The International Schools Review Forum

Hi All,

I was just scrolling through Linkedin when I noticed an odd post (apart from the vast majority of self praise or sycophantic posts) which piqued my interest.

It stated that they were looking for 100 international teachers for a new school and they would take a 30% cut of the wage. I unfortunately did not click on the scam to get more info.

Has anyone else come across other recruitment scams such as this?

That’s a new one for me. I’m more used to the “too good to be true” type, with triple a normal salary, 27 weeks annual vacation, 5hour work days plus all moving costs and a signing bonus if I’ll just pay the minimal visa fee. Te he he. As if.
What would justify taking 30% of my salary? Will they be doing 30% of my work?

I saw that one. It's amazing how many desperate people there are out there that fall for that stuff. But hey, if you are unethical and have no problem parting a fool from his money, it's a great way to make big bucks for little work.

Not sure how authentic is staffroom. Bali-based. Sounds pretty illogical but surely motivating to fresh grads willing to try moving international

Think this is a new business model. Staffroom seems to be a Teacher Advocates and Career Strategists service, they don't get paid by schools as they are working with and for the teacher! They seem to run a lot of courses in regards to career development and focusing on interviews and cv building. Will be interesting to see how they grow and develop.

Now that I could research this since I now know the companies name - it looks as though it is a teaching couples side hustle since covid started.

Spawnboy99 wrote:
> Think this is a new business model. Staffroom seems to be a Teacher
> Advocates and Career Strategists service, they don't get paid by schools as
> they are working with and for the teacher! They seem to run a lot of
> courses in regards to career development and focusing on interviews and cv
> building. Will be interesting to see how they grow and develop.


Maybe 'with the teacher', but not 'for the teacher', as I'm pretty sure they are in it for the money - not for the teachers.
Sounds like they're preying on teachers who are new to the profession and have no idea there are plenty of ways of securing a job without paying a whopping 30%.

And does that '30% cut of the wage' mean that they collect a one-time 30% of one month's salary, or do they expect to be be paid 30% of the salary each month? I hope it's the former and not the latter...

I believe it was for three months--exactly the amount of time of a probationary period on most contracts.

Yes, this is a teaching couple's side hustle. And yes, they prey on teachers who are not aware of the many ways to get an international teaching job. I have no problem with running interview and CV help sessions and even charging a fee for them or offering individual support, but 30% of a salary, even for one month, is steep. I mean, a three year membership to Search is $225, many agencies are less than $50 a year or even free, and schools often post jobs on their sites. Active recruitment for not-yet-posted jobs or tentative positions is also common, so it often doesn't hurt to send an unsolicited application. Yet they want hundreds and even thousands of dollars for their service? That's crazy, and it is absolutely exploiting teachers who are perhaps a bit naive.

Thames Pirate wrote:
> Yet they want hundreds
> and even thousands of dollars for their service? That's crazy, and it is
> absolutely exploiting teachers who are perhaps a bit naive.

This. Exactly this. I just came across the Staffroom people's most recent posts in my LinkedIn feed. Their prices are outrageous, especially as non-native English speakers are their target audience. In many countries, these teachers already have reduced salaries compared to their western peers, so the ridiculous markup on a resume workshop or LinkedIn touchup -- to say nothing of the absurd percentage of a salary they ask for if they "place" a teacher who-knows-where -- is practically highway robbery. Besides, given their shameless marketing, I'd wonder how much of their workshops are set aside to try and upsell people on one of their other "services."

LOL, a scam or spammy post on LinkedIn, how incredibly surprising...right up there with the news that water is wet...

I cant really conclude this is a scam, more a service of dubious value. Not everyone can qualify for SA or ISS, they dont have professional edu credentials, etc. There are a LOT of ISs off circuit and if this couples side hustle gives them some access to ISs that they rep than 30% of a salary for 3 months to get a job in IE may very well be good value for an ET grinding away in ESOL if it allows them to transition to IE by getting them some K12/KS experience. Combine that with something like the MA Provisional (Entry grade) credential and you have the makings of an Entry class IT.