I (and every one of the 40+ foreign teachers that I know and have worked with in China) found
each of my positions directly by contacting schools.

And how many positions would that be during the last decade? Some FT's I know have held the same position at the same school for more than a decade, but there again, they are considered to be good teachers.

Perhaps FT's such as yourself are incapable of holding down a position for more than one semester?

Meds..........dear......take your meds and you'll be OK. I promise!

Schools use agents to distance themselves legally from your inevitable deportation.

I have tasted unripe lemons that are not as bitter as you seem to be. Did some nasty FT steal your dolly?

If you cannot contribute anything other than snide, insulting remarks, why bother?

I (and every one of the 40+ foreign teachers that I know and have worked with in China) found
each of my positions directly by contacting schools.

Well 'woopy-doo!'

I recently gave the contact information (for a good agent), to one of my friends who is looking for a new job. (This guy has more degrees than a thermometer BTW). Within 24 hours my friend had the pick of no less than 8 high school / university jobs in 8 different provinces. He didn't have to send 8 lots of documents off to 8 different schools, nor did he have to sit through 8 interviews.

If you are a lazy unqualified ignorant foreigner, by all means: use an agent to get a job in
China.

Agents have their place. Whether you choose to use them or abuse them, some of them do a fine job!

Thousands of FT's wouldn't get posts if it weren't for recruiters. It's okay for Turnoi to go it alone as he is so highly qualified and can cherry-pick I imagine. Also he is fluent in Mandarin and can phone up these schools. And very importantly can read the contracts; the Chinese version which can differ vastly from the English translation. Most of us need a helping hand; as we are no different than the competition, a million other FT's on the dole. Recruiters and agents are almost 'an act of God' in themselves; they help the needy, the estranged from Western Society.

I dunno if Turnoi is fluent in Mandarin. We only have his word for that! Also his reading skills aren't proven in my opinion. Are you trying to be sarcastic? Recruiters and agents are supplying FTs to China's schools for money. Maybe ELIC and some other NGOs including charities are exceptions to that. Don't get too carried away with the services they provide. We don't want them to become bigheads!

Turnoi is only thinking about his own situation when he posts. Somewhat haughty in his attitude along with one or two others who give the impression of talking down to those of us who are just common-or-garden FTs.

Best to ignore them while posting our own views. The readership can go whichever way they please to seek employment either by applying direct for jobs or going through agents/recruiters. The fact that these days there are so many recruiters advertising for FTs compared to a few years ago tells us the former are making money.

The main reason is number 5 of your list. The dumping could be because of a variety of reasons. The procurement of a fast replacement is essential in the eyes of that school's headmaster. Once an FT is in a school's bad books, that school will want him out the door ASAP!

Number 3 will also be a major reason in my view. Perhaps a school got only a couple of applicants by advertising direct. From a hiring perspective, that's not a good situation.

Better leave it at that for Turnoi's sake. Glad you've found a couple of decent recruiters. They aren't all disreputable despite what some posters claim!

Thousands of FT's wouldn't get posts if it weren't for recruiters. It's okay for Turnoi to go it alone as he is so highly qualified and can cherry-pick I imagine. Also he is fluent in Mandarin and can phone up these schools. And very importantly can read the contracts; the Chinese version which can differ vastly from the English translation. Most of us need a helping hand; as we are no different than the competition, a million other FT's on the dole. Recruiters and agents are almost 'an act of God' in themselves; they help the needy, the estranged from Western Society.

You only have to look at the way schools themselves attempt to directly advertise for FT's -
it's a joke!
Decent recruiters know how to recruit. They know what their client wants and they know what
the FT wants - for them it's just a matchmaking exercise.

Recruiters lie for a living. Good schools tell the truth and don't require recruiters.

If you are qualified, perhaps 20% of the resumes you send to good schools will result in a job offer.

If you are unqualified, you will receive no offers and then you can contact recruiters who will tell you how to lie while they lie to you about their clients and lie to their clients about you.

Matchmaking indeed. FTs that lack qualifications coached by professional contingency liars for employers that honest qualified teachers have already shunned.

It's no surprise that most of the contributors to this forum have found it necessary to use recruiters.

You only have to look at the way schools themselves attempt to directly advertise for FT's - it's a joke!

Decent recruiters know how to recruit. They know what their client wants and they know what the FT wants - for them it's just a matchmaking exercise.

A university teacher friend of mine has been looking for a new placement for next semester. He's sick of working for peanuts. He's had a couple of offers with slightly more money and he was ready to accept one of them.....until........

They sent him a contract, and in the section that spoke about the (free) on-campus accommodation, it said that he must pay RMB300 per month 'rent'. (Yes, three hundred!)

He told them to stick their job as a matter of principle.

Some schools really don't have a clue!

I'm with Turnoi on this one, but I will humour you nonetheless.

There could be a bootload of reasons why educational establishments use agents to recruit FT's.

1) They don't need to pay to advertise.
2) They don't have the time or the inclination to sift through lots of potential applicants
3) They cannot get lots of potential applicants
4) They want the contract to be between the school and the agency rather than the FT
5) They can dump the FT when he clouts a student due to the fact he didn't take his meds, then demand a replacement FT quickly.

Agents have a place. As with any industry there are good agents and awful ones. I happen to work with 2 really good ones that I have recommended to others. From my experience, agents tend to work in one of 2 ways.

1) Agents to completely avoid if you have an ounce of grey-matter between your ears. These guys will make you sign a contract with the agency. They then essentially sub-contract you out to a school. The school pays the agency, the agency pays you. My school was paying RMB14000 per teacher, for 2 teachers last semester. In both cases the FT was getting 7000. That means the agency was creaming 7000 per month (per teacher), for doing nothing.

2) Agents who simply charge a 'finders-fee' or a 'placement fee'. They do all the interviewing in order to find what their school (client) wants. The FT then signs a contract directly with the school and the school pays the agent a one-off fee.
From then on, the school deals directly with the FT and the agent walks away. This is the better type of agent (in my opinion).