ANALYSER
- 2015-11-20
Thanks for taking the time and trouble to reply in such depth to my post.
I feel it would be wrong of me to question the parts of your response which I don't agree with. Mainly because you yourself are happy with the deal there, which is of course your right.
To be honest, it is a worse deal than I could ever have envisaged, and one that I would never accept! However, clearly that does not preclude others from accepting it. Fair enough.
I hope you continue to enjoy your teaching in Sichuan. Thanks again fot your input.
BTW, a job applicant from London had informed me about the so-called non-disclosure clause in Enfly's teaching contract. As what you have said has contradicted this, I'll let it go.
Joshua
- 2015-11-20
You're certainly not a savvy westerner! 5,000 RMB flight allowance is bottom of the barrel
for a two-semester gig in the PRC! Other employers here pay from 7,000 - 10,000 for
same, if not the full return flight reimbursement! And 1/2 for a 1 semester gig!
http://answers.echinacities.com/question/has-anyone-had-experience-recruiter
Personal digs aside, that's a fair point. However, in the interest of debate, here's my view.
When you factor in that your monthly bursary should be in the range of 3-5000RMB depending on experience/qualifications (Sichuan province has much cheaper living costs than other provinces, the average local wage is 2-3k a month for comparison.), then 5000 (Each year) flight allowance seems pretty fair- and after a 2 year stint, most teachers who flew from EU will have earned back enough flight allowance to cover both their initial flight, and a return flight if necessary.
If you come out thinking of it in terms of a 2(or longer) year contract, then you'll be fine- it's a big ask if you're not in that kind of mindset though.
For myself, the flight allowance should be enough to get me on a plane/train for the summer break so I can explore SEA/Russia in my time off, then return for the next term- I think Enfly had this sort of lifestyle in mind when they offered the flight allowance.
Has anyone had experience with the recruiter?
This recruiter goes by 3 different names: Enfly Placement, Enfly Education, and Enfeecn.
The recruiter is out of Chengdu and offers as much as 10,000 RMB per month which seems to be
unheard of in Sichuan.
If you have any experience with them (good or bad) or know why they go by 3 different names,
I 'd like to know.
I was recruited by Enfly Education, I found the job on Gumtree (UK version of Craigslist or something), roughly 3 months before the next intake was due to begin.
Their recruiter- Josh, is English- he's based in Manchester as far as I could tell. We interviewed over Skype a couple of times and he offered me the job shortly after (I actually chose Enfly over another company which also offered me a similar job). He seemed like a genuinely decent guy, and I found him easygoing and happy to talk.
I don't know about the 3 names thing- I'd imagine the Enfeecn is their Chinese branch so that the schools over here can contact and organise work with them, and the Placement/Education refers to placing teachers on either the study program or the foreign expert teaching program.
Either that or it was a rebrand- something not all too uncommon in business, and not always for bad reasons either.
Those are just my theories, but since China's system is alien to me, it's not too far fetched that they'd need to split the company into different sections to accommodate for the rules here?
Are YOU being underpaid?I have 3 questions for you:
i)Isn't it true that your contract stipulates NO NEGATIVE disclosures re your employment at
Enfly?
ii)Do you agree with me that if Enfly provides a teaching assistant, and the workload is <
21 classes/week, a native speaker should be on at least 6,500/mth? (no initial couple of
months'reductions due to probation, btw!)
iii)Don't you agree that if no teaching assistant is provided, your salary should be 7,000 -
8,000 a month?
iv)The 2,200 - 2,600 RMB travel allowance is being paid to you in 2 instalments, each at the
end of each semester, isn't it?Please bear in mind that Enfly's client schools will be receiving around 300
RMB/academic year for an FT's classes from each student. So, the money's
there!
i) I just read through the contract again myself; there is nothing in my contract that says anything at all about disclosure of my employment- I'm not sure where you got this information from, but in the 2015/6 contract, no such mention is made.
ii) I disagree. Whilst someone working in Beijing or Shanghai will need those kinds of wages, (it's like living in London, living costs are more, so the wages reflect this).
The average wage in my town/Sichuan province (outside of Chengdu city) is 2-3000RMB/month. My bursary falls between 3-5000RMB/month, depending on my performance. I feel this is a competitive wage, since the value of money is always relative to where you live and your means.
You must also consider that Enfly provides your accomodation, (this is worth ~1500RMB/month alone). You pay the Gas/Water/Electric/Internet etc. each month (mine ran up to 100RMB last month, with a very power hungry PC setup, hot showers etc. Your mileage may vary).
I've found that only 2000RMB comfortably covers my basic living costs, as well as lots of extras- socialising, clothes, electronics, travel. The rest just goes into savings.
iii) Yet again, I'm afraid I must disagree. In my case, I found that towards the start of term, half of my classes (The grade 7 ones) would have an assistant in them; this had no real bearing on the lessons, and merely offered me a chance to gain feedback after the lessons (and yes, the feedback was useful!)
Now I will occasionally have a teacher drop in/pass by and check the class, but it's all groovy- they're never too far away if I need them, and if I have a problem class (noisy, disruptive etc.) I'll just have a friendly word with the English speaking teacher about the classes concerned, and behold- the following week I could barely recognise the class; I had to do a double take on which room I was in. Whatever they said/did, it worked!
iv) As far as I'm aware, the travel allowance is being paid in one lump sum at the close of the contract- though I'd imagine that maybe some teachers will want to take some of that out in order to travel during Spring Festival? I'm not too fussed either way, in my experience so far, it's better not to worry about when things get done here, since it all works out eventually!
Thanks for your input and questions 
AC_YC
- 2015-11-20
I'm not going to waste my time replying to all of your post as clearly you have been brainwashed or paid by someone to pump all this stuff. I don't usually attack the messenger and would be more critical of the actual message but I have to say that I have been in China 9 years, at the same school. I have seen the whole spectrum of things good and bad.
The one thing that concerns me greatly is your apparent delusion that you can only be employed through a third part of agency. I have heard some things in my time but this probably beats them all.
I can assure you that this is not the case despite whatever rule you have been drip fed.
The vast majority of universities recruit themselves. Some schools use recruiters as they don't have the manpower to do otherwise, however as is the case with my school we do all recruitment, hr and administration and liason with the Government departments ourselves. We employ only people on legitimate z visas and resident permits, no sketchy business or student x2 visas. The key here is that we actually have a licence and don't need to skirt the regulations.
I can say that when we did use agencies, the constant stream of problems we had was because of the misinformation and lies that they used to tell applicants and the resultant aftermath that we as a school had to fix caused us to stop using them. Our problems were virtually eliminated overnight.
Whether Enfly are good are bad to work for I can't say, I have never worked for them but judging by the things I have read I would certainly think they are less than ideal. It appears you have arrived in China and chosen to defend this outfit (which is your right), there is more to China than Chengdu and Enfly and eventually you will see that.
ANALYSER
- 2015-11-19
Enfly refunded us the full visa cost with our first month's bursary. We will receive 5000RMB flight allowance at the end of the contract (which is often more than the cost of flying out here if you are a savvy shopper.)
You're certainly not a savvy westerner! 5,000 RMB flight allowance is bottom of the barrel for a two-semester gig in the PRC! Other employers here pay from 7,000 - 10,000 for same, if not the full return flight reimbursement! And 1/2 for a 1 semester gig!
Source:
http://answers.echinacities.com/question/has-anyone-had-experience-recruiter
Has anyone had experience with the recruiter?
This recruiter goes by 3 different names: Enfly Placement, Enfly Education, and Enfeecn.
The recruiter is out of Chengdu and offers as much as 10,000 RMB per month which seems to be unheard of in Sichuan.
If you have any experience with them (good or bad) or know why they go by 3 different names, I 'd like to know.
Just doing research. It is the time of year many recruiters get desperate about finding a foreign teacher. Not because there is a short supply, but because many just don't prepare and find themselves with allot of business they can't handle. This in turn is caused by the schools that wait until the last minute to figure out how many teachers they will need. ( yikes it's August 28 and we need 4 FTs to start on Sept 1) The schools must think we spend our summers in China.
Are YOU being underpaid?
I have 3 questions for you:
i)Isn't it true that your contract stipulates NO NEGATIVE disclosures re your employment at Enfly?
ii)Do you agree with me that if Enfly provides a teaching assistant, and the workload is < 21 classes/week, a native speaker should be on at least 6,500/mth? (no initial couple of months'reductions due to probation, btw!)
iii)Don't you agree that if no teaching assistant is provided, your salary should be 7,000 - 8,000 a month?
iv)The 2,200 - 2,600 RMB travel allowance is being paid to you in 2 instalments, each at the end of each semester, isn't it?
Please bear in mind that Enfly's client schools will be receiving around 300 RMB/academic year for an FT's classes from each student. So, the money's there!
Joshua
- 2015-11-19
There's no need to insult someone with a different opinion- Have you actually had any firsthand experience with Enfly?You must be either a complete idiot or very naive.
Enfly is a business, not a travel destination- why should culture come into this?Enfly certainly is not representative of
Chinese culture
Then why are you here?I never worked for Enfly
It's my understanding that this is illegal, my local PD showed me the paperwork, section 46 or something.. They told me that you can ONLYwork through a THIRD PARTY- Teacher -> Enfly(or other company) -> Local government -> School.found all of my iobs in China without an agent by contacting
employers directly.
Enfly refunded us the full visa cost with our first month's bursary. We will receive 5000RMB flight allowance at the end of the contract (which is often more than the cost of flying out here if you are a savvy shopper.)I refuse to travel half around the world, making
efforts to obtain a Z visa, spending money for a plane ticket only to see that I ended
Again, personal insults only weaken your argument.. In my opinion, you get out what you put in- if you're a pleasure to work with, and give your job due care and diligence, your employer will respect that and you can go places. Feel free to disagree.I don't know your situation but you sound like a grovelling weasels kissing the feet of your
employer and being quite incapable to contact schools directly and to make your own deal
with them.
The direct work as a FT thing, again, is illegal as far as I'm aware. Please be careful and read up on the law if you're considering following this guys advice..