S. D.
Have you checked out your contact yet? In order to spot the bogus scam agents the CSP issued these 25 red flags and say that if any China agents falls into 5 or more of these categories, you should avoid and report them to tips{at}chinascampatrol.org 1. Employees all use Chinglish names like “Peter Gao” or “Susan Liu”. These are fabricated ghost names that are virtually untraceable. 2. Their web site is less than a year old (or they don’t have one at all) 3. Their web site uses a .org or .cn domain. 4. Their web site contains no verifiable street address for their office. 5. Their web site has no land-line telephone number published – only disposable mobile numbers. 6. They demand copies of your passport before you receive a written job offer and sign a contract. 7. They cannot produce a color scan copy of their SAIC Chinese business license which can be verified on line. 8. They insist on meeting you in a coffee shop or your office – never their own. 9. They always fill out your visa application in Chinese so you cannot understand if they are lying or not. 10. They are not members of the BBB or any legitimate Chamber of Commerce. (if they are US-based) 11. They use disposable free emails like gmail, hotmail, sina, 163, qq, 126, yahoo, etc. 12. They claim there is someone else with your same name in the computer system and they need your taxpayer ID (SSN) to clarify for the Chinese visa bureau. 13. They tell you that you don’t need a Z visa right away and to just come to China on an L, F, or M, visa. 14. They offer to sell you a fake diploma and/or TEFL certificate, or FEC 15. They tell you that you have a job before you ever even interviewed with the school or director employer. 16. They never give email confirmations of verbal promises made to you. 17. They rush or pressure you to sign a contract giving a fake deadline that is only a few days away. 18. They ask you for the names and phone numbers of your teaching colleagues as a professional references. (They are later contacted and offered jobs in China) 19. No written job description with the name and school location is provided to you until after your arrive in China. 20. They ask for up-front money or a deposit of any kind. 21. They coach you how to lie when applying for your visa. 22. They tell you that the average wage for expats in China is 5,000-7,000 yuan per month. 23. They tell you that you must use a visa agent because the application process is very complicated and confusing and/or all the forms are in Chinese! (absolutely false). 24. That without a TEFL certificate it is impossible to find a teaching job in China that pays more than 5,000 Yuan per month. 25. That your China employer must hold your passport for a 3-6 month probationary period.

Daniel S.
Yes, they are different. It might well be a recruitment agency. It's not the same as negotiating a job with the school directly.

John V.
Most schools prefer to use agencies, but I can’t see how a contract with a school would be any different. I often browse the following site. They’re a little overly optimistic in their approach, but their information on scams and blacklists are very comprehensive. All the w’s.chinaforeignteachersunion.com (Currently located in N. China)

Molly b.
Pushy should indeed be the first alert. Almost all the agencies I have dealt with want to rush right to a skype interview before they tell you a word about the job. If you can't get job details up front, don't waste your time.

Vishwas K.
Thanx

Gary M.
I agree with most of this, but you do have to use a visa agent in the US unless you are prepared to go to the consulate/embassy yourself to deliver the documents since they do not accept them by mail, from what I have heard at least.

Lynken G.
I would highly recommend signing directly with a school versus signing with an agency. I can offer more details upon request, but one reason is that you will be more valued by the school in general, and another reason is that your pay will generally be higher, as agencies often take a big cut of your pay.

Julie R.
HI there, does the school need to be private or public for agencies to take a percentage? I was told that agencies only take a percentage if u are based at private schools in the UAE. does this apply to China as well? Tnk you

Lee C.
@S. D that list contains a lot of accurate, yet pretty nasty scamming behaviour. well done for putting it online. I have been subjected to a few on the list by an actual bona-fide school. so it is not just the scammers who operate in this way. some of it is adopted into the mainstream approach. In-fact as recent as 2018 I know a school near Shanghai that uses an agency to hire ESL teachers and they were still bringing foreign teachers over on tourist visas even as recent as that. Obviously 2019-now (2021) has been a black hole but 2018 was not that long ago in the grand scheme of things. On your list I would say that anyone applying for work in China should take notice of these points: 6. They demand copies of your passport before you receive a written job offer and sign a contract. [if you agree to this...there are ways you can safeguard...watermark the scanned image, blur out important details on the passport page or ideally send a scan of your last expired passport and do both! All they want to see is that you are who you say you are, that is why a reputable employer would ask for it.] 11. They use disposable free emails like gmail, hotmail, sina, 163, qq, 126, yahoo, etc. [any reputable employer will provide you with their work email adress, and you should always ask for that] 13. They tell you that you don’t need a Z visa right away and to just come to China on an L, F, or M, visa. [the biggest sin you can commit if taking a job in China. if caught, you get 2 weeks in jail. they don't] 15. They tell you that you have a job before you ever even interviewed with the school or director employer. [too good to be true because it is] 16. They never give email confirmations of verbal promises made to you. [proceed with caution although some HR prefer to not have things on record until you are actually employed] 17. They rush or pressure you to sign a contract giving a fake deadline that is only a few days away. [the job is not a good one and they are trying to close a deal, with anyone who will take it] 25. That your China employer must hold your passport for a 3-6 month probationary period. [this is illegal. stand your ground if asked for passport. the only time it is required is if your visa and contract are renewed again, by which time you should be able to trust the person asking for it.] I would also like to add two more to the list provided. 26. Wechat: proceeed with caution if discussing work using wechat. Considering not many people outside China use this, the employer should at least be willing to discuss the position on a platform that a western person might use. In China this means Skype as it is currently not blocked. A decent employer will be happy to conduct a discussion using Skype. 27. Introductory videos: in the last 2-3 years a lot of recruiters now ask for a video rather than a CV, which is lazy on their part and also quite fickle. Any decent employer would be more interested in your credentials than an introductory video (intention being to see if your face fits). A CV with a recent image of your face should be sufficient. If any recruiter asks for a video, a good way to counter is to politely decline stating that you have ex-amount of years provable experience and references. Obviously if you are new to teaching then an introductory video is a good way for you to prove yourself but an experienced teacher would not usually agree to this. It should also be applied to online teaching that seem to require people to do demo lessons. If a recuiter is not interested in a solid teaching background and presses for a video, look elsewhere.

Craig P.
I have found over the years that it is better to apply directly to the School you wish to apply for. They get paid to assist with finding you a job which is good, however you can market yourself and get a better deal with the Contract. And, speaking of contracts, you need to read EVERY word and make sure it is constructed in such a way that you get what you are looking for. There are so many worded sentences that favors them and once you sign it, you have to live with it. Plus it could cost you dearly if you break it. I have seen this over and over again. Lastly, there are some Cons out there that say they represent Institutions and charge you a fee.....then off they go.