I wasn’t warned away from recruiters. I just didn’t see the point of going through a recruiter when I could do the research on my own. While researching, I found several testimonials from teachers talking about the horrors of dealing with recruiting companies. That doesn’t necessarily mean that all recruiting companies are bad. There are plenty of teachers out there who have found something to complain about over nothing, so I think it all needs to be taken with a grain of salt.

Initially, my husband and I were looking for our own jobs in Taiwan. We contacted Reach to Teach by chance, but they were so professional and impressed us so much that in the end, we figured we’d give them a try. We were firm about where we wanted to work, we knew what we wanted from our school, and we also knew what our teaching experience added up to in terms of salary. We were offered positions at two schools before we accepted teaching positions. We also made a point of not signing any contracts until we had spent some time at the school and talked to the teachers there.

I can imagine that new teachers might not think they have a choice. I wish I could let them know that you always have a choice, and if what you are being offered doesn’t sit well with you, it’s OK to say that you’d like to look at something else instead.

Reach to Teach has excellent teacher testimonials. I’m sure that if you contacted any teachers with the company, you would hear the same thing from them.

I don’t know a lot about Footprints. I’ve heard both good and bad things. A former colleague of mine arrived in China through Footprints and he had nothing but problems.

Anyways, I hope this has helped. Good luck!

Thanks again for your info and insights
Robyn

Before moving to China, I did a lot of research on my own because I was warned to stay away from recruiters. I ended up working at Bai Da Wei English School and I would highly recommend them. Perfect English is also another great school.

The only recruiting company that I can personally recommend (and I give it a glowing recommendation) is Reach To Teach. They hire teachers out to schools in Taiwan, Korea, and China.