based in shenzen china. that program has a 1500 dollar fee which supposedly helps cover your placement, training in beijing, and housing costs. they also supposedly reimburse your airfare to china after 6 mnths and your airfare home after completion of the contract. can anyone vouch for this agency??

thanks!!