I am putting together a list of companies and schools NEVER to work for in China. This is based on my own experience with the organizations, as well as a handful of people I trust who have had verifiably awful run-ins with their place of employment. I won't put it up on the Net, but I will have it as a handy-dandy reference tool.
If you are considering taking a job in China as "an English Teacher" and you are NOT going to be working for a proper school --ie, International School of Beijing, Western Academy, BISS---send me your contact info and I will relate to you what I know about your future place of employment, or if possible, put you in touch with people who have worked there or are working there now. You can take my word for it or leave it, it's up to you. If you are a properly certified teacher going to work for a proper school--the aforementioned--then no worries, as they are legitimate enterprises who know how to recruit, hire, and settle in new staff (and do it beautifully.)
But if you're going to some place you read about on Craig's List, or something of that ilk, let me give you an example of a tragedy that could have been avoided (had someone paid any attention whatsoever): an acquaintance had my contact info but did NOT contact me, came to China to "teach English" and found herself stuck in a distant city without working papers, under contract for the most punitive schedule I have ever seen, and being "home-stayed" with a family that expected her to sleep on the sofa while they stayed up all night playing cards, smoking, and talking on the phone. She was expected to give English lessons on demand to anyone who walked into their house--for free, as partial payment for her share of the rent, and to pose for pictures on demand with anyone who asked for it--smiling and doing that horrid two-finger v thing the locals find so damned adorable. She was told repeatedly she'd get paid after a month--one month came and went--no money. After two months, she finally got ahold of a mutual friend in China via email (she borrowed a student's phone) and said friend scooped in and extracted her like a watermelon seed. The family she was staying with demanded 6,000 RMB in "rent" for two months of living on a sofa (rent in that city is closer to 800 RMB for a two-bedroom apartment) and tried to hold the girl's suitcase and belongings. The police were called, at which point the school backed off because it turns out they had never processed any of the girl's paperwork, she was not legally entitled to work, and the paperwork allowing her to stay in that apartment had never been filed with the local police station. Who's in trouble now with the coppers, the girl or the school? I leave it to you to guess.
I have tremendous respect for the laws regarding employment, residence, and taxes, and legitimate employers will jump through the requisite hoops to hire legally. Schools and "consultancies" which are out to make a quick buck will not, and you, the foreigner, are at the mercy of the law if any issues are not resolved legally and cleanly. Because education is a venture with very high returns, extremely unscrupulous people, often foreign people with Chinese wives, or overseas Chinese, enter the business with no knowledge of business or education or language acquisition, and they make a fortune exploiting their clients and teachers. Trust me--I worked for a place for 300 bucks A MONTH and later found out they were billing my clients over 200 USD per hour--of which I received about four bucks. The "free" accommodation was in incredibly bad shape, they never gave me a telephone, or furniture for that matter, and I slept on a mattresson the floor. I am embarrassed to tell you how long it took to extricate myself from that mess. If only I had known...but I didn't and I let myself get thrown to the local wolves.
If you are coming here to teach, for goodness sake, do some research, contact people, network! Just because your first job offer doesn't pan out does NOT mean you shouldn't come out here--it just means you have spared yourself some unpleasantness and that leaves you open to the possibility of working somewhere decent and having an interesting time of it. There are a lot of smaller schools and agencies which will work you hard but treat you fairly, and it is very possible to walk into one of these situations and walk out at the end of a year having had a good time. Knowledge is power: use the internet to make your life easier. Remember--it's there for you to read AND share.
If you are considering taking a job in China as "an English Teacher" and you are NOT going to be working for a proper school --ie, International School of Beijing, Western Academy, BISS---send me your contact info and I will relate to you what I know about your future place of employment, or if possible, put you in touch with people who have worked there or are working there now. You can take my word for it or leave it, it's up to you. If you are a properly certified teacher going to work for a proper school--the aforementioned--then no worries, as they are legitimate enterprises who know how to recruit, hire, and settle in new staff (and do it beautifully.)
But if you're going to some place you read about on Craig's List, or something of that ilk, let me give you an example of a tragedy that could have been avoided (had someone paid any attention whatsoever): an acquaintance had my contact info but did NOT contact me, came to China to "teach English" and found herself stuck in a distant city without working papers, under contract for the most punitive schedule I have ever seen, and being "home-stayed" with a family that expected her to sleep on the sofa while they stayed up all night playing cards, smoking, and talking on the phone. She was expected to give English lessons on demand to anyone who walked into their house--for free, as partial payment for her share of the rent, and to pose for pictures on demand with anyone who asked for it--smiling and doing that horrid two-finger v thing the locals find so damned adorable. She was told repeatedly she'd get paid after a month--one month came and went--no money. After two months, she finally got ahold of a mutual friend in China via email (she borrowed a student's phone) and said friend scooped in and extracted her like a watermelon seed. The family she was staying with demanded 6,000 RMB in "rent" for two months of living on a sofa (rent in that city is closer to 800 RMB for a two-bedroom apartment) and tried to hold the girl's suitcase and belongings. The police were called, at which point the school backed off because it turns out they had never processed any of the girl's paperwork, she was not legally entitled to work, and the paperwork allowing her to stay in that apartment had never been filed with the local police station. Who's in trouble now with the coppers, the girl or the school? I leave it to you to guess.
I have tremendous respect for the laws regarding employment, residence, and taxes, and legitimate employers will jump through the requisite hoops to hire legally. Schools and "consultancies" which are out to make a quick buck will not, and you, the foreigner, are at the mercy of the law if any issues are not resolved legally and cleanly. Because education is a venture with very high returns, extremely unscrupulous people, often foreign people with Chinese wives, or overseas Chinese, enter the business with no knowledge of business or education or language acquisition, and they make a fortune exploiting their clients and teachers. Trust me--I worked for a place for 300 bucks A MONTH and later found out they were billing my clients over 200 USD per hour--of which I received about four bucks. The "free" accommodation was in incredibly bad shape, they never gave me a telephone, or furniture for that matter, and I slept on a mattresson the floor. I am embarrassed to tell you how long it took to extricate myself from that mess. If only I had known...but I didn't and I let myself get thrown to the local wolves.
If you are coming here to teach, for goodness sake, do some research, contact people, network! Just because your first job offer doesn't pan out does NOT mean you shouldn't come out here--it just means you have spared yourself some unpleasantness and that leaves you open to the possibility of working somewhere decent and having an interesting time of it. There are a lot of smaller schools and agencies which will work you hard but treat you fairly, and it is very possible to walk into one of these situations and walk out at the end of a year having had a good time. Knowledge is power: use the internet to make your life easier. Remember--it's there for you to read AND share.
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