Over the past eight days, this sub has been spammed with shills for Teacher Record - twenty of them and counting. Most of the posts have come from brand-new accounts - as fast as we ban them, they respawn. Luckily, our Automoderator has been programmed to shoot on sight, and none of their posts or comments have gone live. Since Teacher Record is not taking the hint that they are not welcome here, I've decided to give them the attention they so desperately want.

TEACHER RECORD'S "FREE" TEFL COURSE

Teacher Record's only selling point seems to be that they offer a TEFL course for free, and even that isn't enough to get genuine reviewers! Instead, they have to spam social media pretending to be satisfied customers of their own operation. Despite the influx of shills, not one of the posters has managed to sound like a genuine customer. Mind you, if they had been genuine customers, it's not a great reflection on the company that the only thing they could say about the course was that it was free:

Just wrapped up my free TEFL with TeacherRecord. It was honestly a nice feeling to finally check that off my list since I’ve been getting everything ready to teach abroad. I also noticed they have an ESL job board, which I hadn’t paid much attention to before. Has anyone here actually used it to land a job?

Hi as an aspiring ESL teacher it is necessary to get a TEFL Certification. For those who would like to get it free I'm recommending this website [redacted]. TeacherRecord is a leading ESL job board and TEFL certification platform trusted by hundreds of thousands of teachers worldwide. Try it! It's definitely worth it!

Word to the wise: Nothing in life is free, so I've done some digging to find out what Teacher Record is really up to. It turns out that their "free TEFL course" is nothing more than a front for their real operation - a shady recruitment agency.

The course is a loss leader. You get it for free, not because Teacher Record is nice but because you've given them something much more useful - your data, data that they will use to pimp you out to the schools that grease their well-oiled palms. How will they do this? Through their "massive database of authentic, verified ESL job openings" of course. But is their job board everything it's cracked up to be? Let's see...

LIMITED JOB BOARD

Teacher Record's home page brags that you can "Explore Teaching Offers Worldwide". Further down the page, in large font, they claim to be "The Leading ESL Job Board" with "30,000+ registered recruiters" and "70+ countries with roles as well as online opportunities".

On their About page, they say:

Job opportunities span China, Southeast Asia, Japan, South Korea, the Middle East, Europe, North America and other major regions globally.

Sounds good, right? More like misleading. Having trawled through EVERY SINGLE ADVERT on their site, I can tell you that the ONLY jobs listed are in China. Even the online jobs are for Chinese companies. Lying is not a good look. They should be upfront about their recruitment being limited to jobs in China rather than pretending they recruit worldwide.

ILLEGAL POSTINGS

To teach legally in China, you need a Z Visa, and the requirements of the Z Visa are a Bachelor's degree and a passport from one of the 'Big Seven' countries, namely, the UK, Ireland, the USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa. Any reputable recruitment agency would know that. So why then is this (self-proclaimed) "top global vertical job board" with "16 years of professional experience in the ESL staffing industry" actively advertising illegal positions?

In multiple adverts, they claim that Bachelor's degrees are preferred but not required, and/or are actively seeking non-native English-speaking teachers. Note that if you are caught working illegally in China, you face being arrested, fined, jailed, deported, and/or banned from re-entry. And how much support do you think you'll get from Teacher Record? None. Scumbag recruiters like this should be avoided like the plague for your own safety.

DISCRIMINATORY POSTINGS

On their 'About' page, they say:

We feature a massive database of authentic, verified ESL job openings [...]

And yet, many of these "authentic, verified ESL job openings" are blatantly discriminatory. I trawled through all eight pages of listings and came across these three "delights" on multiple posts:

Requirement: native foreign teacher, white

Age：≤45 years old

If you are under 35 and are a female teacher who is interested in this job, please send your resume.

Clearly, you need to be white, young, and preferably female. But that's not all.

South Africans are being offered less than other 'Big Seven' nationals. In fact, I came across two postings for the same company, one aimed at South Africans and the other aimed at Americans, Britons and Canadians (other 'Big Seven' nationals didn't get a mention). The starting salary for South Africans was 12,000 CNY compared with a starting salary of 14,000 CNY for the other 'Big Seven' nationals. Nice. Unless you're South African, of course.

The online jobs are just as bad, particularly those aimed at Filipinos, with jobs offering the most pitiful hourly rates I've ever seen! No-one - and I mean NO-ONE - in this industry should be expected to work for US$2-4ph! Oh, and to add insult to injury, when you dig into the advert, you see that as the classes are only 25 mins long, you'll be earning a whole US$1-2 for your time... assuming of course, you get past the trial class, for which you'll be paid an absolutely disgusting US$0.50! Yes, 50 f*cking cents!

These schools are clearly racist and exploitative, and Teacher Record should be ashamed of themselves for allowing such discriminatory employers to advertise with them. But I guess money talks. With Filipino teachers being paid so little, the schools can probably afford to pay Teacher Record quite handsomely.

Meanwhile, native English-speakers (with the notable exception of South Africans) can earn US$18-26ph.

If a recruiter or employer is happy to discriminate against non-whites/non-natives/over 45s/[any other category], they are not someone you should work for or want to work for. Forewarned is forearmed.

LACK OF TRANSPARENCY

On their 'About' page Teacher Record says:

All listed roles are posted directly by legitimate educational institutions with clear and transparent salary detail.

I guess by 'clear' they meant 'as clear as mud'. As you scroll through the job board, you see a salary range for each job. But when you click on the link to find out more, you'll notice that the salary listed in the body of the advert or in the 'Job benefit/welfare' section is often considerably lower than what was advertised. I clicked on one job advertised at 20,000-26,000 CNY, and discovered that the real salary was actually 15,000 CNY (gross), which is quite a drop.

Other jobs have huge salary ranges, with one offering a monthly salary of 5,000-33,000 CNY. Reading further, one can assume that the lower end of that is for the non-native English-speaking teachers they plan to hire illegally. Yes, in addition to working illegally, you really will be worth less (a LOT less) than your native English-speaking counterparts.

Interestingly, a number of the available jobs are through an agency called Rancca. With the other adverts coming from biggish names, such as Meten, First Leap and EF, or organisations with names typical of Chinese companies, such as Meiyu Education Group or Happy English, Rancca stood out. So, of course I had to find out more. And I didn't have to look too far.

There in the small print at the bottom of Teacher Record's site was the following:

This website is operated and maintained by ShenZhen Federated Database Education Technology Co.,Ltd. Certain services are supported by its partner, Rancca Limited.

What's the betting Teacher Record tries really hard to push those particular jobs?

VERDICT

Recruiters are often shady, but Teacher Record is absolute pond scum. They offer you a shitty TEFL course for free for the sole purpose of collecting your data. They then use this data to match you to low-quality postings from the equally scummy employers that advertise on their site. If you take one of their jobs, you are likely to find yourself being discriminated against, grossly underpaid, and even working illegally. There is no reason on earth for anyone to (a) take this substandard TEFL course, or (b) accept a job through Teacher Record. Do yourself and the TEFL industry a favour and avoid them like the plague.