Here I would like to give you some advice and warnings about things that we have seen go wrong and also some background to this industry so that you have a bit more of an understanding of how it works.
Payment
We and most reputable TESOL recruiting agencies do not charge you to find the job, negotiate the contract and arrange the visa paper work. The only time we will ask for money is if we incur a direct cost that is outside of what is mentioned above. So if we book courses, travel or hotels for you then we will pass that cost on. Otherwise our service is free.
The reason for this is that we receive a commission from the school after you have been at the school for 3 months. Now this commission does not reflect as any reduction of pay to you. It is considered a normal cost of the school to recruit a teacher.
Please note though that I just said that we do not get paid anything until after you have been at the school for 3 months. This means that it is in our best interest to see that you get settled in to the school and stay for that time. Of course our service continues past this point, in fact it continues for as long as we can help.
We have many good friends throughout the world from this business. Friends that continue to teach and friends that have moved on to other careers and or other countries. We love hearing from you and what this great opportunity has brought to your life.
Background Information
Schools require native English speaking teachers to be able to offer a superior service to their pupils. In government schools it is a point of prestige. In private schools this is a major selling point.
Foreign teachers get paid anywhere from 3 to 5 times what local teachers get paid. Also it costs a school a lot of money to first of all get permission to employ foreign teachers, then find/recruit that teacher, then process the visa application in China, then provide an apartment, then pay for medical checks and other official requirements once you have arrived.
In fact it costs a school tens of thousands of RMB/Yuan or many thousands of AUD dollars to get you to the school and this doesn’t include flight costs or your salary. Then your salary is 3 to 5 time’s local teacher’s wages. This all means that schools want the best “Foreign English Speaking” teachers.
This means that schools want a good teacher. They are looking for commitment but also looking to advertise that their school is the best because they have a foreign teacher.
Now there are no discrimination laws in China, so schools will openly reject teachers on looks alone. This is why we stress to you to spend some time on your photo and make sure it is good. This is why it is so difficult to get a contract for a teacher of Asian appearance. This is why it is more difficult to get a contract if you are outside the “ideal” of Caucasian between 24 and 55 years of age with a degree and teaching experience. Fortunately there are more schools than teachers so we are generally successful with placing most teachers into contracts.
Of course this is why we are here to help you. We know what the schools are looking for and can advise you on how to best present yourself to obtain a good contract. We are here with our experience and knowledge of this ever changing industry to help you. Also different parts of China have different requirements and some schools can be more helpful than others. Just another reason to use our services.
There are basically 2 ways to find TESOL work, Recruiters and Web Sites that advertise jobs/post resumes.
Please read about both of these below and please be aware of the problems that can arise. People are successful obtaining contracts by both of these methods but we would just like to make you aware of some of the pitfalls that we have seen over our years in this industry.
Other Recruiters
I would like to advise you to be careful if you use other recruiting agencies or find other TESOL jobs via the internet, especially if they are based in China.
The commission that we receive barely covers costs and in fact, wouldn’t if we operated totally in Australia. But to a poor Chinese person with a bit of knowledge of this industry and a computer, the commission can look very inviting. So if you are talking to a recruiter that says yes to most of your questions and wants you to come over to the perfect job on a tourist visa I would be very suspicious. They tell you anything to convince you to go to China because they have the perfect job. When you actually get there then they will start trying to find a school that will pay them for you. This can leave you sitting in a hotel for weeks and possibly having to pay for this hotel as well.
Watch out for recruiters that get you to come on a Tourist or Business visa (L or F visa). This can often mean that you will have to exit China, apply for the work visa in another country and then re enter China, probably at your own expense.
The school must have permission from the Chinese government to be able to apply for your work visa in China and you cannot get a work visa without the Invitation Letter and Work Permit issued by the Chinese government.
We always check that schools have a “Foreign teacher recruiting permit” before sending your documents to them.
Jobs from the Internet
There are many web sites offering free resume posting and many schools pay to advertise here as well. The warnings mentioned about in Other Recruiters still apply here but there is another problem with these sites.
There is always more jobs than teachers so most schools will say “yes we want you” when you apply to them. The schools know that if you post a resume you will get many replies saying that they want you to teach at their school. The schools also know that of course you can only teach at one place so you are going to pick the best school for you. So as you contact each school and ask questions they are very positive and will continually say yes to you as well as all the other teachers that reply because they know that they are going to lose most teachers to other schools. They keep saying yes to all teachers and hope that there is still one left that is willing to sign the contract. But if the school is lucky or has a good offer they might end up with two or more teachers wanting to sign a contract. Then the school has to pick one from these teachers. This means that you can be told yes,yes,yes until the very end but still miss a contract.
This is why we do it differently, the offers we send to you are available to you exclusively for a short time (3 days). We hold the contract for you for this time, and then if you don’t want it, it will pass on to another teacher and we will find another contract for you. If you do want the contract then we go ahead and sign up the contract straight away. We feel this much fairer for both parties.
Culture shock
We find that this is the main reason teaching overseas might fail. Culture shock is real. Have you ever changed jobs and felt stress settling into a new job? Have you ever changed where you live to a new house/apartment, did this make you stressed?
Well now your whole life will change in the 9 odd hours it takes to fly from Australia to China. You will be in a different country that speaks a different language, experience a different culture, start a different job, live in a different apartment and have no friends at least to start with. Wow everything changes!!!
Culture, what is culture? People often say they want to experience a different culture but what does culture mean? Culture is the way people do things, their beliefs and customs. Culture is a mixture of many things that make people do things the way they do.
After people have been in a different country for some time they sometimes complain about the strange (strange to them) way that things are done in this location. Sometimes they don’t look deeper into the reasons they are done that way. So Culture can take some time to understand and get used to.
We suggest that when you go over that you don’t think of staying for the 12 months of your contract, you just think of staying 4 to 6 weeks no matter what happens. We find that during this period there will probably be a number of things happen.
In 4 to 6 weeks you will adjust to your surroundings and settle in. Now some people that are still having trouble in the 4th or 5th week tend to doubt this but most times it is correct. Another thing to remember is that with any new group of students your first lesson with them is always the worst. The students have to get used to you and you have to get used to them. Even seasoned teachers will still say the first lesson with a new group is always the worst.