Jesus Christ! Its like a giant ferris wheel. It goes around.....and around....and as that turns around....teachers cycle in and out of China....in and out of China....and round and round the wheel goes.

Each time the wheel moves....some FT gets screwed by HELEN GROUP!

What's it now? A few THOUSANDS bad posts about this TOTAL FRAUD, LOSER, SCAM agency pretend school organization from hell?

You can always spot the newbies in here when ANYONE coming along is even asking about the HELEN GROUP.

It's a TOTAL SHIT SHOW from the word GO.

So here we are in 2019 and THE HELEN GROUP is somehow alive, not criminally indicted under China's new "social credit" system...at least not yet.... but give it time and their heads will be getting blown off in some field somewhere either by the Chinese government or...perhaps the Russian mafia.

NO ONE works for HELEN GROUP.

Period!

Clean it up (Anti_scum) we know who you are, boy.

Well, read all the negative reviews and warnings in this thread.
If you still decide to work for them, it would be rather foolish.

we have just come home after working in Hanghzou 6 months . They are liars ,nobody pays you whole salary as foreign teacher. nobody pays money after contract.they promised a lot , and just betray.
don't accept any kind of work they suggest.
they pay 5000 rmb instead of 15 000 Rmb.
they send people to work illegal.
don't sign anything with them.
they never tell truth and lie to you face to face.

Firstly, to the previous poster, Helen's little group has been around a LOT LONGER than 10 years ... soon MORE LIKE 20 YEARS.

I should now ... I was one of her first victims......

Way back when, around 2000, Helen was the Foreign Officers Affairs for Zeijiang Province provincial government in Hangzhou. She was the boss. She ran the place with an iron fist...meaning you paid, she did....

Then she got really greedy and opened a sideline from her day job....

Taking commissions from the schools under her government jurisdiction that needed foreign teachers. Soon she was supplying her third tier and fourth tier school in Zhejiang with teachers. And she raked in the commissions.

Then she reached out to other foreign affairs office in other provinces as she got more greedy. And she corrupted many of them.

She was pushed out when Hun Jing Tao took over as president of China. She belonged to a different cabal but by that time, her business was just raking in the moolah ... that means money. She didn't care....her network had been set up ..

I was young and stupid and knew nothing about agents in China. I stumbled across an ad of hers ... she offered me a job in Hangzhou at a famous university. I signed the contract, actually got a proper visa and went to China. When I arrived in Shanghai, one of her lackeys met me at Hong Xiao airport...in those days overseas flights arrived at Hong Xiao.

And then to my biggest surprise, instead of taking me to Hangzhou, he promptly put me on a plane to cold, frozen, desolate, isolate MANJOULI on the Russian border ...... a charming enough border town of Inner Mongolia with seven months winters of - 30. I couldn't do anything.

I worked one term of the one year contract and then left at the end of the term. She threatened, screamed, did whatever ... but I escaped to warm Guangzhou and never looked back.

She is an avoid at all costs.... she is the worst in China.

They are stil the same crooks and shit company they have been all these years!
Avoid them like a plague!

Hi.
I found lots of threads alerts about this company, one of my friend also had an interview with them recently. But how do they continue like this?
Hasn't anyone complain about this company yet?

Hi Kenneth, Did you accept the contract? I also received a contract, but haven't decided anything yet

Dear Teachers, please pay attention and spread the news, don't let the newbies get fucked, Hongtao, Helen and the others, i declare war on you until you pay every single fucking dime you stole from everyone else, make sure you understand that, Teachers do not believe what they are writing because they will never apply that shit, and im very surprised that they are still posting at job forums and this is an example:

Job starting in November 2016
Zhejiang University Helen China TEFL Network (CTN), the largest foreign teacher recruiting agency registered with the State Administration for Foreign Expert Affairs is now offering hot positions in the above mentioned city. These offers include all levels of education with low working hours.

Anyone with qualifications of teaching and obtained more than two years teaching experience in or outside of China will be considered. However qualified principal assistances are especially welcome.

As China's premier foreign teacher recruitment agency with 17 years experience in education, CTN offers its teachers and instructors an entire package. The package includes getting you your working visa, accommodation, social insurance and dealing with all official procedures and documentation and travel to and from as well as within China.

Employment Package
Education: bachelor degree (or up) holder
Major: unspecific, education-related
Age: 25-50
Nationality: USA UK Canada Australian New Zealand Others if the candidate is highly-qualified
Language: English French Japanese German Italian Spanish

Vacancy and terms and conditions:
1. 40 oral English teachers with two years of teaching experience
2. 2 oral French teachers with two years of teaching experience
3. 2 oral Japanese teachers with two years of teaching experience
4. 2 oral German teachers with two years of teaching experience
5. 2 oral Italian teachers with two years of teaching experience
6. 2 oral Spanish teachers with two years of teaching experience

The time the employment contract be offered: before arrival
Contract time: one year (from August 20th, 2016 to August19th, 2017)
Working place: on campus
Workload: working hours (8:00 am to 12:00 am, 2:00 pm to 6:00 pm), 5 days each week. Teachers are required to complete no more than 20 teaching hours per week during the school working hours.
The time to get salary: the eighth on the following month
Courses: spoken English conversation other courses
Personal Monthly Income: Full package of RMB 15,000 - 16,000 yuan including basic salary of RMB 10,000-11,000 for oral language teachers, RMB500yuan of airfare allowance, allowance equals to RMB4500 yuan for social insurance and boarding and various welfare per month.

Any potential and interested candidates please send documents including detailed CV, copy of degree, TEFL/TESOL certificate, teacher license, photo page of your passport, letter of commitment for no criminal record as well as other equivalent documents to admin@helengroup.com with the subject of 'Teach in Shenzhen, Guangdong'.

Best Regards

HR Dept of China TEFL Network
E-mail: admin@helengroup.com
Tel: +86-571-8823 4567 ext. 8017
Fax: +86-571-8823 4517
Add: 16th Flr, Blue Sky Business Center, 18# Moganshan Rd, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China

Dear Fellow Teachers,.
i Advice you to stay away from those MFKs, take it seriously, if you do not stay away from them you will get Fucked, of course unless you want to experience the real Meaning of Hell then you will be in, what can i say?, i never Saw someone like those Basterds, crooks, bitches, Motheruckers, scambags in my life, it was 3 years ago when i accepted their offer and still got Scars from it, and im still wondering how could it be possible that these gangsters are still in Business, Richard, Hongtao, Helen is the trinity of pure evil.

im not a Native speaker, but after 3 years in China i came to understand that Native and non Native expression is a Marketing Bullshit, it does not matter im not teaching anymore, i went doing business, still doing business, and i want to tell Helen that they fucked up coz they danced with the wrong guy, an eye for an eye. never forget, that i will spend the rest of my life seeking Revenge you Motherfuckers.

Fellow teachers,. by taking a job with them: you will suffer as you never did in your life, and that shit is really going to affect your mind, i was an inch closed to insanity, but thanks to anger management it went all fine.

Twenty years later, the infamous Helen is still in place doing her ugly business.

There are warnings about her on every site on the Internet that deals with China.

And there are hundreds of pages about FT's back experiences with her all over the 'Net.

So why do FT's continue to do it? Doesn't anyone around here do his or her homework before
jumping off the cliff?

My own personal experience with her was one of endless lies, deception, half-truths, no
truths, late payment, no payment, reduced payment.

She and the infamous Frank Zhang are the worst...but at least with Zhang you are paid even if
you end up in a school not of your choosing.

D.

Well, Dr T, what can I say?

I'd say those foreigners who enlist the services of dubious agents or recruiters have probably had no other options if they want to teach in China.

That said, it doesn't necessarily follow that they will all be screwed over in China. If they perform adequately in their jobs, it wouldn't make sense for their agents or recruiters to piss them off. Such foreign teachers can be re-sold time and again to generate ongoing profits for their agents and recruiters.

But of course, foreign teachers who have turned to agents or recruiters, but who have thereafter been found to have taught inadequately, or cannot adjust to Chinese culture and work ethics will oftentimes discredit their agents and recruiters to shift the blame from themselves. That's cowardly and deceitful!

Twenty years later, the infamous Helen is still in place doing her ugly business.

There are warnings about her on every site on the Internet that deals with China.

And there are hundreds of pages about FT's back experiences with her all over the 'Net.

So why do FT's continue to do it? Doesn't anyone around here do his or her homework before jumping off the cliff?

My own personal experience with her was one of endless lies, deception, half-truths, no truths, late payment, no payment, reduced payment.

She and the infamous Frank Zhang are the worst...but at least with Zhang you are paid even if you end up in a school not of your choosing.

D.

Quite right Roxy.

And those non native ft's will often pick up illegal work on the side as they normally send their main salary back home.

but the country as a whole--for the outrageous practices (especially from a financial standpoint); which are leveled on foreign teachers.

At last, someone with the conviction to do something about it. Good for you, as you are no longer in China, they can't do anything to you. Please email me; I'd like to relate my own experiences about helen and china.

Now that I have returned to my home in the USA; please know that I am doing everything in my power to expose not only the agencies within China--but the country as a whole--for the outrageous practices (especially from a financial standpoint); which are leveled on foreign teachers. I especially intend to include information concerning the mistreatment and derision of disabled foreigners (both workers and tourist). This information is to be shared with as many international organizations as possible (including various foreign entities). Something must be done to address this reprehensible behavior!

Hi

What other names does this organization go by and is it to do with Enfly. Can you supply any hard evidence of what you are speaking about?

You come across as a fool. Why don't you read the other recent relevant threads instead of burdening others to explain what reasonably intelligent people can glean in an instant by reading the threads daily? Are you really a foreign teacher?

BTW, I have Skyped with Antonio once. His spoken English is standard American and fluent. After 2 Skype interviews with the very, very disreputable agent ENFLY, he was offered a derisory 5000 a month. That was before they knew about his disability.

So, Antonio has a complaint against 2 agents, the initial agent being ENFLY, subsequently he was unfortunate enough to jump from the proverbial frying pan into the fire, by getting involved with 'Hangzhou Helen'! His complaint is about mistreatment due to his disability by two Chinese agents.

I have 2 complaints against ENFLY, my complaints are about ENFLY employing non-native speakers on student visas, and about the basement salaries ENFLY offers foreigners. ENFLY is one of the most despicable and greedy bottom-feeders operating on the Chinese mainland, much worse than the Yuncheng agents of Shanxi, and that is a really severe indictment, you'd better believe it! I know what I'm talking about.

I can tell you what you can do with the hard evidence you will discover on the ENFLY thread, stick it up your....!! Get lost, you clown!

Hi Martin, thanks for making the effort to console Antonio and provide him with some useful university recruitment information.

Also thanks for agreeing with me that Enfly mistreats its FTs.

I must admit being exasperated by the apathy the readers have shown themselves to have re naming and shaming dishonest Chinese employers. For example, the Yuncheng agents have many complaints against them on the threads. But I reckon they employ at most 45 FTs among them. In contrast, Enfly claims to place 200+ FTs.

Both Yuncheng agents and Enfly will allow their FTs to work illegally. However, the salary paid to an FT by a Yuncheng agent will be 5500 or 6000 a month. Bear in mind that 'fetid swamp' agents are also paying the TAs who assist the FTs, about 1800 a month.

But Enfly pays just 5000 or 5500 a month and provides no TAs.

Who is the greedier? Obviously Enfly, by far. And Enfly can benefit from economy of scale, unlike 'fetid swamp' agents! Yet the Enfly thread does not expand, unlike the Yuncheng threads about rubbish local agents.

SO, I THINK I'LL STOP POSTING IN DISGUST!

Mr. Harrison,
Thank you for sharing the details of your ordeal.
I certainly cannot fully appreciate your distress and outrage, but I applaud your efforts to redress the wrongs inflicted on you.
Though it is no consolation, the two agencies you dealt with routinely mistreat other Foreign teachers. Anything you can do to expose them to authorities is a worthy endeavor.
If you would not mind a question: what age were the students that you taught and how did they respond to your disability? How did you deal with their questions? Chinese students have difficulty discussing many issues and Chinese society has much work to do in the arena of providing equality for their citizens with disabilities. Your work in the classroom was a valuable opportunity for your students.
May I suggest you consider applying directly to some universities? I will be sending you an email in the event that I may provide you with some leads in that effort.

I just finished a short term contract with them. Due to confidentiality non disclosure, I cannot say anything about them negatively publicly. Contact me by personal email for private non public discussion. Saiops@hotmail.com

How do companies like this stay in business they must be bribing people left and right. They have people on illegal visas traveling to Hanghou every few months to renew their visa. I try to warn as many people considering to teach in China not to work for this company and to research every offer they get. Helen Group and their bullshit contracts they don't honor then you have Hong Tao Wu on here saying he was going to quit and to protest. He still works for them till this day. What's this about him molesting someone???

They pawn off Ukrainians as teachers from England to schools to get more money off them.

This does not surprise me at all.

They were hiring guys from Ghana and having them tell schools they were from the UK or some crap like that, or that they studied there, when they damn well had not.

Anything to make a buck...this place just shows what crappy chinese business practices are like!!!

What she wrote is the trust I agree 100%

Are these only for Beijing or for other provinces too?

He is still working there today. He is just a liar like the rest of the crooks in Helen groups. This company is full of dirt bags

San Migs was a good and respected poster but that post you answered dates back to over two years ago hahaha! We haven't seen hide nor hair of him for at least a year. I heard rumours that he was involved in a punch up with an Australian all over some hooker and a steak pie. Another rumour has it that he opened up a coffee shop in competition with an Englishman in Shandong Province and a contract was taken out on him. Another, he met his end overcome by poisonous gas shortly after securing employment down Darlington Sewage System. Take your pick but he won't answer you.

How is that quitting going for you?

Some apartments had serious vermin problems, and what I mean by vermin, I mean rats. I had cockroaches in my apartment, even in my room. This can be expected in Shenzhen and I have cockroaches in my kitchen here in Taiwan. But, rats?!?! A fellow employee told me he actually had rats in his apartment.

I lived in Miami for a year and cockroaches were pretty standard in most households. Maybe they came over with some American FT's- one or two hitched a lift. Don't worry about them, they're pretty harmless. As for the rats, when I worked in Shandong, I knew one Aussie FT who'd get drunk and chat to a rat half the night- mistook him for a mate- occasionally cursing at him that he didn't have much to say for himself, only nibbled at his host's peanuts on the coffee table. Again they're pretty harmless creatures...and good company for aussies.

I wasn't going to actually write something about this company, but I felt like I actually should warn some people about Helen Group. Where do I start? I want to make on thing clear, I don't have anything personally against anyone in the company and there are some nice Chinese people in the company. But, I'm sure they are getting ripped off, just like 99% of the teachers. I'll get into what I mean by "99% of the teachers.

I moved to Taiwan 5 months ago for a way better paying job and only did 8 months of a year contract. I don't regret leaving this company, but do miss the life that I had built in Shenzhen, where I was assigned. If Helen had been a better company to work for, I'd be in Shenzhen right now. I'm not the only teacher that quit working for this company in the 8 months I was in Shenzhen and I'm sure I won't be the last. I'm not doing this out of spite towards Helen Group and its employees, this is a warning to future teachers who would like to enjoy their teaching experience in China. China is an interesting country to be sure, both good and bad. However, if you want to enjoy your teaching experience, find another way to do it than going through Helen Group.

For one thing, like everyone else has stated, this company makes promises and will keep very few of them. I was promised more pay than I actually received after arriving in China. I worked in Shenzhen, China which is an expensive city, like Shanghai and Beijing. However, my pay was not enough to cover your expenses while living there. Not only did they lower my pay after arriving in China, they don't pay you for holidays. However, they say that they will pay you for holidays, but once you get into China, that will all change. I was one of the lucky people in Shenzhen, my pay was even better than about half the teachers Helen employed. I heard that some teachers made 4000 RMB or less, especially none native English teachers Helen regularly employs from other countries and not English speaking country. They end up paying them slave wages because they know they can do it because they are not native English speakers.

Also, if you do not have a Bachelor's degree, they will try and also give you a low wage. All this while one of the coordinators gets paid two or three times what they rest of us make, all because he has a PhD in some worthless major. I actually had over 3 years experience teaching in Korea, have worked in education in the past and have been in management in the USA, so I had way more experience that this person. Also, the things he had to coordinate were a joke. Meetings about our school and training on how to be a better teacher. I never learned one useful thing from these meeting and these meeting were mandatory or we would get docked on pay. A waste of time.

Second, this company will also promise you things you are guaranteed for your apartment, but you will never see any of these things. Things like a microwave, free Internet as well as some basic things will be stated in your contract, but you can forget ever getting them. You'll pay for your own Internet once you get to your apartment and they'll say that the microwaves are coming, but they never will. Also, some apartments are even worse than mine. I was lucky, my apartment was not all that bad, but I did have a roommate. I don't really mind having a roommate and my roommate was actually a pretty good person, but I had nothing in common with him and it would have been better to live alone in some ways like I did in Korea and do in Taiwan, all this provided by the school. I've heard stories of people having some really bad roommates with this company, but that's not even the worst of it. Some apartments are horrible in terms of living conditions. Again, I was lucky, but I've heard horror stories. Some apartments had serious vermin problems, and what I mean by vermin, I mean rats. I had cockroaches in my apartment, even in my room. This can be expected in Shenzhen and I have cockroaches in my kitchen here in Taiwan. But, rats?!?! A fellow employee told me he actually had rats in his apartment.

It's like throwing dice. Some people get lucky and have good apartments like I did, but the other half will not be so fortunate. Another fellow employee that I know didn't have air conditioning in his apartment. If you know anything about Shenzhen, or China for that matter, you will know that air con is a must. In fact, when they asked the company to fix the air con, Helen Group told them that they must pay to fix it out of their own pocket. And when they couldn't pay to fix the air con in the living room, the company told the manager of the apartment to break the other air con in the bed rooms. Great company policy, right? You need to know your place in the Helen hierarchy. All this while the coordinator gets a nice salary and unshared accommodations. By the way, and all expenses in the apartment paid.

And you can forget about traveling or eating well. You're low salary will not allow for it. If you save enough, you might be able to see some nearby cities, but the only traveling you'll do is to get your Visa done in Hangzhou where the company is based out of, and Hong Kong where you'll do the final step of your Visa, at the last minute by the way, so you'll never know if you're allowed to stay and teach in China. And, if you are working in Shenzhen, why do you have to do your Visa in Hangzhou? Because you're Visa is based out of Hangzhou and not the city you actually work in. I'm sure there is some sneaky reason that they do this, that's my only guess. Actually, that's what I've heard and read.

And, your salary will be so low, you'll be eating at home or at your school. Forget going out to enjoy the night life or a good restaurant, you'll never have enough money to do any of this. All the money you'll make will go to towards traveling to your school, your phone bill, utilities and just being able to eat at home or some street food. Granted, China can does have some really good food places for cheap, but it would be nice to be able to actually go to a nice restaurant or go out and drink at a bar or night club. You'll never have enough money to do any other this or travel. I mean, isn't this one of the reasons that you came to China, to experience the culture? The only culture you'll get will be through your school or the China friends you make that might invite you over to their homes for dinner. Also, they'll never deliver on the free Chinese lessons. Actually, I take that back, they'll finally get around to it, about 6 months after you arrive in China. Now this is just a rumor, but I heard that the coordinator gets his vacation and travel paid by the company, only because he has a PhD, but I was a more experienced teacher than this person.

I never made it until the end of the contract, but the are suppose to give you 5000 RMB towards your plane ticket, or so they say. Let me explain why this is not a good deal, I'm from the USA and flew out from Oregon (I'm actually from Minnesota, but stay with a friend before traveling to China). However, my ticket to China came up to way more than 5000 RMB. This is only about $815 US. My ticket to China was more than $815, but just to Hong Kong. I flew into Hong Kong because that's it's next to Shenzhen and this is where I was to work. One week before I was to leave for China, they told me I needed to fly to Hangzhou. So, in addition to going to paying to fly to Hong Kong, I was now expected to get another ticket to Hangzhou, which cost me an additional $200 to 300. Also, I paid for extra luggage, so I had to pay for all that as well. A fellow teacher just went back to New York after finishing his contract, but told me he had to ask Helen repeatedly to reimburse him for the plane ticket back to the USA, this after he paid just to make it back home. He wanted to change jobs, but Helen cancelled his Visa because he didn't agree to resign with them. Class act all the way on the part of the Helen Group.

Once you arrive in Hangzhou, you will have to travel to the city where your school is located. Guess who pays for this initially? You guess it, you. To be fair, they will reimburse you, but after paying for the trip from your country to China, why am I expected to pay to get to the city where I was assigned my school. Helen Group will just assume you are a foreigner and have all the money in the world, so this shouldn't be a problem for you at all. When I told them I was broke, they thought maybe we were going to have a problem. Why couldn't I pay for it? After all, all us foreigners are rich, right? I eventually used my credit card. This is not the last time you will be expected to do this, you'll have to do this when you go to Hangzhou for anything concerning your Visa, and to Hong Kong as well. Keep your receipt. However, you'll pay more for your trip to these places than the Helen company will. All this while you are making really low pay.

My final rant will be this. At your school, you'll also be expected to keep track of all the hours you put in at your school. You'll be the only foreign teacher at the school that does this. None of the other foreign teachers had to do this each month and the director at my school thought, "Why do you have to do this"? You'll also find that other teachers at your school will be making more than you are. Even another teacher that I knew that was employed by another agency made more than I did. The teachers employed directly by the school are making even more. I've heard of examples where the other foreign teachers making twice as much as I was working for Helen. I wonder who gets all the extra money? I can only guess. Forget getting paid for holidays, or days off, or summer and winter break. To be fair, Helen paid me half for winter break, I suppose they didn't want me to starve to death, especially after just getting into China. But during this last summer, my last pay check was a big fat 0. I also had another month of summer break and I spoke with a teacher working for Helen that said they threw him a bone and he got about 2000 RMB. But remember, you have to pay for your expenses like getting to your school, food, utilities and phone bill. I guess Helen Group justifies this because you have a roof over your head and, get this because they actually told a teacher this, you get to eat for free at your school.

Well, I'm sure that there are a few more things I could mention, but I'll either let you decide or find out for your self. But if you read this and still decide to work for Helen, don't say you were not warned. I wish I had looked up this company before taking the job through this company. I'm in Taiwan now, but wouldn't rule out teaching in China again. I actually had many tutoring jobs on the side and was able to make good money that way. In fact, I made more money tutoring then working for Helen. However, I worked way harder than I needed to and would have been happy just to work at one school and tutor for a little bit instead of making a career out of tutoring just to make ends meet. Anyways, I hope this helps people that would like to teach in China.

China can be a good place to teach and I found Chinese people to be really nice. However, you're time there will be living slim or frustrating, unless you have an unlimited amount of money from your home country or a pension to live off of. In that case, you are doing it for the experience. Still, there are better ways to do it than going through the Helen Group. I still to this day get offers from China for better pay and living situations. You have been warned if you are reading this.

The psb saiD i dId no tHing wrong. helen is the onE tHat stolee. tHey lie I diDnt moLest the girl I hav a family.

I wOrkd with china teFl netwrk for two years but they stopped giveing me salary.
we will protest china governMent and helen group april 24 2014 at 5pm blue sky buildng hangzhou.
hope all the teachers i help get career at school comes to help me revenge goverment and helen.

Crooks and scum!

Hangzhou is a city full of weasels and that is a crappy company!!!

I hope they go bust is my new years resolution, and that vanessa guo goes bankrupt!!!!

Hello Thomas,

I hope this reply finds you well and your job in teaching is going smoothly. I know good people will be always lucky and I know good things come slow, so does my legal case against HelenGroup.
Me and my colleagues have beat them up with help from all fields. Although this is not what traditional Chinese will do (they tend to leave the trouble alone and accept the fact of being victims of career insult), we are actually forced to fight against them. As sarcastic as it can be, just like Lord Voldemort created his own enemy Harry Potter, HelenGroup is creating its own enemy, or enemies.

For all those good teachers, my sincere suggestion will be find the job wisely. English teaching is very popular in China,and there are thousands of job awaiting new teachers. When you come to China, it will be much easier to find a job. Be cautious about the visa though.

Thank you, Jane.
I figured it was something like that.

This is off the subject, but I would like to get a job in an isolated rural area far away from the east coast.
I understand that recruiting agencies, especially unethical agencies like Helen Group, could represent schools in such areas if they really wanted to.
However, they don't because they couldn't earn as much commission.
Do you know any way I can get a job way out in the boonies?
That's what I've wanted ever since I came to Asia 13 years ago.

I wish you the best of luck in the legal case.

Hello Thomas,

I worked in Helengroup for almost a year and am the girl that the letter you posted was talking about. Thank you very much for your notice and sympathy, which sounds more like support to me.

I will not stain my name to swear to Helengroup about the obvious slander that they are trying to label on me. I will let everyone decide what is the truth and if I'm doing the right thing.

This is the first job that I liked to do after my university graduation. I liked to talk to foreign teachers, meeting all different people from all over the world and sometimes they tell me fatastic stories about their lives! I loved that!

That is exactly the reason why I stay in the office more hours that I have to be----- I was recruiting teachers, talking to them, replying their emails, doing Skype interview with them. My hard work helped me to be the No.1 recruiter in the company. I made lots of friends and many of them come to the company and teached in the schools that I recommended. I still miss those teachers that I recruited and the friends I made in the office.

The collegues in the office are very nice too. I enjoyed working with them every minutes I stayed with them.

If the company, some people in the office, didn't slandered me and tried to gave me so many trouble to blame me for every mistake that they made, I would have miss the office very much.

I thought I got the best job I liked and I was gonna stay there for a long time-----untill December before the Chinese new year.

They began to cut every recruiter's salary. They make everyone signed the new KPI to achieve the "mission impossible" and then cut every recruiter's salary. For how impossible? Look at this figure:

For example, my mission was to recruit about 30 foreign teachers in a year by my self, with the salary offerd to the foreign teachers of 4700 RMB-4900 RMB monthly.
By 30 teachers it means they have to actually come and teach in the school. For the record, I worked my ass off and work extra hours EVERYDAY and I only have 30 teachers signed the contract and 12 actually come. That's the best I did with that salary range and the teachers recource the company offered.

I looked at the new KPI and I knew immediately that this will not be likely to achieave with the present conditions. I was told that the KPI may change based on the actual situation because the company should count the REALITY into sinderation instead of being unrealistic. Now they change their mind and cut everyone's salary.

So I have to go, leave this job and stop working my ass off for the little money they offered.

I wrote a Thank- You letter as my resignation letter and sent it to Helen and my supervisor.

Guess what happend? When I was at home, I was informed by the HR manager that I was acused of trying to steal teachers from the company and selling them to other schools. (Is that because of the hours I spent afterwork in the office to recruit teachers ? For my stupid goal and interest to talk to foreign teahcers ? )

WHAT THE HELL ??!!

Well there's an ugly process that I had to go through, so I asked my lawyer friend to come and helped me deal with the unexpected situation. It was so ironic that I worked faithfully and enjoyed my time in the office, to earn a slander that they try to label on me.

If there is God, Buddha,Allah etc I will swear to them that I did nothing or anything they said about me. All the tacheres that I recruited or colleagues I worked with will agree with me because they know who I am.

I will not reveal anything related to the business I know about the company, but I believe people will see a company through how it treat its own people, its employees.

When a company meets difficulites or bad things, it is not that if you blame it all on one employee and then it will be resolved itself. However, this company I worked seems to use this method as the altimate solution for every problem it has.

I will meet the scandalmonger on court on May. My Thanks go to all the people who supporte me in all ways.

(The figure and examples I listed above are just examples. For those with evil purpose, please seek your heart for any bright side that exists).

Helen, all of the old staff including department of technology, HR, legal counsel, all guys you so-called faithful and never-quit left you, Whose problem? Open your eyes, learn how to respect ppl. We are human beings, not your slavers.

Most of the recruitment managers left those hell company, there are no old staff there, only 3 old guys plus a group of rookies. I will quit the job soon with my manager [edited].

For those who have missed my earlier posts, I am currently finishing a job with Helen Group and accepted a new job with another agency.

At 3:40 today, just as the children were coming into the classroom, two guys came in.
One was a Chinese person who spoke English, one was a Chinese person who didn't.
They handed me a letter which I copied onto an earlier post.

They stayed and talked to me for the whole class period.
They did their dangdest to talk me into choosing one of two schools which they are offering me.
My teaching assistant did an admirable job of keeping the class in session, despite all the confusion.

They asked me to share whatever was on my mind.
So I asked them:

-- Why did they promise me I could stay in the school as long as long as both parties were happy, only to throw me out after three months?

They told me the director didn't want me there any longer.
The director told me she wanted to keep me, but the agency made that impossible.
I hope it is the director who is telling me the truth.

Anyway, this was the only question for which I could get any answer.

-- Why was there another teacher in the school receiving 6000 a month when I was receiving only 5000 a month?

Was that all the fault of these villanous former employees?

No answer here.

--Why won't the agency give me more information about the schools which they have chosen for me?
They won't even tell me what age group I would work with!

No answer here either.

--If Helen Group is so reputable, why did the police in Yuhuan tell Yuhuan County Kindergarten not to do further business with them?

No answer here either.

--Last but not least, if they're not too busy to drive all the way over here, why are they too busy to wait until after class?

To me, that showed how much importance they put on the children's needs and the teacher's responsibility.

No answer here either.

You have an interesting web site. Phenomenal work! I truly respect people who try and preserve culture.

It might be getting so that even the Chinese people are rejectiing Helen Group.
I am currently leaving a job which Helen Group messed up for me.
The director said that the local police told them not to do any further business with Helen Group.
This job was in Yuhuan, which is in the Zhejiang Province.

Helen has a contract with them, and one of the stipulations included in that contract is that the school cannot hire teachers directly.
Have a guess, why....
Anyway, in the first place you should not have worked for them, they are a big cheat!

Thanks for that reply Gnome, and I do agree. I also suspect who you are gnome, an old time ally on these boards, and you did well to call this mob out.

Well done, Cheers gnome!!! thanks again sir!

Dear Hongtao,

I thought you said you had already quit?

Now we read you will quit

Which is it to be? If you want foreigners to believe in and trust you, you are going to have to do a lot more legwork to convince us for now.

Good luck if you do leave,
SMGS

and things often operate in a manner akin to an old boys network, although perhaps with a lot more fake smiles and doublespeak.

Right on! It also contains all forms of corruption, racism, sexism, and general xenophobia(both towards expats and towards minorities within China) thrown in for good mix.

Some places will even try and keep your passport, which is not the property of anyone of Chinese citizenry.

Sometimes this is done so that the school director can use his special relationship with an underling at the local PSB to get you an RP that shouldn't be issued when the boss of the PSB office is away. Happened to my good lady and me in Dongbei some years back. Of course, we knew our school boss could pull local strings before we signed our contracts. A former foreign teacher from there had filled me in on the situation there. So, we had no worries whatsoever re trusting the school boss.

First of all, they will make you sign one or several contracts but you will never see a properly counter-signed contract copy for yourself, and in such a case it is not a legally binding contract, right?

If they do not give you a copy then yes technically the contract is not worth the paper it's printed on, of course they do this for control. Many places in China will keep your Foreign Experts Certificate for "safety" reasons or reasons out of "need for something". Some places will even try and keep your passport, which is not the property of anyone of Chinese citizenry.

Second, the pay is mostly late, some teachers had to wait one and half a month until they were paid.

At public schools I was paid either on the last day of the same month I worked or the first/second day (the first weekday) of the new month. Only private companies will make people wait so long. This is because they are busy trying to calculate how much money they can scrunge out of you. Maybe this "Helen" company blew too much money treating the local government officials to KTV and had to borrow themselves to finally pay the foreign teachers, just saying.

Third, your first three days will always be in their headquarters in Hangzhou before they transfer you to the school assigned to you. In that case, you have to pay the travel expenses yourself, although in China it's normally the employer who does or who will refund your expenses. They also basically refund your expenses, but you have to fill in lots of so-called application forms to keep a lot of otherwise useless people in their office busy. A simple ticket to show should be enough to keep bureaucracy to a minimum level, but they make it really hard for you.

Any professional company would give you money up front. As for the refunding part they are hoping you just forget about it so they don't need to pay you. What a rubbish company!

During the summer and winter holidays there is no pay, they pay you only for the days you have been actually teaching. Their system of control is 130 %, you have to fill several papers each month and send them from your school somewhere in China to their head office until you receive your monthly pay.

This kind of control is unheard of anywhere else. This company would make me want to go back to a place like Saudi Arabia. This whole paperwork thing is unnecessary. How would they check every day to the tee? It's only a way for the upper management who probably wouldn't have the job in the first place if not for the connections to a rich daddy/mommy/auntie/uncle who saved them from being totally useless. Now they are just merely useless.

There are delays in sending these papers sometimes, and your salary will also be delayed then.

Again, poor money management. I'll bet these crooks wouldn't delay giving money to the mistresses they've stashed on the side in one of those cheap one room apartment complexes. Expensive whores are always more important than foreign teachers as is the rule.

The schools pay them in advance, so they should be able to pay their teachers in full or on time. Who wants to fill in unnecessary paperwork after a month's hard work to get the salary one has rightly earned? The teacher is better off when working for a school directly as there will be no delays, and if the teacher missed some classes, also the school can make the necessary salary deductions. Why do you need an agent for that, I can't see any sense in that! This tremendous bureaucracy causing delay in the salaries to be paid has a system as they seem to work with that money meanwhile in other areas while the teacher is waiting for his pay and has to phone the head office to ask for his money. This is causing unnecessary stress and takes too much of your time, so why should you work for them if there is always such a hassle to get your money? Only fools would do, right? The same with airfare reimbursement and other benefits promised to you in their so-called "contracts".

The company does this because they do not have any responsibility, so one of the less hollow brained member of management who studied at some crap foreign school will show their "cleverness" by coming up with this bureaucracy. But in the end they just want to stay in your head and not make you feel comfortable. We are after all talking about folks who grew up in a culture of utility, where even the husband and wife will play politics towards their child on which family name is more worthy of the child's attention. I mean in their fawked up minds I'm sure there is the possibility that they are really telling you and the other unfortunate teachers that they love you all so so much! But I think not.

They have a company apartment that was dirty and run-down when I was there. They put you together with sick or other kind of crazy people that you don't know to share this apartment before you move on to other schools - broken chairs, smelling beds that other people have slept in before and leaking toilettes and showers - this is the kind of standard you can expect.If you tell them about it,. either nothing happens or they are far too slow to do something about it. Many teachers have not renewed their contract with them because of the way they have been treated.

You have to look at it this way: We are all creatures of habit and we all want to be in familiar surroundings. If you went to the local mental hospital and checked for records of escaped lunatics you might find the pictures of some of these folks you had to share the apartment with, along with the people who put you there in the first place. This is their way of wanting you to be comfortable, this is their way of showing you China, actually.

If you don't want unnecessary hassle, stay away from them - this is a well-meant advice.

There is hardly anything professional in this company. While they are not only agents, but also active in other business fields, it is all done with such a high degree of unprofessionalism and dilettantism that you can only wonder how they get away with it.

I suggest give such agents a miss and don't work for them, they are only there to make your li8fe miserable!

admin@helengroup.com

I know you went through hell, and I've been there myself as well as many posters. You are not longer working there but you had the generosity to share your experience with all. For that you saved many others from going through the same horrific things. Unfortunately I do have to say that in China people will get away with this because the general population does not believe in any system of law, only rule by men. As such you will encounter plenty of crazies who think the way they "rule" their company or school as being the best way, and anyone who disagrees with the way they run things can take the highway elsewhere. Please don't hesitate to share more, you sound like you've been around the block.

I do agree with you 100% , I left Helen Group last month, and the company is not professional at all,

They really like to deduct any amount of money from the teachers' salaries with and without reasons,

They deducted some money from my salary because they did send me the legal documents to apply for z visa by DHL when I was at my home country however I have not been advised with this at all,

Also, I staid at the Hangzhou to do that medical check for some days, and they also deducted those days from my salary, they even let me pay the medical check fees first an then they said they will reimburse me those charges after some days, and also I have not been advised with this ,

They deduct from the teacher's salary for each hour if he is off an amount like 120 Yuan, so if you have 5 teaching hours per day, they will take like 600 Yuan from your salary if you were absent , can you imagine how much they want to take from the teachers ??!!!

Then they always pays the teachers very late, and sometimes they do not transfer the money on time may be on the 17th of the Month, if they do have a delay,

They usually offer a basic salary from 4000 up to 5500 RMB with a free house but the problem is they get from the schools at least 11 000 Yuan each month , and they take the rest of the money as commission, It is one of the worst companies I ever met in my life , unprofessional and some of them are rude people as well.

please never ever to sign a contract with them, even if it is your last chance in teaching here in China.

China Tefl Network is one of the worst companies not only in Hangzhou but also in China,The company is blacklisted in many provinces , and it has a bad name even between Chinese people,

They offer the foreign teachers the z visa which is quite good but they will never fulfill the terms and the conditions of the contract,The have nice trained recruiters , they speak in a nice way , using sweet words but actually , most of them are liars, My experience with them was horrible,The first thing that they did to me is to send me my documents to my home country by DHL but they never advised me that they will deduct the DHL fees from my salary,Sometimes they delay the payments and they pay me on a different payday ,Most of the houses that they rent for the teachers do not cost more than 1000 RMB for the rent , but actually they mention on the contract that it costed 2000 RMB,

They try their best to deduct money from your salary as much as they can , some teachers might not get insurance from the company, which is quite dangerous,

And the company does not care, finally when you finish the contract they company will not provide you with a release letter or a recommendation letter, that means you will not be able to extend your residence permit with another school , and finally you will return back to your home country ,

My advice to you never ever to sign a contract with them ,as it is like losing money and time

Helen Group company is blacklisted in Taizhou, as it is one the famous illegal companies in China,

When did this happen? Because as far as I was aware, they were still placing teachers in linhai, which belongs to Taizhou?

I was in Hangzhou a while back, and interviewed with the Hangzhou Helen company.

The contract I was offered did not in any way match what was advertised on their website. The contract I was shown did not even offer a salary or travel bonus for the Winter or Summer holidays.

I was not allowed to call or email any current foreign teachers, and the apartment they put me in for two nights was rat and roach infested and the bedding was unwashed and smelled of sweat and body odor.

No one ever asked me about any of my credentials or experience. It really did not seem to matter if I was qualified, they just seemed to want to sign anyone.

I did meet one of their current teachers in the lobby, and she told me that she had to pay for all of her own transportation and the medical check for her visa inside China, After almost 3 months she is still waiting to be reimbursed for her expenses and to be sent to Hong Kong to have her tourist visa changed to a work visa.

The impression that I got is that they offer you anything to get you in the door, and then do not follow up on their offers.
Fortunately I am in China already.

I would hate to travel half-way around the world to be offered a contract that does not even come close to what is advertised on their website.

This scammy, scummy organization goes by many different names. Be careful

I can understand your anger only too well. I have worked for them as well with too long hours and very low pay considering the amount of hours I had been working for them.
They are agents, and not only do they take half your salary paid by the school for to you to them, they will also be slow in paying you the other half, will either delay it for some reasons or find fictitious reasons to deduct some horrendous amounts from your salary. They do that because they also always short of money - the large amounts of money they get from the schools is being used for speculation on the stock exchange market or for some other investment business. This is the way they operate, they are irresponsible people and make people coming to China under false pretences.

Do not trust these dishonest agents, do a runner if you work for them, and even better: DO NOT WORK FOR THESE CLOWNS AT ALL!

Then, in brief, China TEFL Network Helengroup in Hangzhou is a corrupt organisation with many officials they have bribed in their pocket!

The idea of Rule by Law is something which still hasn't been accepted.

Bum advice, sir!

OK, then just don't work on business visas, it is perfectly straightforward.

They told me then that they have cancelled my business visa.

You should go to SAFEA. They should not have you working on a business visa.

Good luck, no need to bite at others in the same boat....

I was rather surprised!

I'd agree. The problem is these jobs just want a "token" laowai.

The only way to solve these apartment problems, as the Chinese do not value privacy, is to rent your own apartment, or negotiate a cheap hotel room, to which only you have keys. Hard to do with a hotel room, but with your own rented apartment a Chinese locksmith can come to change locks as you please, definitely for bedroom where you keep important stuff, and the landlord likely won't know any different when you give the keys back upon leaving.

These people aren't stealing from you if you agreed to work for 4000RMB a month. The fact that Helen takes the same amount home as you a month just shows the true nature of agencies and recruiters - they are parasites that leech of both schools and teachers. Do yourself as well as the whole education system a favour by not working for them.

but helen got 4,000rmb too. in fact, i should get paid 8,000rmb from taizhou foreign languages school. but my money was stolen by helen.

After they had messed up my job promised to me with their usual switch-and-bait tactics, they made me work for them in their office. Instead of going to a school that would provide a single apartment, I ended up in their run-down company apartment where I spent three months, standing up early in the morning at 6 a.m. to take the crowded bus that takes hours to go because of all the traffic jams to arrive on time at 8 a.m. in their office when work begins. Being in a crowded bus that takes hours to arrive and being pushed from all sides is soooo "nice"...

Then back at 5 p.m. each day, again with the same bus and with the same privilege of being pushed from all sides...how nice! After 90 minutes, back in the company apartment, going early to sleep to be up again at 6 a.m. the next day early in the morning.

In their office, doing high quality editing and other related work for as little as 4500 RMB a month, no private life because the apartment owner comes and goes as it pleases him and even tells you to move to use another Bathroom than the one you had before. How "nice"...

Finally, I have left them and feel much better; I am in a hotel now and can relax, see the city and nice places I haven't seen before, no more interferences with my private life in their apartment, no more stupid replies regarding material I needed for my work, no more hassle in running after my money, and now much more free time for myself. Really great!

Compared to a job at a school, I had a much harder life with them after they had messed up my job at that school:
- many more hours each day and per week,
- a ridiculous salary (too low even in China for all the work I did for them),
- no single apartment, no private life, not enough free time for myself.

Working for a company like this is hell and a poor job compared to the privileges a foreign teacher enjoys at a decent Chinese school. i said good bye to them a couple of days ago, and they were not too pleased. I have found another decent school in another city, and I will go there next week. I have been told my apartment will be ready by then...wow!

Good-bye, Helen, to keep experienced and qualified experts, you must become much more professional than you and your company are now, and you must learn that foreign people like me do not like to be given the feeling that you "own" and that you can do to them whatever you want. If you continue like that, you will not only lose those foreign teachers that you managed to catch in your trap with all your false promises given by your so-called managers, you will have people quit your company that you are actually looking for because of their qualifications and experience.

Be assured that from now on I will only see your company office building from the outside. Bye bye, Helen, and never interfere with my private life again! Better polish up your run-down company apartment where I did not even have any water for months because this fool of so-called apartment manager was too lazy or did not know how to handle the matter.

Very true indeed. The different treatment of foreigners and Chinese native staff by employers most certainly causes a high rate of frustration if not jealousy among the Chinese staff even if they don't show it. Foreigner are often too self-centred and only see the problems they have. It therefore would be better to take a broader perspective. Eventually one may arrive at a point where a solution is at hand.

2. To show support towards local staff. A simple example would be - upon hearing a member of the management laying into a local staff member, a foreign teacher would go over to the area where the 'disagreement' was taking place. You wouldn't have to actually interpose in the situation but the presence of a foreign teacher was usually enough to modify the bad behavior of managers towards local staff. In this example you're actually using the unbalanced system to restore some balance and support your colleagues.

The fate of foreign teachers who are unfortunate enough to end up in the shark network of this company is one side of the coin. The other side of the coin is how they treat their Chinese staff. I have talked with some of them and was given somewhat really shocking information:

- To save money, this company gives their Chinese full-time staff so-called "internship" contracts to avoid paying the social benefits for them like health insurance and other things. That means they act against Chinese law on purpose if that information is true.
- In an expensive city like Hangzhou, some of them only earn 2000 Yuan a month which had not been paid for months.
- These people are sitting in the company office and work for Helen from 8.00 a.m. till 6 p.m. and are compensated for their hard and honest work with almost nothing!
- Many of them are looking for other jobs, it is incredible what this company is doing and how they treat and exploit people shamelessly!

Another thing:

Helen has the direct contact with the schools and makes all the business deals with them. Her bait-and-switch tactics does not work out successfully in all cases; and so it can happen that a new teacher who has just arrived from abroad will have to wait one month or more until he/she can get a job. On what is that person living then meanwhile when he/she has no work because Helen was not successful in her deals? This is how they've messed up job opportunities for several people!

Have a simple guess: If they get 10,000 Yuan a month from the school for a foreign teacher, and a foreign teacher gets around 4500 Yuan, how much is ending up in their private pockets? The calculation is very simple.

There are several Chinese people in middle management positions of this company, all of them speaking English fluently and intelligent enough to know what they are doing and the cheat they help accomplish on the back of foreign teachers and the rest of the Chinese staff who are as much the victims of these ruthless practices as the foreign teachers. These people are as guilty as the owners who allow all this to happen!

If you ask me - they are not only highly unprofessional but also cheats and liars, no decent person should ever work for them and help them make other teachers running into their trap!

For those already in the trap - get out of there as soon as you can!

They have recently appointed some foreigners in their office. And they are looking for other foreigners for full-time work in their office. I can't say more, I need to protect myself if you understand what I mean. The link below is quite interesting, have a look there:

http://www.helengroup.com/hotjobs_con.asp?id=390&classid=25

IF I am reading your words correctly, you are being ( for lack of better words ) subcontract, that is illegal ! I had an employment agent / training school in Maoming try that trick. I was shown a school that I would was illegal, bottom line is, I filed charges with the experts bureau and he lost some money and is now blacklisted. Problem solved !

I can see your point, but let's get back to basics. Which situation will be better for Chinese high school students? that must be the priority, and is it feasible?
A) just to have a foreign teacher.
B) to have a foreign teacher and a Chinese teaching assistant trained by the agent who has employed both of them, and pays them both.
C) to have a foreign teacher and a Chinese teaching assistant trained/employed by the middle school, both of them being paid by same.

In practical terms, C) is uncommon. It's so because Chinese teachers of English won't work as teaching assistants for foreigners for the peanuts that agents pay their Chinese teaching assistants to do the same.
Now, back to basics: I've taught for Chinese public middle schools on my own, a hard struggle indeed for both my students and me. My teaching was inefficient and ineffective. I was worn out quickly after a few classes.
B) is the best option for all parties, in my view, given that C) is financially draining to the employer, the middle school, and that's why middle school headmasters in Shanxi opt for B). The middle schools are the ultimate bosses! Remember that, he who pays the piper calls the tune!

First things first, we want jobs that don't work us like dogs nor give us no job satisfaction. If Helen group is only sending FTs to middle schools, that agent should be avoided, as she isn't doing any more than the minimum that the school itself can do. She would be a bottom-feeder!
But an agent who provides both a foreign teacher and a teaching assistant to a public middle school is a necessary agent providing a better service than agents whose only interest is to sell foreign hides!
So, let's not tar all agents with the same brush! Teaching with the aid of a teaching assistant is preferable to teaching alone, provided said teaching agent can co-operate with the foreign teacher. There's the rub!
The RP should name the workplace and the employer. Both can be different, but the information must be accurate!

However, at many schools such as mine,, we have a few who's nose is up the FAO's arse so far it's not funny !

Yes, and make a bit of noise; otherwise, you get nothing done by them!!!!

I am currently working for this company, therefore let me add a few words on the matter.

Most of the English speaking Chinese staff in the company are friendly and very helpful. There are some apparently poorly trained and lazy employees in that company that make the lives of others working there a nightmare and difficult. For example, what the OP said regarding the company apartment is absolutely correct - when I moved in, it was in such a state of mess and so dirty that you couldn't believe it! I have asked them to clean up and to repair the things, and it took them a long time to do it at all and to do it properly. Now, to be fair, I have also to say that they have started doing their job, they cleaned and repaired certain things and the situation is not as bad as before. But they still need to work on it to make it really acceptable for a foreigner to live there, and certain remain yet to be done.

A couple of days ago, they moved a very strange 70 year old woman from Kenya of Indian origin into the company apartment. Since I had to share with her, things got really worse - not only that she messed up my things in the bathroom I had in there before she took it, she took the water I bought for preparing my coffee, she locked me out of the apartment so that I could not get in when I came back from work; she also must have taken things like disks from the room I am using since I could not close this room until Saturday when, after making some noise, I got a key for the room.

Even to get simple things for the work I am doing is hell and a nightmare - I was in need of some empty DVDs, which they did not have and were not really willing to supply, they only cost a couple of kuai. It is a big issue - you need to fill in a certain amount of request/application papers, then all the managers seal and sign it until that application reaches the Financial Department for a few Kuais to buy these DVDs. It is too much trouble to request, wait and run after all these things.

The good news is that I will be leaving that place by the end of the month. I did not want my review to be too negative, but I am afraid it is as it is the truth.

To summarize, in case you decide to work there, be aware that you will be facing all kinds of issues like that because their structures and way of working are far from being really efficient and professional in certain matters.

Are the people from that company like sharks as well?

I worked last year for them, and my experiences with them were not good at all. They are agents in that they hire out foreign teachers to partner schools within their network, and the foreign teachers have a contract with this company directly, and not with the school.

First of all, they will make you sign one or several contracts but you will never see a properly counter-signed contract copy for yourself, and in such a case it is not a legally binding contract, right? Second, the pay is mostly late, some teachers had to wait one and half a month until they were paid. Third, your first three days will always be in their headquarters in Hangzhou before they transfer you to the school assigned to you. In that case, you have to pay the travel expenses yourself, although in China it's normally the employer who does or who will refund your expenses. They also basically refund your expenses, but you have to fill in lots of so-called application forms to keep a lot of otherwise useless people in their office busy. A simple ticket to show should be enough to keep bureaucracy to a minimum level, but they make it really hard for you.

During the summer and winter holidays there is no pay, they pay you only for the days you have been actually teaching. Their system of control is 130 %, you have to fill several papers each month and send them from your school somewhere in China to their head office until you receive your monthly pay. There are delays in sending these papers sometimes, and your salary will also be delayed then. The schools pay them in advance, so they should be able to pay their teachers in full or on time. Who wants to fill in unnecessary paperwork after a month's hard work to get the salary one has rightly earned? The teacher is better off when working for a school directly as there will be no delays, and if the teacher missed some classes, also the school can make the necessary salary deductions. Why do you need an agent for that, I can't see any sense in that! This tremendous bureaucracy causing delay in the salaries to be paid has a system as they seem to work with that money meanwhile in other areas while the teacher is waiting for his pay and has to phone the head office to ask for his money. This is causing unneccessary stress and takes too much of your time, so why should you work for them if there is always such a hassle to get your money? Only fools would do, right? The same with airfare reimbursement and other benefits promised to you in their so-called "contracts".

They have a company apartment that was dirty and run-down when I was there. They put you together with sick or other kind of crazy people that you don't know to share this apartment before you move on to other schools - broken chairs, smelling beds that other people have slept in before and leaking toilettes and showers - this is the kind of standard you can expect.If you tell them about it,. either nothing happens or they are far too slow to do something about it. Many teachers have not renewed their contract with them because of the way they have been treated.

If you don't want unnecessary hassle, stay away from them - this is a well-meant advice.

There is hardly anything professional in this company. While they are not only agents, but also active in other business fields, it is all done with such a high degree of unprofessionalism and dilettantism that you can only wonder how they get away with it.

I suggest give such agents a miss and don't work for them, they are only there to make your li8fe miserable!