Search Associates New Contract

[Veracious]

Hi
Just wondering about opinions from seasoned teachers here. Search Associates just updated their system and this requires candidates to update things. One of the updates is a new "contract." In this contract, it states the usual things, except there are some new pieces. One of these includes a statement that if you break a contract you will not only reimburse the school the $1800 placement fee paid to Search, but you will also reimburse housing, airfare, moving allowances, etc. WOW.

So, I guess this means.....case scenario: someone accepts a two year contract with integrity. After year one ----insert any one of the horrendous stories I've read here about some schools----you leave between school years, so thus not completing the second year...you have an enormous bill to pay on top of being treated poorly. Many pay packages wouldn't have enough savings earned to even cover this. The contract clearly states they will use collection agencies to collect this money.

I stopped when I got to signing that part. I think it may mean I won't then have Search to help me find a job, but I am just feeling strongly that a contract like that is backing bad schools and bad practices...and not having MY back.

How are others feeling about this????

[booboo14]

I guess you'd better be extra sure who you sign on with. Honestly I'm not very impressed with Search and their database so far. I see a lot of schools much worse than mine and mine is definitely no better than 2nd tier, if you go by that. A lot of the good schools I see listed can also be found on other sites. However, its still early in the year so I will reserve final judgement for now.

The contract says "may" be required to pay... but they do make it sound like if a school bitches they will just sell you down the river and throw you under the bus.

I wonder how you get out of a contract with Search. If you find a job with a school not represented by Search I guess its no trouble.

[jstwatchin]

Clauses like this make it crystal clear whose side search is really on. It also makes me wonder how much more it would take for a significant number of teachers to take note and refuse to put up with this.

It's not an issue of whether a school may chose to collect. Heads change and we don't know who we may run afoul of in the future. The issue is that someone has the RIGHT to do this. If $1800 were not enough, those added cost could really take a dip into one's savings. I know I did not make a move to a foreign country lightheartedly. Packing up your life and settling into a new country takes a lot, so should I be forced to resign from a contract outside of the customary 2-year period, that alone leaves me with much to deal with. I wouldn't want to be forced into bankruptcy as an added insult.

[sand_fan]

Search can put whatever thet want in an agreement, but that doesn't mean it's enforcible. As was said above, nobody goes through the trouble to take a position with the intention of leaving early. If things happen that aren't what was promised or conditions exist where you are unable to do your job then you you do what you need to do. So, say SA, or the school want to come after you for something worth a couple of thousand dollars you have an obligation to protect yourself. I suspect something as simple as a letter from an attorney outlining your position will make them think twice. If they recognize they now will have to spend money chasing someone with minimal assets, it is likely they will go away. SA isn't a law firm, so that means the school might need to engage a US or Canadian atty to fight you. I don't see how the stakes are high enough to make this worthwhile, so the clause will end up just being noise.

[PsyGuy]

Its nothing different from before, if you broke contract you owed SA your placement fee, but SA will you as a client, which provides little incentive to pay it. All they are doing is stating that they have the right to seek those fees through various collection channels. They could do it before, but now they are just explicitly stating it, so that IT candidates cant claim they didnt know.

SA and ISS and all the agencies have always been on the side of ISs, the ISs provide their revenue, your couple of hundred dollars is just to keep the applications to serious candidates who actually have qualifications. If your a TESOL instructor and you can apply to SA or ISS for free everyone will, if it costs you $200 and they say you need professional qualifications, far, far, fewer applicants will apply at that cost on a lark. The coin has always come from ISs, those are the real clients, ITs are the commodity just as soybeans or pork. They might put a blue ribbon on some of the ITs but at the end of the day your still just meat with a blue ribbon.

It would take a LOT of change far less than 20 years ago, since there are options but the ISs and recruiters run the show they can recruit anyway they want. You see it when even though you apply through a premium agency you get an email requiring your to apply again on their own website, if you dont you just dont get considered, and you dont get the job.

There are other resources such as TIE, TES, and just going through IS employment pages. What happens is the premium agency droops you but ina couple of years if your marketable they will accept you again, because not doing so is just walking away from easy money. Your going to get a contract offer, the associate might as well make some easy money off of you, just dont expect them to do much more than give you database access and a fair invitation.

[Basmad6]

all those other fees are to be expected as penalty from the schools. I know if I break contract I may have to pay back my recruiting fee (and still get blackballed) and pay my relocation fee, airfare, and shipping, possibly even deposits for rent, etc.
Better make a good choice or suck it up and do your job, even if it's hard.