Plus 1 for what xinglish said on the legal part of working without a (Z) visa.

http://www.globaltimes.cn/www/english/metro-beijing/update/top-news/2010...

Pay attention to what the lawyer says at the end. It's perhaps the most important thing to bear in mind.

If Hampson was a proper school, they'd offer a Z-Visa, housing, and a decent salary.

Anyone with the proper credentials can work anywhere in the world for much, much more than what is offered in Beijing.

I started working at Hampson in Chengdu in March and they seemed very nice when I went in for an interview but the supervisor pressured me into signing a contract then & there even though I still hadn’t given the due notice at my old job. I started doing demo classes, which are not fun. You are told that you have a demo class, so you turn up & the set time & wait for the potential student to come (which can be up to an hour late, which happened to me one day) and then after the course consultant has shown them around the school to show off their certificates, facilities, environment & supply of foreign teachers, you sit down & try to win the student. This is done by various methods depending on the student’s age & level. The student will probably have a demo with another teacher as well, so that they can pick who they liked best. I was asked to do demo classes for students who were not within my area of expertise (I teach children) or who wanted class at a time I couldn’t teach due to my schedule, so it was often a waste of time.

If a student decides they like you, you have a class scheduled without being consulted. If you can’t do this time, then problems occur. The course consultant/supervisor/manager might ask you to do the first class at this time & then it can be changed the week after. I did this once & then when I asked when the class would be changed to, I was told that it wasn’t good to change the time after the classes had began (despite what they had previously told me) & that it should stay at the same time.

I have taught one of my students for about 2 months now and she still doesn’t have the textbook. I ask twice weekly for the textbook to be given to her but they don’t have any spare or try to find a record of what books the student has or they forget or it’s given to someone else. This student has paid a lot of money and she doesn’t even have a textbook yet.

I have been asked to do a demo class when I have a current student scheduled to teach. I’ve refused to do the demo as I don’t want to be late for the class or keep the student waiting. It seems the school doesn’t have the same concerns or professionalism regarding their paid up students as I do.

Twice, I’ve been in my normal classroom on a Sunday, which is quite busy and have been either getting ready to start a class in a few minutes or in class and the manager or supervisor has got into an argument with a teacher in the classroom. This disrupted my class and was carried out in front of other teachers, students and parents and I was asked to move to a different classroom to teach rather than the people involved in the argument move to the slightly more private office to carry on the discussion and keep it away from everyone else in the school.

The manager/supervisor/course consultants sometimes stand outside the classrooms to listen to what the teachers are chatting to each other about & then report the details back to management.

I have taught children for 4 years now and find that the best way to teach them is with flashcards, teaching aids, stickers, balloons etc, anything to make the class as interesting & as varied as possible for them and to help the play and have fun whilst learning English. There is no textbook for very young students (I teach 2 & 3 year olds) and only a few small animal flashcards, which will only get you so far. I have had to supply my own teaching tools to teach to the standard I expect as the school won’t buy a few simple supplies. You have access to printer paper (sometimes used), coloured pens, 1 Ikea standing whiteboard (good for younger children), building blocks, alphabet soft floor tiles, 5 stool, a few laptop sized whiteboards & you’ll be lucky to find any whiteboard pens that actually work – that’s all. This is not enough for a 1 on 1 weekly 50 minute class with a 2 or 3 year old. I have bought different sized balls, hammers, hands, dice, stickers, balloons, flashcards, my own worksheets and other materials, which have been standard in other schools I have taught in and should be supplied at a school that charges their students so much money.

I was shocked by the treatment of the female foreign teacher who was attacked by the manager in public (in the main reception with course consultants, teachers, students & parents standing by). That such an incident occurred in the first place is almost beyond belief, but it did and what happened afterwards is almost as bad. The girl was fired and the manager was on a flight to Hainan for his holiday a few days later. No one at the school talked to the teachers about it or reassured us or told us that the manager had been dually punished. The teachers who backed up the teacher were then treated badly by having their reputation slandered by the manager/supervisor/course consultant to parents so that students changed teachers.

There is a lot more to say about this school but I’m sure someone else will be able to add their own experiences to this. I have handed in my notice and will be happy to finish working for an average salary in such an unprofessional, disorganised, incompetent and untrustworthy school.

I just went to an interview and Hampson seems very friendly and nice. The office is not that bad looking remember they are finding students to learn so it is easier to go to an institution to try to find work instead of working for yourself which is not a normal job.
I can agree if the company lies to you and let's say they offer a one year working visa if you work full-time then when you are in training they say they will do it the following year because they know they got you. That happened to me before by the way I just took the pay for the first two months and left without saying bye or looking back!
You know what I have a big problem with. It is the people that say a student cannot do anything they give the teacher no hope in the student, I worked at a place that said the kids that were around 7 yrs old the lady she was chinese told me it is gonna be like teaching a baby they do not know how to read or write...I thought that was ridiculous because I talked to those same kids the lady was belittling and I found out their English was actually quite good for being that young.
But for Hampson I am not sure what you went through. All I know is that Hampson in an institute and they try to find students. It should not be all about the money just try to do a good job and if it doesn't work out move on and get over it!
The money is not that important you can make money anywhere it's not like you lost you LIFE!

Just another shonky language mill.

Thank you for your interest in Hampson! With so many evaluations of Hampson (whether positive or negative), this is an indication of Hampson’s size and popularity.

Allow me to highlight a few figures regarding Hampson and address a few often discussed issues.

1, Hampson just turned 9 years old
2, Hampson has a total of 19 campuses located across 11 major cities. Each year Hampson continues to expand throughout China
3, We currently employ more than 700 foreign teachers. (Our large staff is a result of Hampson only offering 1 to 1 English educational services)

Hampson is the first organization, in China, specifically designed to provide one on one education by only hiring foreign instructors. We are not perfect and there are still many aspects our management team are constantly trying to improve on. But we can guarantee that Hampson’s management is reasonable. We will not undermine our reputation by over a mere 1500RMB deposit. This 1500RMB deposit is always refunded unless a teacher seriously breaches the contract terms.

The Hampson organization is constantly growing and improving. We understand that some previous teachers were irate without their deposit withheld, thus posting negative comments about our organization and management staff. Please be assured that all of the previous teachers, who had their deposit withheld, had seriously breached our contract terms for this to occur. Over the last 9 years employing over thousands of foreign teachers, we have encountered some foreign teachers who have not fully cooperated with us, but a great majority continues to work flawlessly and harmoniously at our organization.

If you want to truly understand what it’s like working with Hampson, we recommend that you contact some of our currently teachers and hear their views. Feel free to swing by any weekday evening or weekend at any of our 19 campuses. They will be glad to share their views

We welcome any feedback you have for us. We continuously strive to improve or school for both our students and teachers. Feel free to e-mail us at: hampson.edu @ 163.com

Thank you for your interest in Hampson! With so many evaluations of Hampson (whether positive or negative), this is an indication of Hampson’s size and popularity.

Allow me to highlight a few figures regarding Hampson and address a few often discussed issues.

1, Hampson just turned 9 years old
2, Hampson has a total of 19 campuses located across 11 major cities. Each year Hampson continues to expand throughout China
3, We currently employ more than 700 foreign teachers. (Our large staff is a result of Hampson only offering 1 to 1 English educational services)

Hampson is the first organization, in China, specifically designed to provide one on one education by only hiring foreign instructors. We are not perfect and there are still many aspects our management team are constantly trying to improve on. But we can guarantee that Hampson’s management is reasonable. We will not undermine our reputation by over a mere 1500RMB deposit. This 1500RMB deposit is always refunded unless a teacher seriously breaches the contract terms.

The Hampson organization is constantly growing and improving. We understand that some previous teachers were irate without their deposit withheld, thus posting negative comments about our organization and management staff. Please be assured that all of the previous teachers, who had their deposit withheld, had seriously breached our contract terms for this to occur. Over the last 9 years employing over thousands of foreign teachers, we have encountered some foreign teachers who have not fully cooperated with us, but a great majority continues to work flawlessly and harmoniously at our organization.

If you want to truly understand what it’s like working with Hampson, we recommend that you contact some of our currently teachers and hear their views. Feel free to swing by any weekday evening or weekend at any of our 19 campuses. They will be glad to share their views

We welcome any feedback you have for us. We continuously strive to improve or school for both our students and teachers. Feel free to e-mail us at: hampson.edu @ 163.com