How Can I Find An Honest Agent Or Recruiter To Be A Foreign Teacher In China?

Question

The economy still sucks in America and I have been seeing a lot of ads to go teach English in China. But I don't speak Chinese and was thinking it might be best to use an agent. But I read some horror stories and saw this article http://www.cityweekend.com.cn/beijing/articles/blogs-beijing/expat-life/scam-alert-foreign-teacher-fraud/ So now I am worried about identity theft and want to know what is the best way to find an honest agent to find me a good teaching job in China that pays well. Any suggestions where I can find a ethical and honest recruiter who will not charge me more than 10%

Answer 1

Why in God's name would you even want to use an agent or recruiter Allen?!??? They do NOTHING That you cannot do for yourself and they will take between 25%-66% of your salary every single month! Do you like living with two or three roommates or eating street food everyday? I worked as a teacher in China for a few years and never once used a recruiter or agent. My salary was always at least double of the my colleagues who were dumbe enough (or lazy enough) to use one. I suggest you do your homework and start reading Allen. Here are five links that should open your eyes...



http://www.cleverchinacheaters.com/2012/09/10-reasons-why-you-should-never-use.html



http://www.englishpost.com/forum.php?mod=viewthread&tid=229



http://www.transitionsabroad.com/publications/magazine/0503/teaching_english_abroad_the_good_the_bad_the_ugly.shtml



http://open.salon.com/blog/china_business_central/2012/12/16/china_scam_recruiters_lure_foreign_teachers_with_hype_lies



http://www.chinascambusters.com



When you teach in China you become a magnet for hundreds of cheaters every month so be super careful friend and find your own job wihich is not difficult ar all,

Answer 2

I am a foreigner. I have been living in Taiwan for one and a half year and not planning to leave. I have been following Cross-Straits issues since 2000 more or less and keep getting into it. I dislike China for the simple fact that it keeps claiming as its own something that, in actual fact it's not. Useless going into the usual boring details relating to UN resolutions etc. But the point is that many foreigners and Taiwanese don't like China simply because China has been blocking Taiwan independence for ages, hindering its membership at the UN (nothing too important since also the Vatican is not a member) and blackmailing any country that had diplomatic relationships with Taiwan. It's obvious no one can see China in a nice way. Same opinion about China applies in Europe, where mainland chinese are renowned for arrogance, trickiness and a few other adjectives (That includes their emigrates residing in Europe). To answer to your question i am of those that doesn't like the strategy China is applying to Taiwan. I don't have any Stocholm syndrome since no one forces me to stay here and i am not going back anywhere since i am setting up a company here. I'll let you guess why i didn't want to set it up on mainland. I don't even have unexplainable emotions nor i am swept away by a wave of feelings with butterflies in my stomach, nor i am taken by dreamy idealisms. The point is extremely simple. What China is doing to Taiwan is plainly wrong. Perhaps that explains why so many people dislike China EVEN MORE than they did before (Since in plain honesty i found many who reckon China as a superpower, but very few loving it)

Answer 3

There is no such creature as an honest job agent or recruiter in China! Don't be so lazy - find your own job and not only will you pocket a bigger paycheck, but you will eliminate the risk of scams and identity theft!

Answer 4

Wow! I guess nobody is really being fooled by those snakes. I think everyone who answered so far has pretty much read the writing on the wall aloud for all of us to hear. I'm glad I came to this link because I was in the process of being victimized by a lady mentioned in this link:



http://www.thebeijinger.com/forum/2013/01/31/beware-chinaesl-scam-alert-rebecca-tang-will-rip-you



and I never would have given her a second thought but this post got me to google her and I was blown away.



The more I googled, the more shocked and nervous I got about teaching in China, especially after I read about this Australian guy: http://chinadailymailscam.wordpress.com



In less than 30 minutes of surfing the net my views about teaching in China did a 180! After reading this last link, I just decided to visit China as a tourist and abandoned my idea of teaching there: http://www.onlinetefl.com/tefl-chalkboard/vagabond/posts/13379-too-many-scam-agents-recruiters-in-china-be-careful-fellow-expat-foreign-teachers

Answer 5

I use the CFTU blacklists and white lists of China schools and recruiters that you can get free online at http://www.ChinaForeignTeachersUnion.org

Answer 6

Boy did you open a Pandora's box! Yes, indeed there are a handful of honest and ethical agents and recruiters in China and abroad, but finding them is like finding the proverbial "needle in the haystack." Let's look at the BIG picture... In all of China there are only 329 registered/licensed teacher recruiters and agents. Yet there are over 300,000 teaching job ads placed every year by over 2,000 self-professed agents and recruiters. They fall into four basic categories:



A) Honest and ethical

B) Dishonest & Unethical

C) Identity thieves

D) Greedy (taking more than a 20%-66% monthly commission of teacher

salaries.)



All of the China agents and recruiters advertise openly and with sneaky blind ads on the internet and on multiple ESL/TEFL forums which lends them credibility and wide viewership. Many even pretend to be HR directors of non-existent schools. So how to find one of the 329 licensed/registered agents or recruiters?



There are 4 easy and FREE ways to filter out all the really rotten apple agents and recruiters, and the good ones will be what is left. Here is what we recommend



[1] BEFORE you send copies of your passport and visas to any agent or recruiter, send them this form letter and ask them to complete and return it to you with all the blanks completed



http://www.englishpost.com/data/attachment/forum/201303/15/172204rq6jrrzvqnnzhiir.jpg



Honest agents and recruiters will not object to transparency and be happy to prove they are legitimate. If they refuse to fill in all the blanks or fail to return the letter, move on and avoid all further contact with them as they are probably scammers. The letter is self-explanatory.



For those who do return the letter, be sure you verify the information online, especially the registration, which you can do at the below links or by asking a CFTU volunteer to run a check (just send an email)



Shanghai AIC: http://www.sgs.gov.cn/lz/etpsInfo.do?method=index



Beijing AIC: http://qyxy.baic.gov.cn/zhcx/zhcxAction!query.dhtml



Guangzhou AIC: http://www.gzaic.gov.cn/GZAIC_Portal/WebUI/credit/qiyeInfo.htm



[2] You can google search the name of the agent with the words "problem, scam, complaint" and see what if anything pops up.



[3] You can check the various CTA and CFTU blacklists at www.ChinaScamBusters.com and http://www.zimbio.com/Shanghai+China/articles/4lF4npQruDh/2013+School+Agent+Blacklist+Published+China



[4] You can post an enquiry about and particular agent on ESL/TEFL forums by name and ask others if they had any good or bad experiences with a particular agent.



But here are a few things to remember to obtain from whatever agent you plan to use (Just in case things go bad)



A) Their full and complete legal name as per a scanned color copy of their government id card (if Chinese) and a full color scan of their passport (if they are foreigners)



B) Contracts that are in English that are signed, dated, and sealed on each page which specifically address working locations, hours, days, pay, insurance, visas, release letters, and who pays for all of them. You need to have a hard copy original in your hands BEFORE coming to China along with your Z visa.



C) Verifiable office address and land-line telephone numbers of the agents since more than 80% operate only from disposable mobile phone numbers and free email addresses like hotmail.com, 126.com, 163.com, sina.com, gmail.com, yeah.net, qq.com.



Lastly, if any agent tells you to come to China on an L, F, or M visa to work RUN! You can only legally work in China with a Z visa and that Z visa needs to be provided to you along with a signed contract BEFORE you buy your plane tickets. Scam agents won't care about your legal problems, deportation, fines, nor reentry bans if you get caught working without a Z visa. Whatever they say verbally, make sure it is in writing in your contract or take a pass on that agent.



Follow the above advice and you will greatly reduce your chances of being swindled. And NEVER give copies of your passport and visa to anyone other than a "direct employer". If you need to know why, you can read this article:



http://open.salon.com/blog/china_business_central/2013/03/13/phony_china_recruiters_now_target_5000_expats_monthly_1

Answer 7

I think you have a better chance of finding a 40 year old virgin in New York City or a Muslim Cardinal in the Catholic church! I fully agree with Liz and CFTU above. I got swindled teaching in China twice and believe me when I tell you the only worse place for scams is Nigeria. Forget agents and recruiters. 9 out of 10 will screw you and the 10th will take a month to find. Here is my contribution as far as links;

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http://www.scamwarners.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=34&t=76083

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http://www.cleverchinacheaters.com/2012/09/avoiding-china-employment-traps.html

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http://www.eslbase.com/forum/viewtopic/t-2797

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China is a fun place to visit but not a good place to work as a teacher. Now, if you own a school, you can rake in some serious bucks, but that is a different story altogether. Sign nothing with an agent is my advice. Only sign employment contracts directly with the schools and make sure they are in English and like CFTU says very "specific" without any ambiguity or vague assurances.

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Answer 8

Please note that every poster above, including the person who asked the question, are all one and the same person. He has been spamming countless forums with multiple IDs in an attempt to drum up business for his websites.

Please google CFTU to see the scams this fine gentleman is attempting to pull off.

Answer 9

Your first stop should be here! http://scam.com/showthread.php?t=617489