Can only speak for myself, but my time with Enfly was really good - they are decent enough to work for, if you have any problems with schools etc they try to help. It's rare you find a good review of any of the agencies on this website - people are always quick to criticise but I've always found Enfly more than fair

Because 90% of the posters on this forum are here because they're pissed off with China or their lives.

Most of the happy teachers aren't going to waste their time on here, since they don't need to vent, and there's nothing to be gained.

However, as a teacher who has had a blast for the past few years with Enfly, I think as long as you have your degree and don't have any job-losing habits (lots of alcoholic teachers here unfortunately), you should be able to enjoy an easy and fulfilling job here.

worst company in chengdu
avoid at all costs

He is not a teacher in any way; he even doesn't know what it is. But it may be true that he has more beer than anything else for breaklfast.

I literally mean teachers who dont have dumplings for breakfast but beer

I joined this company in early 2016, when i got to the office upon my arrival the staff were nothing short of rude.
I lost my hand in an accident when I was younger, and the recruitment staff were extremely angry at me for not telling them i had a prosthetic hand. To be honest though I didn't apply to be a PE teacher just an English teacher. I do not think its fair to treat me this way.
I have never felt this way in my whole life, it was the single worst moment of my life. you guys made me feel like an alien.

after this horrible event in the headquarters you told me you can not find me a position within Chengdu, despite me having a higher education and more experience then your entire new intake but sure enough all of the white uneducated teachers had school placements within a week.

after waiting around by myself with no promise of a job for over two weeks after arriving, you called me and told me there is a position available for me a 6 hour bus ride away from the city centre.

At this point the towel was thrown and I went back with only this nightmare experience.

I literally mean teachers who dont have dumplings for breakfast but beer

When I worked here Enfly forced us all to write positive reviews.

So that's what 'WeChat' looks like.

Thanks for copying and pasting.

tourist visas

Bad company, bad reviews, this company uses fake documents for applications and i have even seen them employ alcoholics to teach, they will accept anyone as a teacher and whats worse is they dont even pay you correctly, dont risk using this company!

if you use this company there is a risk you will get deported
also the company has a huge amount of debt and i wouldnt be surprised if they went under

Hi Jimmy,

My experience has also been like yours, everything has gone smoothly for me and I feel I'm paid a fair wage for the hours worked. They've helped me get things sorted legally and settle into Chengdu. I couldn't have done this without help from them as an agency.

Rebecca

Essentially every University and most "#1" middle school/ high schools in China hire foreign teachers.

Each of these has a Foreign Affairs department or administrator who is responsible for the hiring and visa process.

Locating these schools' and individuals' email addresses is a time-consuming but simple process with google and google/translate. There are also many documents online that compile these contacts; note the date of the lists: contact information often changes.

Emailing resumes with a brief cover letter to MANY schools will generate several responses, some requesting further information and describing a position. Once the school has responded you can search online for reviews of the school.

They can as near as damn it.

trundle it down to the relevant authorities

The visas being discussed in the prior post are Z visas. Only Chinese embassies in foreign countries issue Z visas.

The FT candidate "trundles" to his homeland Chinese embassy with documents from his prospective employer school.

The agency is totally unnecessary. The school routinely uses an agency to shirk government regulations and misinform the prospective FT, keeping their transgressions 'at arms length'.

Most agencies are pimps for substandard schools.

I have a Z visa, residence permit and FEC...

I am very happy with Enfly.

My visa is taken care of,

Fortunately, Enfly keeps providing bogus recommendations that can be debunked.

AGENCIES IN CHINA CANNOT PROVIDE LEGAL Z VISAS FOR FTs.

Only government authorized schools can apply for these. Agencies may facilitate the process, but CANNOT provide a visa. If you come to China without a Z visa, you are the equivalent of a Mexican servant in one of Trump's hotels.

There is always a faithful d** who works for a company keep saying that everyone is happy, and the company is great.

Stop being hypocrite, and admit that ENFLY is one of the worst agencies in China.

If people are happy then why they quit ! Why there are many negative reviews about your company online ?

Regards,
Jack

Hello Lee,

No doubt Enfly has treated you very very well because your English is very, very good.

If on the other hand one's English is really really bad and you're an FT in spite of that, you deserve to be treated like a nose-rag. My English is apparently good enough, as I was in the supermarket (fresh live fish dept) and I got talking to an attractive lady. I asked her to come with me for coffee. As a result I will be working on my day off on Sunday for another TC. Six lessons for 600yuan. Not very good but works out the same as I get for 5 days 12000rmb. but not as good as I don't get the free flat and air fare and travel money considered. Only said yes so i can ask the lady out again on a proper date.

I thought you were busy in Finland?

Hello Andy,

I started working for Enfly this fall and so far they have treated me very, very good. People do do business here in China very differently than the states. Enfly is one of many placement agencies and it is quite large. I have read the previous posts from other people and it seems there is a combination of experiences. If I were you, I would read them and also realize that the disatisfied ones only tell one side of the story. My personal experience here in Chengdu has been very positive. I have seen Enfly work with teachers who drink too much, party too much and were extremely disrespectful towards the staff and schools. Still Enfly will try to find a school for that teacher. I have previous personnel management experience and I have seen Enfly put up with things I never would have put up with.

Enfly tries very hard to meet the varying needs of the schools and the varying capabilities of the teachers. From what I've seen, they bend over backwards to accomodate the teachers. Enfly has to work with Landlords, taxis, police, government, schools, utility companies, airlines etc. Problems do arise. Be patient.

I would imagine they have thier limits on what they will tolerate.

Really, it's very simple. If you come to China to teach for Enfly, you will not know which school you be teaching for until the school meets you in person and accepts you. Then you will be given a place to live. There is a lot of variation in living accomodations so be flexible. There are some apartments that are better than others. If you get one that really isn't acceptable, ask for another one. If there is anyway they can move you they will. Be aware they have to deal with shady landlords and the like and sometimes there are problems getting repairs done in a timely manner. That isn't Enfly's fault.

Also, be sure you are coming to China to teach for the right reasons. Plan to learn Chinese. Know that the median income in Chengdu is about 3500 rmb. Negotiate a fair salary and don't worry about what other people are making. Depending on your experience, your salary will differ. Also, you may hear grumbling from teachers who seem to know what the schools are paying Enfly and how little of that amount the teacher actually makes. To that I would say, until you run your own placement agency, don't judge Enfly. Just do your job and be grateful for the opportunity to teach in a foreign country.

You will get back what you put into it....

Lee

Be honest and respectful to everyone you meet and you will find that most of the Chinese people are very kind and hardworking.

I suspect that "Joshua" is another clown told by Enfly to post in their favour. Maybe, it's hiring season for them and they can't find enough gullible people who would be stupid to sign up with them.

Then your a glass half empty kind of chap, look to the negatives and no benefits towards yourself.

Ni Hao!

I thought that I should chip in with my Enfly experience, in the interest of a balanced perspective- and because last year, I was in a similar position to some people reading through the forums; trying to find out some impartial, real world experience from the company Enfly Education.

Generally, whether it's TripAdvisor, at a restaurant, or on Glassdoor.com (like TripAdvisor for businesses), people will only feel compelled to write a review or voice an opinion if they believe they've been mistreated or received sub-par service:

Whilst I'm in not disregarding the experiences of other individuals, I can only offer the primary and secondary perspectives and experiences of myself and my colleagues.

I'll preface this a little advice to anyone looking to start teaching in China, with Enfly or any other company- In China, you get out what you put in.
If you’re looking for a decent bursary/pay packet, relaxed hours, and low effort, then you can probably tread water for a while until someone calls you out on it.

However, if you want to make the most of your time here, you can enjoy the first 2 options, but also remember that you’re here to give students a valuable insight into how the West really is, without any filters/rose tints etc. You’re mainly teaching them how to use English well, whilst maintaining enthusiasm and enjoyment in your lessons.

The benefits of this are pretty cool- your students adore you and make your job a real pleasure, your co-workers respect you and make your life easy, and you can go home after your lessons and feel proud of what you’ve achieved. There’s also the added benefit of performance based-bonuses each month, in case you needed more incentives.

I only run between 13-16 classes per week, including my sketch club which I run as a fun extra thing on Friday afternoons, there's a ton of free time to get your lessons planned and prepped, learn some Chinese, do your TESOL qualification, see the sights, try the cuisine, hit the gym and still have time to hit the well priced bars. It's the dream.

Remember, though, that this isn’t the West, the concept of face matters a great deal in this culture- you must put your best foot and your kindest/positive attitude at the forefront whenever you are out and about, if you’re not in the city, it’s very possible you’re the first foreigner that these locals have seen in months, years or even their entire life.

Don’t be a nob, and you’ll flourish.

I’ve been living and working as a middle school student teacher in a town roughly 45 minutes from Chengdu since August 2015, there are 5 other foreigners living in this small town (300k+ people), so we’re still quite the novelty (I occasionally get to pose for pictures, asked to play sports, join people for drinks etc.)

The apartment that Enfly/the school have set me up in is grand, it suits all of my needs and more- a real bonus!

We all work for Enfly, for a variety of ages, and the general consensus is that we’re very happy with the company- most of us often recommend them to our friends and family (I’m still working on converting my English friend, he teaches Maths at A level with his head of History wife; we often compare our lifestyles, and whilst it’s often a case of apples and oranges, I totally prefer my apples for now!)

The teaching itself is often a pleasure, I can’t speak for people in other parts of Sichuan, but the students in our town are really cool- the high school students will offer to help you find places to eat, and join in your football (soccer) match if you join one of the local teams. I’ve noticed that quite a lot of my students are really interested in English, and their ability often outpaces that found in the textbooks that some of us will teach from.

Personally, I was given textbooks for both my grade 7 and 8 classes- though I make an effort to plan my lessons in such a way that the core content is covered, but in a more engaging way so that the students can experience the different learning styles that Enfly covered with us briefly on the training week.

The training week was a positive experience on the whole- it felt like quite hard work at times, but by the time we’d finished, I felt ready to try my hand at teaching. However, it has to be noted that what was lacking was actual hands on experience teaching children, as opposed to running demo lessons for an audience consisting of Enfly staff, the trainers and my teaching peers.

I’m under the impression that Enfly is already looking into improving the training week further in preparation for next year’s new arrivals.

On the whole, I’ve found that Enfly are very accommodating, especially if you approach problems first with a can-do attitude and if you make a real effort to get a solution before asking for help- Josh, my initial point of contact, was very helpful, positive and knowledgeable; he set the stage for the excellent local staff in Chengdu.

I get the feeling that Helen and the other Enfly staff really do care about our wellbeing, and they’re often happy to chat and catch up on things, and are just generally cool people!

I can’t really recommend this company enough for someone in a similar situation to me, if you want to hear more, ask for advice, tips etc. my email should be attached to this post somewhere..

Good luck!

My experience with Enfly has been EXCELLENT! So far, they have followed their contract to the word! I am a new teacher here in my first year and I am very impressed with their hard work and patience. They hire teachers from all over the world and connect them with every type of English teaching school you can imagine. I have seen them bend over backwards to try to make sure their teachers and the schools they serve are happy! They function excellently in a near chaos environment.

I have seen them try to accommodate teachers who I would have fired if I were them!

When they hire you, they are not sure where you will be placed. You will have to interview with the school you are going to work at. So keep your attitude positive and remain flexible at all times. Be prepared to do a presentation for ANY grade level and assume no one you teach speaks any English.

There are no free rides and no promises but they will do EVERYTHIiNG within their power and then some, to put you in the right school. Do not come to China broke! Bring at least $2000 with you and act like an adult! It will be six weeks after you start before your first paycheck so be prepared!

If you prepare and keep a positive attitude, you will experience a once in a lifetime adventure!

Hi to all

My name is Matthew and i have been with enfly now for about 9 months, I have personally never had any problems with the company they highly courteous and professional people from my experience. The teaching experience I have had out here has been absolutely amazing one of the high points in my life.

To see some rather negative reviews just smacks of people with an agenda from my point of view, as I said the company and staff have always helped me out when i have had problem and always backed me. No problem is either to big or small for them to help you with. But let's be real sometimes people have some absolute idiotic requests as they are not capable of bridging the divide on there own.

As i said it smacks of people with an agenda against enfly, if you have common sense and a willingress to adapt to chinese culture you will find this a very rewarding experience. Negative reviews are commonplace i would say for most companies, but as i said i have nothing but praise for the people at enfly who helped me immensely.

If you have any questions feel free to e-mail and i will you give anybody a very honest, regardless if your looking to sign on for china i would highly recommend enfly.

Kind Regards

Matthew

Anyhow not to wander off on a tangent but of you really are considering the move i would highly recommend it. Plus Enfly are a very good company who as i said previously will very much go out of there way to help you. It all boils down to treat people how you would

I was told by a friend to check this out as I currently work with Enfly....

Sad to see so many unhappy customers, I'm in my second year here, and I've never had any issues with Enfly, I get paid on time, no problems, visa is sorted, free accommodation, help with transport to and from work..

I know people working in other schools/training centers, and they get very stressed and lose a lot of money regarding their visas, not every company out there will help with that, also paying for a place to live can be tricky and costly too, so if that's all sorted for you, I think it's a great deal.

Also regarding what people are saying about scams and laws etc, this is China, things are very different, no one is being scammed as far as I'm concerned. I was told I'd work kn Sichuan and get my own place rent free, that's exactly what happend. If you work for an agency you must realise it's a business, we are working together. Someone mentioned staff getting 500rmb a month!? That is very wrong, don't know where that rumour came from. Also non-native speakers can indeed teach English, I don't see the issue, if your level is good enough, when I was at school I never had a native Spanish/German or French teacher. It's quite normal here actually, especially in kindergartens.

Anyway, I'm very happy with my job and Enfly, I have a good schedule, good pay, nice location to live. No complaints. I have even recruited an old friend from the States and he is really enjoying his time here too.

PMA guys

Enfly is a complete scam. First of all, they have changed their names so many times to avoid scrutiny from teachers who have been cheated.
They claim to have an office in the UK, which is not true. The office they claim to have doesn't exist. Previously they claimed to have an office in Canada which was also a lie. They think they are so clever that no one would notice. I was cheated by this company a few years back. The staff changed their English names and their company name believing that this is sufficient. I urge all teachers to start to take down their real names in Chinese from now on. Look at their ID cards, they are your employer, it's only right. The staff has asked a teacher to identify themselves on this board. So I call on the staff to identify themselves ... shouldn't be a problem if you have nothing to hide right? Why are there no pictures of the staff on any of their sites? What is your foreign license number? What are all your previous names? How come do you hire people on an F visa? Perhaps it's time that we the teachers start taking down real names and post their real pictures. We're smarter than them, let's act on it.

Well, most foreigners that are teaching English in China come from individualistic cultures. If another employee leaves, it's not their problem. Simple as. Even if that colleague is a personal friend and they feel sad that they are leaving the company, no negative judgement will be made.

If somebody wants to change jobs, they have a right to resign and find a job that they feel is more suitable for them. There's no dishonour in that at all. Doesn't matter if they are breaking a contract, even Chinese labour law states that they have the right to give 30 days official notice.

Only Chinese people would be offended by other employees being disloyal to their employer. Don't even bother trying to pretend to be another foreigner. Get out of here!

200+ employees of course, many of whom are from mexico and Spain. Wait..... what was that native speakers?????

Golly gosh! Either Sichuan Bureau of Education is on the take, or those non-native speakers of English are working illegally. Either way, Enfly is responsible! After all, they've been employed by Enfly!

Please note that that bureau used to be very fussy. Sunny couldn't get FE cards for degreeholders without 2 years of relevant teaching experience, even for native speakers of English! To circumvent, she used to send them to Xi'an to get their foreign expert certificate and accompanying residence permit. But they weren't for Sichuan! Illegal employment in Sichuan couldn't be avoided by said circumvention!

CHANGED DAYS INDEED!

My aim is to help others not to make the same mistake I did, in doing so I will make sure sunny does not put another red note in her pockets.

Indeed your sole aim is worthy, and selfless. Mine too. don't get me wrong.
So, when you have some free time, please Skype me. I'm sure you won't regret it. My Skype username is ralec123, and my profile has a photo of a former pirate radio ship with the word 'TEACHER' beneath it. We can discuss ways and means to put Sunny/Enfly out of business!

Thank you George, well well then good old Brenda the manager, never had any problems with her, she has helped many times, calm professional, probably the only 1 with a bit of common sense in the company. As for the rest, nothing can be said really, perhaps common criminals at their best. Surprised Brenda has lasted this long, many of sunnys employees leave the company after 6 months to a year, not being able to cope with the stress and downright slave salaries. 500 RMB a month, disgusting. Yeah the good employees talk, and have plenty to say about sunny, if only she knew how much her employees hate her!!!

200+ employees of course, many of whom are from mexico and Spain. Wait..... what was that native speakers?????

The big deal with government, the people whose pockets sunny keeps full. No surprise there.

As for being targeted, most welcome, the game is on and this company will get what they deserve. Its been way too long that they have gotten away with theft and treating good foreign people like S#@T. We did not come here to be your slaves, we are foreign experts with DEGREES!!!! We work hard for our money and they keep on taking. All that they are basically doing is pay our salary's in every month, the rest of the time posting pictures of themselves on their travels etc... When a problem arises and you phone they just respond with let the school sort it out.

As for further employment, MONEY talks in this country and any good school or agency will take on a foreign Teacher. You are not the only ones out there!!! It all depends on how greedy they are. Let us not forget who we are fighting with!!

Hey there, AngryTeacher:
We neeen't hold our breath waiting on Brenda of Enfly re-posting. But I know for a fact that Sunny paid bsaement wages in the old days, and I've no reason to think things will have changed in that respect at Enfly. Please reply to my other post that was meant for Brenda. If you choose not to reply in deepth, we can categorise you as a mischief maker!

http://www.eslteachersboard.com/cgi-bin/review/index.pl?read=63468

I'm not convinced that AngryTeacher deserves to be labelled a mischief maker if he refrains from replying to your post. Brenda of Enfly, probably she is in HR there, wrote that the company was big as it employed 200+ foreign teachers. She went on to say that a cooperation between the company and the Chinese government was in place, amd that Enfly had a recruitment office abroad, which suggests there is a western partner. Finally, she wanted AngryTeacher to identify himself. It's possible he's got the wind up as he knows now he'll be targeted as a whistleblower by Enfly. That could eventually mean no good report from Enfly regarding his teaching, which in turn would make it hard for him to obtain further employment in China once he has finished his contract. AngryTeacher should be very cautious now. It would be very bad for him if Enfly found out who he is. If I were he, I'd lie low until I had left Enfly.

To Brenda of ENFLY who has suddenly gotten cold feet! - She has deleted her post!

I think you should tell us in detail about salaries and air fare allowances/reimbursements for senior middle school teachers on, let's say, 20 classes a week in developed areas as compared to backwaters of Sichuan. Also if a TA is provided or not. Then we will be able to identify a bad deal quickly and easily.

I currently work for Enfly, add my skype surrealparkour, or my wechat surrealparkour and I can tell you all about it.

That agent was fotmerly Sunny's Englsh Club of Chengdu, whose boss was Sunny Hu. In fact, Sunny Hu is in ENFLY, probably the boss there. Google further to find out more, which you certainly will!