@ T: Welcome mate,I'd buy anyone a brew, alas I am not still in ZS (sadly).

What's wrong with "drink beers"? Most laowais do it in china, dont they? If dating students is ok, then surely drinking beers is fine too?

Crap Irish pub...dude you sound bitter. In a second tier city you'd moan because you can only drink the local horse piss and it is boring and parochial and so on. I'd much rather be in a more developed city (but not shanghai/gz) then be out in the boondocks with NOTHING and nowhere to hangout. Chinese restaurants/shaokao becomes inane and boring after a while...so does staying in online/watching dvds. That said I never went to that irish pub so much,,,but Alex's bar was ok once in a while. You too like to meet girls right? well you won't meet them sat at home, right?

Anyway, I didnt think ZS was too bad, just my two cents, tbh most places have their crappy points....

Maybe you should just stay in Zhongshan and drink beers. Like at Alex bar and that crap Irish pub there, can't remember the name.

I would prefer to teach polar bears in Antarctica or penguins in America, but I would avoid the sunny Maledives like hell...hehehe!

Have any decent jobs going teaching your crocs in deepest, darkest Africa...the Heart of Darkness?

Make us all a decent job offer and we WILL all email you. How about that? Agreeable?

por turnoi to enjoy on his beer and brandy nights in the piano/rec lounge:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9NuA7AripfU

I know cheyne through working at another school i was employed at in the maldives and he is absolutly right.this school is not a scam

A good school will easily find teachers, and has zero need to go trolling for them. Only very poor quality schools, at least in my experience, will resort to such tactics.

Turnoi doesn't like anyone possibly one upping him as the most helpful person on this board, however I will comment on this post nonetheless.

Even when a crap school is "trolling" for teachers, it is very unlikely to be a scam in the sense that someone wants to cheat you by making you pay for a visa or processing expenses of documents in connection with a job.

I think people posting here are tending to think of the word scam because A, it is the name of this forum, and therefore B, it has taken on a broader sense. hence anything that has elements of a scam is a scam, simple. You don't understand this?

Quite on the contrary, scammers of this kind will provide a fictitious job profile with very attractive conditions that a job applicant could not resist in applying for.

Is such a place really a scammer by your very narrow definition?

It seems by your own estimate a scammer would be someone lying about any aspect of the school, or who is dishonest in some way in their representation of the school.

From there, the scammer will ask for all kinds of pretend fees. This would not work if the job conditions were that unattractive; so, that even a crap school will act as a kind of scammer is very unlikely and not logical.

Scammers are only those who ask for fictitious fees? I think you are shooting yourself in the foot by trying to call into question the advice of others, by nitpicking to the point where you don't actually make a whole lot of sense. Crap schools do not try to scam would be teachers? Really? If you wish to split hairs in an attempt to discredit someone who simply provokes resentment and envy in you, you will look very foolish in the end.

If a school lies to you to get you to come, you are being scammed if you ask me, period. I don't think we need to micro categorize such people, as it doesn't change the end result, and that is that you should not work for them. Don't make complex what is a simple matter just for the sake of your own ego. Keep it simple stupid ;)

In brief, in case of scammers, there is never - I say, NEVER - a legit school behind it - whether crap "school" or not.

Hence crap schools can be scammers, though you just said they would not be since they are crap. Your logic never ceases to amaze.

And crap "schools" looking for teachers would never - I say, NEVER - ask for any kind of visa or other document processing fee; it's contrary to their business interest, even if they are crap! And that applies to pretend and crap recruiters as well!

Wouldn't the act of doing so make them a crap school, thereby nullifying your logic, as they would then be a crap school? Also your logic is rather flawed, as to say that they are too crappy to risk it is kind of like saying someone is too crazy to try and commit suicide.

If there are pretend recruiters offering an attractive job and there is none in reality,

This is self evident by the use of the word "pretend", you need not qualify it by letting us know there are none in reality, since if they were offering such they would not be pretend. Though I have to question your use of the word "pretend", since you have chosen to set the tone of the argument by splitting so many hairs so finely. If they do indeed recruit people then they are hardly pretend, wouldn't you agree? Honestly, if you are going to give good advice, please get your terminology right and define these people as what they are. Geez.

then these are scammers and not simply crap recruiters as well.

Please make up your mind, you have already said that those who are crap would not dare scam others because they are too crappy to risk it, so how can they be crappy and be scammers?

Crap recruiters are those that can offer real jobs by promising more than would be really true, but they are no scammers then!

If they are offering more than is true, than they are lying to attract a teacher, hence trying to scam you, are they not? How are they not a scammer? Your logic simply amazes me. Crap recruiters are not scammers, but can be, crap schools can not be, but are, one wonders how you keep it all straight in the brilliant head of yours.

We need to be consistent in our terminology as "scammers", crap "schools" and recruiters differ in many respects; all of them are evil and cause tremendous harm to foreign teachers, and mixing this garbage people and their evil-doings up is not helpful!

I agree, we do indeed need to be more consistent, and in that arena this post has not only failed, but it has hopelessly muddied the waters. Well done, in your vendetta to attack for the sake of discrediting another you have basically thrown consistency and proper terminology to the wind, and replaced it with a near schizophrenic view of the subject. Well done.

To give some sound advice that might do some good to people looking for advice, keep these two things apart and think about it before posting on such topics... Please!!!!!

I suggest you think more before posting advice about how to give advice, and then not taking that advice yourself.

Now I will say that there are many cultural differences between how Westerners and Easterners communicate so perhaps they were just not very clear with you with what the "next steps" would be. I have had many communication problems such as these

Well, if this really is a decent organisation, then why don't you advise your management how to place a job offer that makes sense to everybody. I would not trust any job offer that does not contain any details like job description, requirements re the job applicant's educational and professional profile, and on what the school offers in return. If they are unspecific about that, then why should anyone from abroad bother to go there only to finally end up in any mess of a so-called "school" that is perhaps run by grocery shop owners - in other words, people incompetent in the educational sector.

BTW, I have heard about a "school" in the Maldives with a high turnover rate of foreign teachers, many unhappy teachers constantly leaving and coming in because of non-payment, payment not on time and/or in full and an absolute disorganised management causing a lot of mess over there.

Is that perhaps the "school" you are working for? If so, I would prefer to teach polar bears in Antarctica or penguins in America, but I would avoid the sunny Maledives like hell...hehehe!

One way to check is to verify the email address he used. A reputable person from a reputable organization will normally use his/her company email address because he is representing the company... or the school, for this matter.

Second is to verify that the email was indeed sent from from the school's mail server. No reputable person will send business related/official emails from external domains. You may follow the steps outlined in this tutorial to trace the IP address: http://www.johnru.com/active-whois/trace-email.html

Third, you could refer to the organizational structure of the school to verify if the sender is indeed working in that school. Many school websites would publish the names of their staffs.

Lastly, there's nothing wrong with being vigilant. A legitimate employer would be glad to know that his potential employee is "street-smart" and knows when to ask questions.

Even if this mail is not a scam and from a real school, I would not really trust it for several reasons:

1. It does not have any details regarding the duties expected from the teacher like amount of hours relating to weekly teaching load,
2. nothing regarding visa requirements for working there legally,
3. no details re salary and other benefits (if applicable),
4. no real job description (what and who to teach, etc.), etc. etc.
5. who is covering the flight expenses, visa costs, etc.

Instead, there is only bla..bla...bla, and all that would not be good enough to even make me consider of going there for work!

Spending your holidays on the Maldives is certainly easier and less risky than working for a school that may not be a real "school"!

Drop them - my advice!

Please confirm me if this e mail is a scam. I did apply to the school and the person who sent me this e mail is a Maths teacher at that school (checked it from the school's official website). How do i check if this job is legit or not?

---------------------------------------------------------

Dear Sir / Madam

Greetings from Maldives!

Currently we're looking forward to fill our vacancy in teaching post of primary and secondary school level.We need teachers who are talented,

experienced , keen on teaching and will be able to provide a good communication between parents and students.I've revised your resumes

as a chance I'd like to offer a teaching position in Maldives if you're available .Job vacancies are starting on January 2011 ,we're planning to finalize all new contracts by December 2010 so please let us know if you're interested .Could you please send us your up dated resumes and certificates that you have and share your thoughts about teaching in Maldives?

As Lale Youth International School ,we're providing the best education environment on the ground of Maldives for almost two years ,instead of investment

we're having a voluntary movement to prepare our beloved students to the future. it's a young establishment

and day by day renewing itself ,if you want to be a part of our community please send us your prompt response..

We can give further informations upon your requests ..

Thanks for your time...

Mr. .Emrah DURAK

Office tel:+9603350029
Fax: +9603350026
Mobile:+9609986603

Lale Youth International School
Reethigas Hingun Hulhumale' /Maldives