How do you find a Recruiter?

[Babala]

First of let me say it's not for me. I have been working at the same school for 3 years now. My friend is trying to find a teaching job and it may be harder because he isn't a native speaker. I thought maybe easier to try and go through a recruiter. The thing is he wants to remain in my city which makes it even more difficult.

I'd be grateful for any ideas.

[Da Dan]

I bet if he put resumes up at the different sites, recruters will contact him then he can sort them out?
& other boards have a recruter or two recomended if time was spent looking through threads here & elsewhere.... I forget which boards I've read them on.

btw...
I think I was in Changzhou the other afternoon....

Babala, did you by chance give a guy from Hawaii a handfull of Hersheys bars the otta day?

[Dajiang]

Hmm.
I dunno if its easier to go through a recruiter really.

I've always arranged my own jobs and that's always been working out fine for me.
I'm Dutch btw, making it harder to find jobs online, so basically Ive got to go to schools in person, or call them up directly.

Most important thing Ive noticed is to have a degree of some sort to get the better jobs, the non-native part is not that vital really.

Anyway, you probably know all the schools in Changzhou that hire FT's by now, so you can get their numbers/addresses, perhaps the name of the FAO's, and he could give them a call.

I think that would work very well.
Dajiang

[Raoul Duke]

Oh, my goodness.

Recruiters are not something you want to find. They are something you want to stay away from like they were plutonium. If they approach you, you want to hit them and then run away.

99.9999999999999999999% of teacher recruiters are total crooks (or at least completely negligent); it's just not worth taking a chance on finding a decent one. They DO work a lot with teachers not from the Big 7 Countries...because they can unload them into abusive situations at bottom-of-the-barrel schools. You should ask some of my Filipina friends about their experiences with recruiters!

Take Da Dan's and Dajiang's advice and skip the recruiters. Your friend should advertise himself, and pursue employment ads on his own.

And if you get any replies from recruiters, block mail from that address and delete the reply without acknowledging it.

[Dragonsaver]

admin said:

99.9999999999999999999% of teacher recruiters are total crooks (or at least completely negligent); it's just not worth taking a chance on finding a decent one.

Isn't Non-Dave a recruiter???

[George61]

Isn't Non-Dave a recruiter???

Good point!.........is he one of the 99.99999999999999999999, or one in the 0.0000000000000000001 bracket?

[Jollyjunklass]

I,know,this,is,irritating,to,read,because,it,is,to,write.What,r,the,seven,England,US,Canada,Australia,NewZealand,not,what,other,two,r.Also,just,found,out,that,non-dave,was,doing,this,pretty,good,for,being,here,only,a,year,i,think

[Raoul Duke]

Not sure Non-Dave is a recruiter per se. Maybe more of a "facilitator"? Either way, n-Dave is unquestionably among the 0.0000000000000000001%. He's set out to be something different and as near as I can tell he's succeeded.

JJL, the Big 7 are: The USA (Original Home of the Source of Official World Standard English^TM), Canada, The UK, New Zealand (technically an English-speaking country although many natives speak Baaa in the home), Australia (ditto), Ireland, and South Africa.

Raoul
The Source of Official World Standard English^TM. Ask for me by name!

[Non-Dave]

Hey, I'm not a recruiter, I'm an Australian!

Don't let the white shoes and the big smile fool you, I'm defintely one of the 99.99999999999999999999. E.L. can back that up for you in a few weeks!

I don't disagree with Raoul's advice, though, with one exception ( I just successfuly resisted the urge to indulge in some gratuitous self-agrandizement and advertising). I think the main thing in the whole process is to be personally responsible for the outcome. Do your homework properly, check the facts, talk to the teachers who have been there and have a plan B if it all turns to pooe.

Babala, I'd be telling your friend to put together a sharp, short and professional resume, dress up and go door knocking.

[Crippler]

Hell, Non-Dave and I are the only 2 honest recruiters, soliciters, match-makersfacilitators in China! And, sometimes I wonder about him!

[Babala]

Thanks for the advice guys. I have living in Changzhou almost 2 years now but sadly I know very little about the school situations here. The FT's in my city tend to stick to their own little groups. I have been asking around though. It's a bad time of the year to be looking but hopefully we can find him something by December.

Dan,
Were you the guy I met in Club 8? IF so, it's the guy I was sitting with that we are talking about here.

[phets72]

In N-Dave's defence, as I know him personally...he's not a recruiter. I can vouch for him personally as he was a pretty good friend to me when I came to China.

Steph

[nolefan]

I'll second the vote of confidence on Non-Dave. I'm sure that having Crippler on board wouldn't hurt in terms of "convincing" schools that they should do the right thing.

Don't condemn all recruiters.. I've worked with one for quite a long time and I can say that there are a few who can do more than a decent job in helping prospective teachers. they are usually stuck between a rock and hard place not to mention that they get the complaints from both ends. Some are actually legit agencies with offices, staff and plenty of support ( New Times and Buckland for exemple) whereas some are just pirate operations with a mobile phone number that gets turned off whenever there's a problem.

[Raoul Duke]

I don't think ALL recruiters are weasels...I just think that so few of them are NOT weasels that it isn't worth taking the chance you'll stumble across one of the 3-4 decent ones in all of China. Therefore, you're better off simply avoiding them like the plague that nearly all of them truly are. Unless, of course, they're Non-Dave. Who may or may not be a recruiter.

I haven't found much dirt on New Times, but I've seen so much outraged howling and so many horror stories about Buckland that I couldn't possibly recommend that company to anyone.

The vast majority (almost all of them!) of recruiters will still, with big smiles on their faces, place you in schools they know full well are dodgy and abusive. They will promise you Hainan and send you to Inner Mongolia. They are fully aware that, for many of us, our options suddenly become much more limited the moment we set foot on Chinese soil as newcomers. They feel that their responsibility ends when you sign the contract and they collect their recruiting fee; once the ink is dry and the cash is deposited they won't even remember who you are. If they DO deign to get involved in a dispute, it will be on the school's side...not yours. They have about as much regard for your well-being as the Hormel company has for the longevity of pigs.

Good schools with attractive compensation packages in decent cities generally don't NEED recruiters. Abusive schools and/or those who pay crap wages and/or those who are placed in scummy, boring, backwater hick towns centered around poorly-maintained nuclear fuel rod production facilities rely heavily upon recruiters to fill their teaching slots. YOU do the math here.

Our Links page cites quite a number of sites that post job listings. They're there for you to use! Guys, for most of us, and despite what some would like you to believe, it's much, much too easy to get a job in China...

Use the internet. Search the ads and send the resumes. As n-Dave suggested, put on some pants and go knock on some doors. If you can't talk directly with an actual representative of the school itself (or, of course, to n-Dave), terminate the conversation and run.

The odds are agin' ya here.

[Eagle's Nest]

Babala,

Is this guy able to teach at a uni? I know that CIT will be looking for two people to work the second term (February to June). Can he hold out that long? Can he work for the low wages that a uni pays out? There are tutoring jobs out there as I am turning them down. If there is an interest, call me and I will give the phone number and e-mail address of our FAO officer.

As for Ft's sticking to their own groups, you are right as I haven't seen any of these species either. My friends here are turning out to be local Chinese uni teachers. We do have to get together again for a beer at Bar 8 before too long. Please call, the Mrs and I are getting a thirst on.

eagle

[Babala]

EN,
Thanks for the offer but I am guessing that your school would not be interested. The problem is his nationality which is Filipino. We are more looking towards kindy, primary or junior schools.

I would love to go out for a beer. Found a new place here that carries western food. Everything from Doritos to A&W Rootbeer. It's attached to a little forigner pub here. Unfortunately I lost your number. Can you PM it me so we can go grab that beer

[con's fly is open]

I you're on the ground, trying to find work within your city, hit the English corners, and let it drop that you are interested in changing jobs. In fact, get around English speaking chinese and drop this fact. I guarantee you everyone will have heard of an opportunity, and will have dug up another by the next time they see you.

Granted, most of these leads will be magic beans, but still, this is a more effective way to dig for leads than official channels.