When evaluating recruiters, schools and contracts, look first for inconsistencies. If these people are honest and competent, there shouldn't be any. Look for language that isn't clear, and for places where you could be vulnerable - either to discharge (though that should never be a problem) or for extra costs or duties not specified. Also beware of overly friendly or mushy come-ons; see the last comment on this page.
SCHOOLS OR RECRUITERS?
- Deal directly with the schools and avoid recruiters if possible since they are mostly individuals out for a fast buck. Interest in English is high so they advertise as if they were a school, then "sell" the teachers they recruit to the highest bidder. Be assured they take at least 50% of the salary that the schools pay for you.
- If you deal directly with a school, you may well be paid twice as much and will avoid many of the contract problems. Don't confuse a recruiter with a school, since they are not the same.
Here is one teacher's recent experience (Sept. 2005)
I just returned from China. Before getting there, I used to get many job
offers as response to my ads on the Net. The salaries I was offered were from 3,000 to 5,000 Yuan (RMB) a month.
Taking the advice of a teacher who had just returned, I flew to
China and rented an apartment in Guangzhou for USD 80/ month. From there I had plenty of time to look for jobs.
I did not see any jobs with salaries less than 7,000 RMB a month, and
of course free accommodation, health care, etc. There are great jobs that even pay 12,000 a month. If you are a school teacher in your country you can even get jobs at international K-8 or K-12 schools at rates of 15,000 to 35,000 a month; but those are rare.
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- Certainly there are eminently legitimate private schools but it may not be easy to tell in advance. The schools to avoid are the "Guangzhou University of International Economics" or the "Slappy Happy English Kindergarten" types. The large and well-known chains like Wall Street who invest millions in their operations are not in this league. But you do need to check carefully.
- When you're trolling the Internet for ESL jobs you can't know how legitimate a site is. Be aware that the scammers have many website URLs that copy legitmate ones. For eg., 'tefl.com' is legitimate while 'tefl.cc' is not; 'teach-in-china.cn' is ok but 'teach-in-china.net' is a scam site. You can't know all of this at once, but pay attention to the URLs and email addresses and it will help.
- It's not difficult to protect yourself from unscrupulous recruiters. Many of the ESL sites are run by recruiters or 'teacher brokers' of some kind, which means they place many teachers each year. BEFORE you proceed very far into a discussion and send too much personal information, ask for the current names, phone numbers and email addresses of at least 5 and preferably 10 teachers they have placed this year.
- If they refuse for ANY reason, drop them instantly. If they are legitimate and their placements are sound, they will be happy to give you the information.
- **I have seen many posts about recruiters on the net, mostly negative I have to say. I have only had one experience with a recruiter, from an employer point of view, which was also negative. The school paid the recruiter, the recruiter didn't pay the teacher.
For China, I really don't think you need a recruiter! There are hundreds, thousands of jobs out there on the net, you should be able to find something yourself with a little effort.
A recruiter would probably say: Use us because we can vet employees and help support teachers in their new environment. If this were the case, then perhaps recruiters would be a good idea, at least for someone entering the market for the first time. In reality, so it seems, the recruiter only seems to cloud the issues, and add another step in the mis-communication chain.
** The above comments were contributed by "DOS", (a head teacher) and are quoted with thanks.
PRIVATE 'SCHOOLS' IN CHINA
Here is one teacher's recent experience (Sept. 2005)
"From recent experience I would go so far as to say that the object of private schools and colleges in China has little, if anything to do with education. They tend to be funded by sources who perceive education as a lucrative variation on pirated DVD's.
Far from imposing some level of discipline and imparting knowledge, the sole purpose seems to be to pamper the offspring of the nouveau riche whilst filling them with career expectations so absurd and unattainable that one can only laugh.
A poster at a private college where I teach stated 'XYZ College Today! Harevard and Oxfort Tomorrow!' That about sums it up.
Be aware that to accept an offer of employment in any of these places can make for a dispiriting and empty experience. It can be especially difficult for experienced western teachers who are generally conditioned to deliver a syllabus in an ordered fashion and observe some tangible progress. That is never a priority at these dead-end finishing schools.
More tragic yet, is that the genuine hopes of the recently rich (though often barely literate) parents are exploited by the cunning sharks who understand these people's aspirations and know how to lie in just the right way. Professional teachers should increasingly distance themselves from operations like this. They are worse than useless. They are immoral.
Only by depriving them of foreign teachers (their 'moneyspinner') can they be consigned to the rubbish heap and their scams exposed."
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- This pretty much says it all. So many of the private 'schools' are outright scams, designed only to bleed parents of money while paying the teachers little if anything. It is SO lucrative that they don't mind being shut down by the authorities and paying a small fine. They can reopen a week later in another location. Stay away not only from them, but from those who recruit teachers for them - because this is a partnership in crime. Be warned.
WHAT TO DO BEFORE YOU'RE CHEATED
- If you do use a recruiter, ask at the start of discussions for the names, phone numbers and email addresses of at least 5 and preferably 10 teachers they have placed this year. This should be a condition of your proceeding any further. This is the easiest way to weed out the fraudulent recruiters - if they won't give you the information, cross them off your list.
- Do an internet search on the recruiter's name. You will be surprised how often their names come up, how many entries there are and, often, how negative the news is. If you don't do this, you will have regrets.
- ALWAYS check with former teachers from the school - at least 3 or 4. If the recruiter or school won't give you this information or you 'can't reach' the individuals, drop them and look elsewhere. And be sure you are really dealing with a teacher and not just a friend of the recruiter. Get both the email address and the phone number of the teachers, and call them. If English isn't their first language, it will be obvious to you.
- Check the ESL websites for any experiences with particular schools that interest you. Somebody has taught there before, and it's worth your while to try to find them. And do an Internet search on the school's name; you may find many positive or negative reports.
- ASK, ASK, AND ASK AGAIN. Don't be discouraged if the response to your persistent questions is some form of "I'm too busy to answer; nobody else ever asks this; you're too much trouble". That's how you know you're dealing with a con artist. The upright people will always satisfy your concerns.
- IF YOU CANNOT GET COMPLETELY SATISFACTORY ANSWERS TO ALL YOUR QUESTIONS AND CONCERNS, BAIL OUT RIGHT THERE. If the answers are not direct and to the point, if your questions are being sidestepped, if the story changes as you go, if the bad news only comes as you force it out, you're being set up. If you are gullible and 'want to believe', you will be responsible for your own misfortune. Nobody can cheat you if you don't let them.
- Insist on satisfactory confirmation of a school's license to hire foreign professionals. Few private 'schools' have a license, and not all public schools do either, so they sometimes forge these. That means they're illegal, and so will you be if you work there. If you're unsatisfied or suspicious, ask them to fax a copy of their license to you, then fax it to the nearest Chinese consulate and ask for verification. This is NOT too much trouble when compared to what will happen if you don't do it.
- NEVER work for an unlicensed school. This one stipulation will save you so much trouble because these are the schools that invariably cheat teachers badly. Also, your income tax won't be paid - since they cannot legally hire you, they can't report your employment to the government, and they just pocket your tax deductions.
- Your work visa should be issued BEFORE you leave for China. If they won't do this, your chances of going to an unlicensed school are very high and you may have deep regrets.
- Reputable employers will normally purchase your ticket to China or reimburse your costs when you arrive. Get it in your contract. If recruiters or schools tell you it will be refunded at the end of your contract, there is just too much chance they don't intend to pay. SO many teachers have complained about this.
- Make it clear to all, and have it stated in your contract, that if there has been ANY misrepresentation, or if the school reneges on ANY part of their contractual commitments, you will leave immediately. And be prepared to do that. Also state that if this occurs they must pay you a month's salary, refund your return travel costs, and free your "Z" visa (or foreign expert certificate).
- Look at it from the other side. If you misrepresent yourself, lie about your qualifications and experience, the school would be blameless in firing you out the door, recovering their expenses and having you deported. What's good for the goose .....
- You must be firm and businesslike in your correspondence, not personal and mushy. You needn't be obnoxious, but ask pointed and detailed questions to satisfy any doubts, and get firm commitments even on small things. When the shady operators realise they can't play you, they'll bail out first.
SALARIES
- Only in unusual or very specific circumstances should you accept a salary as low as 3,000 RMB per month because schools pay far more than that. Even 5,000 or 6,000 is not high, with accommodation and meals included. Many many schools pay 7,000 or more and, depending on location, 10,000 is not too high.
- There are some exceptions. Some universities seem to pay at the bottom of the scale and, as someone was kind enough to point out to me, the small villages don't have the ability to pay more. If either of these appeal to you, you must consider the value to you of the other advantages.
- My preferred arrangement is to negotiate most payments as part of the cash salary. The more additional or conditional payments someone must make to you, the more potential for you to lose them.
- Push the salary higher and pay your own travel expenses and find your own accommodation and eat out or cook your own meals. Yes, it's more trouble at the very start, but you will avoid much headache and maybe heartache for the rest of your stay.
- You should add at least 2,500 RMB per month for your living accommodations, about 1,000 RMB per month to recover your travel expenses, another 1,000 RMB per month for food and about 500 RMB for phone and internet expenses.
That will take you to about 10,000 RMB which is still less than the schools are paying anyway. The recruiters (or cheap schools) make money by finding you substandard accommodations for 1,000 RMB, not paying your real travel expenses, and so on. You don't have to let that happen.
ACCOMMODATION
- If you are offered free accommodation, ask for photos of the building exterior and of the apartment you will inhabit, and get the specific mailing address and put it all in the contract. Be sure the apartment has both heating and air conditioning, that both phone and internet installations are paid for, and the furnishings should include an internet-ready PC, a TV, washer and fridge.
- You can't protect yourself completely here because private 'schools' have been known to send photos of a high-rise in Hong Kong or Vancouver, BC as 'your new home', which lovely buildings seem to be full when a teacher arrives. Public schools should be ok; so far as we know, it's only the scam recruiters and private schools who do this.
- The school should pay for your drinking water and all utilities except your monthly phone bill.
- ** Pretty much any school should offer accommodation. Some apartments are better than others, though legally an apartment should be approved for 'foreign residence' by the relevant authorities. In reality the offerings are mixed.
My first apartment in China was on the seventh floor (with dark, garbage strewn stairwells ruled by some breed of mutant rat) a not-very-large-room, with a bed, a TV, a desk and a closet. The bathroom was certainly not large enough to swing even a small cat, and the shower left a lot to be desired. The small kitchen was basic, though I didn't often go in there often as the cockroaches had long ago claimed it as their own. I could only have one heating device on at a time without the fuse blowing. Having said all that, it was okay for me at the time. My current apartment is in a very nice block, two bedrooms, well equipped and generally roach free kitchen and a nice shower/toilet which even sports a bath!
** Contributed by 'DOS' (a head teacher) with thanks.
WORKING HOURS & CONDITIONS
- You must nail down the minimum hours per week for which you will be PAID and, more importantly, the maximum hours per week you will be expected to spend on school duties.
- This is one area where so many teachers have serious problems of contract violation, so get a commitment in your contract that pleases you and make the school adhere to it. Be sure to include all extra activities like outdoor things, English Corner, meetings, everything. If you have to travel from one campus to another, have the time included.
- Extra classes should NOT be compulsory, and the standard is that they are paid for at a rate ABOVE your normal contract rate. Also, failure of the school to provide you with the minimum teaching hours SHOULD NOT result in a reduction in your pay. Don't give in on these items, and insist on putting this in your contract.
- Don't let yourself get pressured into doing shift work. Deal with this right at the start because later may be too late if you are dealing with an unscrupulous school. If you weaken, you may end up working one hour in the morning, two more in the late afternoon, and a couple in the evening, six days a week. And you will have no free time to yourself.
FREE TIME & HOLIDAYS
- Aside from arranged classes you must have the freedom to come and go as you choose. Be sure there are NO restrictions on your activity during your free time. This means that you can accept teaching assignments at other schools or take private students if you want to do that.
- Be sure that you get two consecutive days off every week and don't agree to split shifts, except occasionally at your sole option. And be sure your evenings are free; the staff of some private schools (like English First, I'm told) run their own counterfeit clone schools on the side and try to use EF teachers as free teaching for them. Don't do it.
- Your contract should include a one-month paid holiday DURING its term. This means if you are teaching a 10-month year you should be paid for 11 months, and the extra month's pay must NOT be conditional on anything. Also, there should be a small travel allowance per semester. The ones I've seen are all 2,200 RMB.
MEDICAL COVERAGE
- With every reputable school, free medical coverage is provided. If this is at all important to you, insist on it. Ask how you are reimbursed for medical expenses - can you just tell the doctor or hospital to send the bill to the school? And ask beforehand what happens to your pay if you are sick for a few days or a few weeks.
VISAS, VISAS AND VISAS
- You must ask if the school is licensed to hire 'foreign professionals'; if not, they won't be able to arrange your visa. Your visa should ALWAYS be arranged beforehand; the reason recruiters and schools don't do that is because they don't have a license to hire foreign teachers. If a recruiter doesn't discuss the work visa up front or won't arrange it beforehand, you know he is recruiting for unlicensed schools.
- Dishonest schools (and recruiters) will have you come on a tourist visa and promise to arrange a "Z" visa later. Some will tell you they cannot arrange a "Z" visa until after you come to China. Don't get sucked into this one.
- The school MUST arrange a "Z" work visa for you, and this must NORMALLY be done before you enter China. You cannot teach or work legally in any country without a work visa, but apparently in some provinces you can get your tourist visa changed to a work visa while in the country. However, that may not be possible in all places or for all nationalities of teachers.
- If you accept a job on a tourist visa, the school may have you in a difficult and risky position. If you refuse to accede to their demands, however unreasonable, they can threaten to report you to the police and have you deported. And they WILL report you, from spite, and you may be deported, and they will avoid paying you anything.
- Don't blame the Chinese government if that happens because it will be your own fault. Every country in the world does the same thing. Try working in the US without a Green Card and see what happens to you.
- ** A fair number of schools will tell you to come into China on a visitor's visa and they will change it to a Z-class once you are in China. Technically this is not legal, but it has been, and still is, done quite a lot. Why might they ask you to do this? There are a few reasons:
One is that it is easier than the official process; it is faster and it is also cheaper for both the school and for you. Schools with all the licenses still prefer to do it this way when they can. It also depends upon the province and the schools relationship with the relevant authorities. In some provinces it is just about impossible to get this done any more, and this will only spread as time goes by.
Two: The school doesn't actually have a license to employ foreigners, but it can still get you a Z visa because the boss has a good 'relationship' with the authorities. This situation is a little bit of a gray area for you as a teacher if problems arise.
Three: The school is telling total lies and they have no intention of getting a valid visa for you. Once you are in China they will pretend to get you a visa but end up giving you the runaround, and at worse not getting you a visa at all, leaving you illegal and in deep doo doo. Some may get you an F-class visa, or keep renewing your visitors visa. Be worried.
The school has good reason to be worried about the visas, as they are legally responsible for you whilst you are in China! Hence if you are involved in a crime or have a bad accident (or die!!!) they can be in a lot of trouble. This is why some schools try and limit their teacher's movements, and why they sometimes try to monitor where you are all the time. If a teacher died, for whatever reason the school could (would) even be closed. You can see why some bosses would be worried.
** Contributed by 'DOS' (a head teacher) with thanks.
INCOME TAXES
- You will want to obtain independent confirmation that income tax will be (or is being) paid on your salary; you don't want to become liable for tax of 20% of a year's pay after the fact.
- Schools that offer "after-tax" income likely don't have a license to hire foreign teachers, (and that's why they can't get your "Z" visa). If you are working with only a tourist visa (ie. illegally), they can't report your employment to the government, and so you can be sure your income tax isn't being paid. You may incur serious problems here.
- For your safety and peace of mind, it is better to be paid in 'before tax' money and pay your own income tax directly if this is possible for you. This way, you are sure your tax is fully paid and no unpleasant surprises await you.
YOUR EXPENSES AND LIABILITES
- Be sure to nail down everything you will be expected to pay for, and be sure your contract states that you MUST be presented with an invoice. Someone telling you that you have a 500 RMB internet payment owing without presenting the invoice from the internet company, is just stealing from you.
THE CONTRACT
- If you sign an employment contract with a very large company, it is probably standard and they won't likely make many changes just for you. But understand that any contract you are likely to see, has been prepared by a recruiter or some other amateur and is wide open to amendment. DON'T be hesitant to ask for revisions.
- Be sure to insist that any misrepresentation or violation by the school of the terms will result in your leaving (legally) and will result in costs to them. The legitimate schools won't mind; the others may. Read the section on 'Contracts' to understand better what to look for.
- I've been informed by by what I believe is a reliable source that the contract submitted by Frank Zhang (see 'Contracts' section) is actually a standard one originally drafted by a department of the Chinese Government, and is in wide circulation. I can't comment on this, but the contract is definitely a bad one from a North American point of view, sufficiently so that you should have no reluctance to ask for revisions.
- Be sure that the contract has actually been signed by the school and not by the recruiter. If you're dealing with a private recruiter the chances are high that the contract was signed by him. That makes it useless, and the school will ask you to sign another (different) one when you arrive.
The contract may not have high value, but if an authorised school officer did not actually sign, it will have NO value and if you don't verify you won't know.
DON'T TRUST THESE PEOPLE
- Lastly, and please believe me on this, NEVER trust anyone in China who says, "Please kindly understand us". You're being had. Trust me.
- And phrases like these from people you do not personally know are almost a sure sign of a con:
"We welcome all friends coming from afar".
"I hope I can make you friend".
"How is my faraway friend?"
"Anything need my help, please let me know".
"I am very happy if I could do something for you".
WHAT TO DO IF YOU'RE CHEATED
- Some recruiters (and schools too) will advertise an ideal job and use a 'bait and switch' approach. They will have you come to China on a tourist visa at your own expense, then tell you the position has been filled and offer you another in a poor location. If you don't want deep regrets, walk away from it. Use your time to find another position; the new school can arrange your visa.
- The best and ultimate way to protect yourself is to be prepared to accept the worst when you agree to a contract. And the worst is that you will quit immediately upon the school reneging on any part of your agreement. This may seem drastic to you, but it is the only sensible course and most problems would disappear in a few months if most teachers had the courage to do this. If you are not prepared to do that, and to then find yourself another teaching position in a hurry, you should reconsider accepting a job at all.
Here is one teacher's recent experience (Sept. 2005)
I was recently scammed by Allen Zhang and Guangdong University of Business Studies.
The entire pre-and post-scam cost me $4000. I feel like a fool. I am especially self-guilt ridden since I am a debate teacher! I can't believe I would fall for such a scam.
When I arrived at the "University" in China, and realized I had been had, I immediately went
to Hong Kong. After a night's stay at an expensive hotel (there were just a few rooms left late at night), I waited six hours at the airport and finally was on a plane to LAX. The return flight cost me $1500.
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- This teacher did the right thing. But he didn't have to return to the US; he should have stayed to look for another job, and would likely have found one without difficulty.
- And that's why you want to deal directly with a school, be sure that the school has signed your contract, and insist that violations will result in costs to them.
- If you have a serious contractual dispute with the school, ususally initiated by them reneging on the contract over pay or working hours, the PSB may be able to help you because they are responsible for dealings with foreign professionals.
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