MyKindaChina.com
    log in    join now    forgot password
Beware of

Agents masquerading as schools. Often agents will pretend that they are an actual English school. They send you a bogus contract, and tell you to buy a plane ticket.Then, when you arrive in China they inform you that the job is no longer available (due to “renovations”, natural disasters such as a “fire” or “earthquake” etc.) but not to worry because their best friend, who also happens to be a school owner, also needs a teacher. Yes, it’s in a remote region nowhere near the previous job offer, but the salary is pretty much the same and you’re sure to love it. Two months into the teaching stint you find the salary sucks, the position is unbearable, and it’s gonna be hard enough getting your passport back let alone any remuneration for the work you’ve already put in.

How to not be a sucker in the above scam: Don’t consider contracts that don’t have phone numbers on them. If they do have phone numbers, call the school.Any vaguely professional school will have receptionists answering the phone saying, “Hello, Mickey Mouse English School, I’m Jennifer, how may I help?”

  1. Schools that can’t offer you a reference from either a current or previous teacher. Of course, it will happen that some schools are getting a foreign teacher for the first time, either because they’ve just opened or because they’ve decided to add a foreigner to their staff of Chinese English teachers for the first time. If this is the case then that’s information that you need to know. Brand new schools are not necessarily worse than established schools, especially if they have franchised a successful brand. It often turns out that if you’re the first foreigner to work in a school then you’ll be treated with great respect (mainly because the owners are still naeve to the fact that a large percentage of teachers doing the rounds in Asia are simply backpackers pretending to be educators). Note that if it turns out you’re being recruited to a newly opened school or a school hiring a foreigner for the first time, it’s necessary to make sure that you’ll be provided with a one-year working or business visa.
  2. Schools with vague, ambiguous or incomplete contracts. Here are some relevant excerpts from the US Department of State’s website (please note that quoting said organization does not imply that MyKindaChina is in any way affiliated with the Bush family or the War in Iraq):

Many Americans have enjoyed their teaching experience in China; others have encountered significant problems. Some Americans travel to China under a contract with promises of good salary, bonuses and other amenities, only to find themselves in tenuous situations often lacking funds to return to the United States. The U.S. Embassy cannot act as a legal advisor or negotiate business or personal grievances on behalf of individual citizens. Americans experiencing problems can contact the Embassy's American Citizens Services Unit at telephone (86-10) 6532-3431, extension 5648, 5028, 5609 or 5344, or via e-mail to AmCitBeijing@state.gov to report problems with school employment contracts.

Americans considering teaching English in China should check that their contracts specify the maximum number of classroom hours per day and per week, maximum workdays per week, and vacation periods. Americans teaching in China, particularly at newly established private secondary schools and private English training centers, have often found their employers unable or unwilling to honor contract terms or to assist in obtaining Chinese employment-based visas and other permits required for foreigners to teach lawfully in China.

Prospective teachers should always ask for references from other foreign teachers who have completed a contract teaching term and have returned to their home country. Prospective teachers should always demand that they receive a contract from their employer rather than from an agent or intermediary. These agents or intermediaries often receive a large portion of the monthly pay promised to the teacher, leaving the teachers without significant financial resources. These “fees” are sometimes not disclosed until after the prospective teacher arrives in China. To date, courts and police in many jurisdictions have refused to intervene in these cases on behalf of foreign teachers.