The China Teaching Web

At TeachAbroadChina.com, we often focus on the various problems that can occur while you are teaching English in China. Believe it or not, however, many foreign teachers in China never have any major problems during their stay and they leave feeling very satisfied with their experience. If this is the case, the school may ask the teacher to help find other foreigner to work in the school.

At the last three schools where I have taught, I have assisted my boss with recruiting teachers to take my place. Recruiting can be a fun and rewarding experience especially if you are confident about the quality of your school. Here are some tips that you should keep in mind if you have the chance to help your school out in this way.

Asking for compensation - You shoud definitely charge your school for your recruiting services. English schools in China spend thousands of RMB every year recruiting teachers so do not hesitate to insist that you be paid for the help that you provide. In the past, I have asked for at least 800 RMB per teacher that I successfully bring to the school.

Make sure you know what the school is offering - Just because you received a certain salary and benefit package does not mean that your school plans to offer the same contract to the next teacher. Ask your school to provide for you in writing what they are offering before you start advertising.

Build a simple website that contains information about the school - You can find a number of free web hosting packages on the Internet and if you are familiar with Microsoft Word, you should have little trouble creating a simple page with some information and pictures of the school and/or apartment. You should use this website link to advertise the school position on the Internet. There are dozens of ESL websites that will allow you to post job openings for free. Instead of posting the information again and again, it will be easier to simply insert a link into the ads. You can start by checking out our ESL job board where you can post job openings completely free. If you are serious about recruiting, you can check out advertising on Facebook or another social networking site.

Ask applicants to send you a package of information – In order to know which applicants are really serious abut teaching, you should require that interested applicants send you their resumes, recent photos, and copies of their passports immediately. You may also want to design an informational questionnaire that will allow you to learn more about the applicants.

Doing a phone interview – Speaking with potential teachers by phone is extremely important. If your school administration is serious about hiring foreign teachers then you should be allowed to make calls, even if they are long distance. When you call, make sure that you have a list of questions to ask and that you give the applicant time to ask questions as well. You can learn a lot about someone by talking to them for 20-30 minutes on the telephone.

Check up on references – Do not underestimate the importance of finding out information about an applicant’s past employment. Just like any other field of work, there are really good teachers and really bad teachers in China. Call at least one of the references provided to you to make sure that there are no ‘red flags’ before you decide to recommend an applicant to your school.

You are the middle man in negotiations -You do not have the power to directly negotiate with any of the applicants. If a teacher wants a higher salary or added bonuses, you need to check with your boss first. In fact, whenever you are not sure about some aspect of the contract, you need to check with the school first before you try to answer a doubt.

Recruiting your friends or family members is not a good idea – My advice is to avoid recruiting people that you know to come and teach in China. Just because you had a great time does not necessarily mean that everyone else will. You do not want to push someone into doing something that could put a strain on your relationship later on.

If you have other tips to share with us about recruiting teachers in China, please drop us a comment below.