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[LaowaiSaosao]

Chengdu is hardly the "ground zero" of Sichuan, Wenchuan perhaps (although the amount of reconstruction that has already taken place in Wenchuan is AMAZING), Beichuan for sure, but Chengdu - no way!!! I was here and can 100% say not one building fell down (although plenty swayed). It's a great place to live so if you are offered a good job here, take it! But just be prepared for the odd quake as we still get them from time to time, generally 4-5 on the richter scale so nothing to worry about.

[Raoul F. Duke]

Chengdu is hardly the "ground zero" of Sichuan

She's right. It's easy to get the wrong impression because a lot of Western news was datelined Chengdu, and referred to "near Chengdu" a lot.

[друг всего мира]

There have a plethora of highly negative reports about this particular on other major ESL sites, such as Dave's and eslteachersboard.com.  The comments at Dave's sizzled so much and they were so pejorative with alleged details of personal lives that apparently someone acting on Simon's behalf insisted that these reviews be taken down.  They were not removed, however, but rather they were just censored for the more salacious personal comments.  The experiences of several previous colleagues of mines have been mixed to say the least.

[George]

I would suggest that reports about places and schools on The Greasy Spoon, and ESLteachers, should be usually taken with a grain of salt. Unless the reporter has actually been there, done that, their opinions, IMHO, are basically worthless! Witness the great Turnoi, on ESLteachers...he has never been to 99% of the places he critiques.
By all means be sceptical, about recruiters, but also be sceptical about second/third-hand reports.

[Schnerby]

By all means be sceptical, about recruiters, but also be sceptical about second/third-hand reports.

 

[Lotus Eater]

By all means be sceptical, about recruiters, but also be sceptical about second/third-hand reports.

 

Also about places in China.  Unless you have been there in the last 6 months or less - things are waaaaay out of date.  China is changing so rapidly  - scary as!!

[Raoul F. Duke]

Six months???

A little harsh, perhaps. I know there's a lot of construction and renovation going on, but I don't think a big city can fundamentally change all that much in 6 months.

For example, I haven't been to Taiyuan in a good while now...but I strongly suspect it's still a  -hole.

[xwarrior]

If we are still on the Horizon Recruitment topic then my experience was that they are as useful as tits on a bull. {may as well double-whammy the Cliche thread while I am here}.
In October I had to find a new job in a hurry - I was shafted by a company that offered great money but did not get the expected enrolments. In that situation I had no problem referring to recruiters for leads - same as 'let your fingers do the walking' in the Yellow Pages adverts.
Horizon was one of the recruiters I contacted. After completing their 'assessment' form I had to ring them to find out how to get my application posted - the registration process is something of an IQ test but I bet I am not the only one to fail.
Simon answered and I found him to be obliging, friendly and affable. In my subsequent calls he was always the same.
After 2 weeks the outcome was zilch. When I rang the following week he said that the staff had had a meeting and they were unable to offer me anything.
I could accept that if they had not continued to advertise jobs on  different sites (contact Horizon etc) - but the jobs were not showing up on their own site!
Simon might be a nice guy, and Horizon might make some placements, but I would not use them again.
In the end I got a job through another recruiter, with a college that turns out to be another company in disguise - but it has been a dream job so far. I know that there is every chance it will blow up in my face - and I know that I will deserve the scorn that may heaped on me for ignoring the good advice of the Saloon. And it is good advice. But I needed a job!

[друг всего мира]

I beg to differ with at least of the previous posters.

My own experience with Simon was quite, quite direct.  First hand.  No second hand comments in my post.

I read several post on www.eslcafe.com that were subsequently removed and or edited that made allusions to an extended relationship between Simon and Mr. J*hnnie F. W*lker of the R*d L***l Company.  My own experience was that he was exceptionally, exceptionally rude, unhelpful, deceitful, and another master of the bait-and-wait0and-switch and just a perfectly Royal Australian version of a waste of time, although now he has changed his nationality and place of origin and claims to be English from London.  That is my own opinion based on my own experience and it seems to be an experience that has been shared by many. 

[jayban]

Wow, great timing. Good thing I read this. I was just about to except a position from Horizion because I CAN"T FIND A JOB IN CHINA. What has changed this past year...it was so easy 2 years ago? Arggggggh. Back to trolling the job sites.

[openup]

I agree about Horizon.  Complete waste of time.  Cannot trust listings on their site or their people.  I agree with the comment on how difficult it is this year as opposed to two years ago.  What is happening?  Is everyone deciding to teach in China now??  I am a very qualified teacher with experience in China! 

[Invictus]

For those who have had satisfactory experiences with this recruiter or any other, how do these people actually get paid? Do they extract a percentage of your salary for x number of months?

Also, i don't understand xwarrior's comment above (reply #22): "I know that there is every chance it will blow up in my face." If he is already at his university and working, how could the recruiter hurt him now?

[xwarrior]

how do these people actually get paid?

The usual arrangement is that the recruiter is paid the equivalent of your first months salary.

"I know that there is every chance it will blow up in my face."

Yes , I guess I did not make that clear.

The good advice of the Saloon is to avoid using recruiters or accepting jobs with training institutes.Actually, the advice is usually more strongly worded than that!

I ended up using a recruiter to get a job in a training institute that is 'attached' to to a college.

As these places do not offer the same job security as government colleges my feeling at the time was that I could be down the road at any time .... and I would have noone to blame except myself.
As a start-up operation struggling to survive (while a myriad of investors grouped together in a Mickey Mouse arrangement try to find ways of avoiding payments}there is no guarantee I will get to see out my 12 month contract.
Apart from having that sword hanging over me I enjoy enjoy teaching here.   

 


 

[Invictus]

Apart from having that sword hanging over me I enjoy enjoy teaching here.

LOL! Existentialism filtered through black comedy. Made me laugh.

I see what you meant now. Thanks for clearing that up. Good luck with everything and, until something bad does actually happen, if it even ever does, I hope you enjoy yourself!

[NATO]

I'm glad to read this thread as I recently signed up with Horizon. Although nothing about the way they have operated so far has raised any major red flags, I am wont to use recruiters and I find the experience slow and inefficient compared to speaking to the school directly. Of course they have sent me job offers that I have no interest in, and they don't seem to communicate between themselves particularly effectively (there are 3 of them  - a new 25 year old bloke has started recently, apparently). I am strongly feeling that I should avoid recruiters entirely - I only sign up in moments of weakness, when I feel fatigued with the job hunting process.