Job Discussion Forums

fallon77 · Joined: 12 Sep 2005 Posts: 105 Location: Harbin

Does anyone have any experience with Epoch Recruitment Beijing (Leslie Dong) other than the seemingly weekly email you receive from her? Has anyone applied for one of their advertised positions?

Let me know,
Fallon

MrBeijingles · Joined: 17 Sep 2005 Posts: 67 Location: Shanghai

Two of my coworkers came to my school through Epoch but maybe not the Beijing center. I'm not sure.

Spiderman Too · Posted: Mon Apr 10, 2006 5:13 pm Post subject:

The latest e-mail I received from Epoch offers;

Assistant Principal: 30,000RMB or up per month
Director of Studies: 25,000-30,000RMB per month
Marketing Director: 20,000RMB per month
Assistant to the Principal: 12,000-15,000RMB per month

3. Teaching positions (to be filled by September)
classroom teachers: 2,000US$ per month
ESL, Music, Fine Arts, and etc. teachers: 1,500-1,800US$ per month

Belmont · Posted: Wed May 24, 2006 1:34 am Post subject: Re: Epoch Recruitment Beijing

Hello Fallon,
I'm researching Epoch myself and can't find anything other than a posting by someone who said he knew the owners personally and thought they were good people. I'd like to hear from someone who's actually working for them now--or rather, placed by them. They are recruiters it seems.

myesl · Posted: Sun Aug 05, 2007 11:31 pm Post subject:

Yeah, anyone used Epoch?

HunanForeignGuy · Joined: 05 Jan 2006 Posts: 989 Location: Shanghai, PRC

voodikon · Joined: 23 Sep 2004 Posts: 1363 Location: chengdu

i was recently in touch with her over the course of about a month regarding a job, which she had advertised as paying 150/hr at 20 hours/week for usd1600/month.

after sending my application she had a woman who is affiliated with the school contact me. this woman then informed me that the position was actually 22-24 hours/week at rmb8000 net pay (i.e., before tax). then, she sent the contract, and it said rmb8500--better, but still nowhere near the original ad. when i contacted leslie to ask what was up with the discrepancy, she brushed my question off with this response:
"Regarding the salary rate and workload ... please refer to the written contract. I posted the ad when they first informed me of their positions. And I believe that they eventually finalized the position with a salary rate from 8,000 to 10,000RMB a month."

so, basically, she's saying she just made up any old number of hours and salary to post an ad and get suckers like me to go through the whole application process and interview, and then to tell me actually the offer is essentially half of what she originally stated? lame, i say. when i called her out on it and said due to that i was withdrawing my application, she got back to me about a week later to state that the school actually was able to budget a bit more for their FT and to let her know my expectation. i stated numbers that fell between what she originally advertised in terms of salary and hours and the contract offer, thinking that to be reasonable, and she replied immediately, telling me that timing was key; "we" still had "the chance" if i asked for rmb9000 as a different recruiter had found another candidate from abroad who has a master's and was asking for rmb9500. as my stated expectation was significantly higher than that, she urged me to make "a wise choice."

my wise choice was to tell her to shove it, more or less. but, you know, other than her trying to act all buddy buddy with me and like we're some kind of team vying for this golden position (it was way the hell out of town, and not exactly ideal-sounding, so this poor sucker who's still abroad and taking this job probably doesn't know what he/she's in for) after she had more or less deceived me, she was decent to deal with.

kev7161 · Joined: 06 Feb 2004 Posts: 5880 Location: Suzhou, China

Sounds to me that maybe the school could be offering a nice, juicy salary (and this Leslie chick advertises thusly), but then she turns the tables and keeps the difference? Just a guess really. In other words: The school tells Leslie they will pay upwards to $1600 USD. Leslie advertises and reels in the fish. The fish is then contacted by the actual school who offers maybe half of what is advertised. The unsuspecting fish takes the job or negotiates for a bit more and signs a contract. The school is paying FAR less than what they advertised, Leslie gets her commission, and the fish thinks he/she is a good negotiator and is smug in his/her knowledge that, for once, the tables were turned on that greedy recruiter! Everyone's happy! Wink

voodikon · Joined: 23 Sep 2004 Posts: 1363 Location: chengdu

wait, i don't get that theory. why would the "fish" be smug thinking he/she is a good negotiator and that the tables were turned on the recruiter?

HunanForeignGuy · Joined: 05 Jan 2006 Posts: 989 Location: Shanghai, PRC

myesl · Posted: Tue Aug 07, 2007 1:09 am Post subject:

ForeignGuyHunan,

Did you happen to notice that the first result in your search is this thread? Does that not say anything to you?

Further, out of the 12 hits you list, only 4 mention Epoch in the title. I've been on Dave's a few years, and I find the search function not very accurate, even when what I am looking for is in the title, let alone when it is not.

But I must sincerely commend you. I just searched for "Epoch Recruiting" again right now and got exactly one thread title about it in the first 30 hits -- and that was this thread. Seriously, you should go to work for Google. Or Las Vegas.

DevinAllen · Joined: 30 Jul 2007 Posts: 4 Location: Beijing, China

I hav worked with Lesley before, she set me up with a nice public school job in Tianjin. Mind you the location was horrible but the job was fantastic. I haven't worked for her since but I have kept in touch.She is ok. Their program also is doing cooperative work with an experimental school here in Beijing. Of course they are business people,so be sure to check and double check your final contract but for the most part I think they will set you right.

kev7161 · Joined: 06 Feb 2004 Posts: 5880 Location: Suzhou, China

What I meant was, when the actual school tells the "fish" (usually a newbie) that the ad was wrong and they are REALLY only offering 8000 and the newbie fish swallows that particular hook but then manages to negotiate an extra thousand, they feel like they've come out on top (when, in reality, they've been caught, reeled in and filleted - - wait, this is China, they never fillet their fish!).

voodikon · Joined: 23 Sep 2004 Posts: 1363 Location: chengdu

ok, i can see that. but actually i feel like a lot of newbies, being exposed only to their western ways, would be even less inclined to tolerate that kind of business--what we might call false advertising. i dunno though. whatever. leslie's offers always sound good--perhaps too good--and maybe that's her tactic.

SafireRings · Joined: 24 Nov 2007 Posts: 2

Don't work for Leslie Dong. If you have been in China and already have connections, then you can make better money elsewhere. If you are relying on your employer to keep their promises to take care of your housing and visas, Beijing Epoch just won't come through for you. These teachers where without hot water for weeks (http://simpsonsparadox.com/2008/01/not-fixed.html), this article on unscrupulous recruiting practices mentions Leslie by name, (http://www.middlekingdomlife.com/website/findingjobs.htm). In my own experience, teachers have been screwed on taxes when they went home, or forced to leave in the visa crackdown. Try to avoid this company!