It has happened to every foreign teacher, at least once, probably 6 times. You view a post on the internet for a teaching job. You take your time and travel over for the interview. You get there and talk to the person who is in charge of hiring or the Chinese teaching assistant whose job it is to feign an interview with you only to find that the job that was described in the ad does not exist. The person interviewing you has no idea what the ad says. Usually someone else's department...

    I just finished with this, for probably the 9th time. I have been a teacher at all levels for two years in China. I have a comfortable university job and am/was just looking for extra hours to fill up the space outside of my core obligations. Hampson has ads everywhere, basically BEGGING for teachers. All of their redundant ads promise 9000RMB + housing for 20 hours. One on one teaching... Sounds good. So here's the punchline. They want you to work two months of "probation" at the ridiculously low rate of 120RMB an hour. They want you to build up 80 hours of teaching time first, then in comes the guaranteed salary and housing allowance, or so they say. And they deduct if you go below 80 hours.

I turned down their offer. When I asked their recruiter for Guangzhou and Shenzhen why he did not put a full job description including the probationary period in the ad, this is what he said to me:

"We don't need too picky teachers ,nor do other institutions want. A good prsonaity is important. Good Luck to you!"

  Yeah... Insult me now after you offer me a job and I turn it down bc you cannot answer the bleeding question. And funny I have a stable job with a contract, if you could remember you twit, and just received a much better offer from another school via e-mail while I wasting my time at the interview your desperate excuse for a company lured me to with a lie.

   I have been working in university all of last year and this year with some outside work. In 2011 and last year when I was looking for part time work, I went to many interviews set up by FindWorkAbroad.com. The ads are ALWAYS a lie. The company knows it or they are retarded but they keep posting anyway. For example, I once had an interview at Georgia English in Shenzhen. The ad had a certain salary, hours... I get there and the hours and pay are completely different. The personnel person looks at me and says, "It's just an advertisement." My reply: "Oh, so it is a lie." PP: "No, just an ad..." Reply... And then she starts crying.

    This is the most flagrant example but I went through this scenario probably five times, including the crying. FWA always had the same story: It is a misunderstanding. Yeah, no. It is a LIE. And not only do you know it, you are taking part in it.

   So what to do to avoid this: 1) Talk to them over the phone and get the full details before you give them time for an interview. 2) Print out the ad and take it with you. 3) Don't be polite if they tell you an obvious lie like they just have no idea what is in the ad. If you know they are full of BS, tell them they are full of BS. It is all business to them. If they can get you in the door with a lie and there are no consequences and repercusions, it means nothing to them. Just business. What the reasoning is is hard to fathom but it is what it is. 4) Let everyone you know know the truth about every company that tries this with you.

    The people at Hampson and the guy with the affected Italian name at FWA are jerks who could care less about wasting your time. If they lie in the first contact they have with you, there is no way you can trust them. Stay away from Hampson and FWA. Walk out the door of any other school that tries it. There are wayyy more jobs than there are teachers available, especially those of us with degrees and experience who are not calling in drunk or going to bounce out with their backpack with no notice. If they want to act otherwise, let them try running their schools with Chinese teachers and see how that works out. The business is there bc of the foreign teachers. It is a buyers' market. We dictate the terms.

Do no harm. Do much good. But take no...

From what little research I've gleaned, you should never go anywhere without a Z visa and the proper contract signed by both sides. If they refuse to provide that, throw the job ad in the trash and go somewhere else.

When push comes to shove, if you have the contract and Z visa in your hands, you can simply go to the local PSB and explain your situation. The school will either be forced to pay you the monthly salary, and a severance fee (travel expenses, etc), or live up to their end of the bargain.

I don't know why you keep getting yourself put in that situation. Next time, keep these little two things handy. If they promise you something different than the contract, then the PSB can help you.

Most Chinese people -- and especially 99.99% of recruiters -- are nutbags without a conscience, and would happily screw you in any way they can, especially if you let them. Keep safe, broseph, and don't be afraid to fight for your rights. The first time a school lies to you, refuse to accept any kind of employment whatsoever. Move on to the next school, and let them either change or die out.

Pogger's right. No z-visa, no residence permit, no work permit; no teaching. If you agree to anything else, you are breaking the laws of the PRC and are then absolutely at the whim of your employer.

Fordicus is also absolutely right: strongly stand up for yourself and you'll be labelled as having a bad personality.

Finding a way to survive and be happy in China means patiently walking a very difficult middle ground or having a lot of luck. And probably, drinking.

It's called a scam or some people call it 'come on's'. It's just a way to attract you to their business which is probably not successful in the first place as evidence of all the misguided information and lies. 

I remember there had been a student that wanted to learn everyday. But because the company misguided him and changed the price the story was from what I was told was that there was an argument. Now why would a company argue with a customer you ask? This is China that's how they do business at times. 

Some people here lack common sense. If a person is willing to learn everyday you don't  argue you work with that person to come to a deal. It was kind of like when this lady I was working with said an equipment was dangerous and decided to switch it around to try and make it safer. But either she was blind, dumb or just lacked common sense because it was a piece of wood and side A was identical to side B. 

At least more than half of these ads you just described exist!

Just to clarify, I have a good uni job that I am very happy with. It just happens that the work is so light and I like money so I look for some extra hours to fill the time.

Main point is, they keep doing this! Especially the two companies I named. As a matter of course. They need to be made to understand that this is not acceptable.

    In re working, yeah, they may say that. For ex, I worked for about six months part time at a training school. They paid me every week. Then they started having trouble. So I let them pay me every two weeks. You would think they would appreciate it. Noooo... After two weeks they were still pushing the envelope, telling me they did not have the money. So I refused to teach the next class, which started in about 30 minutes, until paid. Guess what? Cash in hand. And a lot of glaring like I had done something wrong. And then a month or so later they gave me no notice as most of my classes were cancelled over the spring holiday. I talked to one of the other teachers who confessed that yes they were always paying her late and telling her it was her fault bc she did not have a Chinese bank account. And the Chinese staff? Always getting paid a week late at least.

    So tell me, how long would this last in the US? I can tell you, about 2.5 minutes while the employees planned how they were going to draw and quarter their erstwhile boss. Chinese employees have no idea how to demand fair treatment. The young ones who move to the city are especially mistreated as they are often lonely and see the workplace as hearth and home. Late pay and free overtime? No problem! I once had an adult student ask me, deadpan, "Why would you not want the company to run your life?"  

   What is needed is a teacher's union. And for teachers to stick together a bit. Though granted, without fail training school where most of the PT work is are almost uniformly staffed with miserable asshats.

    So there's my rant for the day. More to come tomorrow. I love China but HATE doing business with the Chinese. The lack of appreciation and the boldface lies that are so unconvincing they are insulting...

Nah, I generally like the Chinese. Wonderful people, friends and lovers. Good with the bad.

But business. I swear I want to pick the up by the feet and beat them against the pavement.