List of Agencies and what you should know about them

[quote=“teachenglish”]Agencies are not out to scam people. They are basically the middleman. You’re new to Taiwan and they can help you find a job quickly. They show you lots of schools, some are junk, some are golden. You choose the schools eventually, so don’t be blaming the agencies. I’m just saying.

Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk HD[/quote]

Unfortunately many of the agencies/agents are looking to screw people. Do some research on the infamous Steven, Twan, and all his other aliases on this forum. You cannot make a blanket statement that Agencies are not out to scam people, just as I disagree with certain posters stating all Agents are crap.

Ok

In Bryans defence, he got me a good gig in Kaohsiung with no problems.
My demo was basically a sub class, and was hired the next day.
The school has paid me all the bonuses agreed on.

In my dealings with Bryan, I do not feel if was dishonest in any way. He was honest about the job, and have me no reason to question his integrity.

Doctoring test scores is par for the course here.

Has anyone had any recent experience with YG Experts? I found a couple of old threads but nothing in the last year or two.

I’m currently applying for teaching with them beginning in July but am a little wary as they have asked for basic information and documents and not supplied a huge amount of info regarding teaching program, resources, etc. As it involves a major commitment dropping work in NZ and heading to Taiwan I’d like to know what I’m in for.

Reach to Teach - my experience a decade ago with them was positive (they placed me at Kojen which was not great but fine for a year, my complaints about that year are about Kojen, not Reach to Teach), and I recommended them to my sister. They were ok as far as she was concerned, but she ended up not taking any of the contracts they offered her because every single one had a red flag in the contract: 20k deposit, Christmas absolutely never off (which she feels is indicative of a broader cultural disrespect for foreigners), wages garnished toward a deposit that is only returned when you complete the contract, weird fines, unpaid work beyond prepping and grading etc. or just very low pay. Her complaint was mostly that the contracts offered were crap, not that R2T itself was rude or problematic. To some extent contracts in Taiwan are crap generally, but the ones she was offered were worse than usual.

Bryan Wu - I haven’t had direct experience but a friend of mine who is ethnically Asian was told by him that he wasn’t willing to work with ABCs or foreigners who look Asian, and that was “his choice” because “employers want people who look foreign”. This is actually illegal in Taiwan. The jobs he has on offer are kind of crap too - the usual weird hours, part-time, “work permit offered” is supposed to be some great benefit when it’s really just a legal requirement, 600/hour, unpopular locations.

My sister also showed me some emails from him when she was looking for a job and he was rude and unhelpful (and the jobs were also crap - 540/hour to work in Sanxia! Woo!). She had told him she specifically wanted to work in Taipei and he was all well I think you should consider Taoyuan / Here’s a job in Kaohsiung, you won’t do better than this, you should just take it / “This is a job in Linkou” “I don’t want to live or work in Linkou, I said TAIPEI” “It’s close enough you should just take it, you won’t get a better job”…and when she wrote to him to ask him to ONLY send her job openings in Taipei or inner ring suburbs - Yonghe OK, Linkou no - he was all “Well there’s no solution then, you aren’t going to find a job in Taipei.”

She blocked him from writing to her as he was unhelpful and pushy (really? NO jobs in Taipei at all? Uh huh) right before finding a job advertised by the school directly…in Taipei.

Sandra King - she pops up on Facebook groups often and people say she herself is professional and handles placement and paperwork well. However, there have been complaints about the schools she works with, and her default (as seen by many of us on Facebook) is to defend the school and slag off the complainer (“the room wasn’t dirty, just rusty and a little old! Sure there were mosquitos but you can get a net!” “You’re probably lying about the neighbors talking loudly, maybe you talk to yourself unconsciously and that’s what you heard!”) which to me is a big red flag.

Crappy schools need to use recruiters because they can’t find teachers any other way. 99% of the jobs offered by recruiters are aimed at newbies who simply don’t know any better.

Dewey is the largest of all these recruiting companies, so it is vulnerable to all these kinds of bashing.
It has built itself up and risen to the top for a reason. GOOD SERVICE
Small mistakes are often magnified which result in these kinds member testimony.

Hi everyone,

First post here! I am interested in working in public or private schools in Taiwan and came across Dewey. However, I have found them extremely frustrating.

A little about me: I have a BA, MA TESOL and just qualified with a PGCE.

As I only qualified in June 2016, at the time of communication with the Dewey employee I didn´t have my actual PGCE certificate, so to prove to him, just for that moment that I had a PGCE and was genuine, I sent him an online link to a major newspaper in my country which showed my name in the graduation list. I told him I could send something official later when I got it.

Then I asked him some things about the application/interview process and the schools I was interested in that I saw advertised on Dewey’s site. He absolutely refused to answer any of those questions until I showed the proof he wanted. All I was asking was for some info, and as shown from the newspaper graduation list I was definitely definitely genuine and had a PGCE. So, what’s the problem continuing and then any firm offers be on the condition that I show the necessary proof? Why be so awkward especially since it was clear I do have a PGCE (and master’s in TESOL)?

So, next I got a university transcript, sent in PDF format to him, which stated when I graduated and became a qualified teacher. You’d think that would satisfy him, right? NOPE, not a chance! So, I again ask him questions about some schools, then never hear from him again. Cue two weeks later I ask him to kindly reply to my unanswered email, providing yet more proof, this time in the form of a letter from the head of the PGCE department on official university paper, letterhead, with signature in pen etc. Did he accept it? NOPE, not a chance. And again no answer to my questions.

Now, just this week I finally got my PGCE certificate thinking great, he cannot possibly reject that! So, I sent him a high quality scan and guess what? It’s not good enough. What better than the actual real diploma with university stamp on it? He wants a teaching reference number and will not accept the diploma. Why such serious pedantry over a number when the diploma is worth 10 times more than some crappy letter saying kpjf’s teaching number is 12345678910

Anyway, again I clearly asked the person I’ve been in touch with to please answer my questions yet he
just rudely ignores it. Then when I finally give him the teaching reference he’ll reply ASAP lol and be nice as pie. And, by that time it will be too late as by the time a visa will be obtained the job will be away no doubt. A pretty frustrating experience with Dewey I can tell you.

Good companies accept responsibilities. Not blame it on the teachers which is what your doing. I can see why this company has a bad reputation.

Julie got me a series of interviews, all I had to do was pitch up and sell myself. Some of the schools were decent, some were awful. I appreciated the convenience of waiting for a phone call instead of trying my luck at walk-ins.
Within 25 days I got a great offer from a good school. And I have been teaching at said school for 10 years now.
I happily paid Julie $15 000 out of my first paycheck. And to this day I recommend her to whomever I can.

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Who is Julie and what school are you working at?

WTF? I know your post is a year old, but who in the name of all things sacred pays over US$300 to someone for landing them a job?!

Edit: also, it took 25 days to get a job?! In 2021?

10 years later and still relevant. Lmao.
Regrets