This is a discussion page for individual companies so that potential teachers and actual teachers can leave their comments and talk about a specific company.
FastSchool (website is down) is another Chinese company that teaches children, teachers must be available from 7-9pm Beijing time. It is not necessary to be a native speaker but you must have a bachelors degree. They apparently pay at least 40$ an hour, which is a great wage and this is why we need more information about this company.
Teachers and students please leave us your comments and information about FastSchool.
View Comments
I'm not only here to tell you what a joke FASTSCHOOL is, but to ask everyone dealing with these rip-off online schools to start reporting them to the FTC (that's Federal Trade Commission for the clueless). Here's the FTC website: https://www.ftccomplaintassistant.gov/GettingStarted#crnt In case a problem with the link, just go to the FTC site and surf your way through. IF WE don't stick up for ourselves.....DON'T COMPLAIN.
So now for the Fastschool laugh of the day, look at this ad they have posted on another job site:
What We Offer:
• 40 USD to 120 USD per hour (based on both performance and popularity in class)
• Teacher training to help you get used to our platform
• Convenience of working from any location you want
• Transparency between company policies and teachers
• Possibility of becoming our Star Teacher, Teacher Quality Control Specialist, or a member of our staff here in Beijing, China!
• If you are in Beijing now, we welcome you to visit our office.
I don't think I need to say more. ONCE AGAIN....report it to the FTC. BTW, from what I have read and understand, advertising like this in China is illegal.
This company is a sham. After submitting a beautiful powerpoint lesson, complete with visuals, sound, and action, this clown said he would recommend to management that I be hired right away. Never heard back from him. I think they just pirate your submissions and disappear. Don't get duped. Don't waste your time.
I work for them now, but will likely leave soon. The contract rate is $30 an hour, but if you teach 30 minute weekday morning lessons like I do, they'll only pay you $15 per lesson despite having to be there 20 minutes earlier and averaging about an hour with the platform and tech people. Pretty dissapointed when I get my first paycheck, but considering the other ESL online work I do is with EF, not sure if I rather have it unorganized like fastschool or overly demanding and technical like EF.
I worked for this company... It was one of the strangest work experiences I have ever had. When I first began they kept referring to this one guy who it seems that they think is some sort of rockstar teacher and the manager kept telling me to be more like him.. Nearly every class she would refer back to this guy's classes that she had send me a few times. So I began to do everything she said, but to a greater degree seeing as I was already doing what she was saying in my estimation. I think it was just that because I wasn't as super energetic and almost clown-like as this guy she assumed that I didn't have "passion" as she would like to point out(little did she know that the root word for passion means suffering.. and I felt that the exorbitant amount of energy I put into this job made me one of the most "passionate" teachers China has).
That aside, one thing that REALLY made me irritated about this company is that they will set you up with a wechat group and you will get to talk with everyone on the admin / tech side BUT it's against their company policy for you to get a hold of any co-teachers. I honestly thought this was so absurd. And the way that it was framed to me when I pointed out the absurdity was just outrageous because they told me that they, "protect their teacher's personal information". I pointed out that I'm sure that most teachers would probably love the chance to get to know the other teachers that they are working alongside with. To which I was told, "sorry, we can't allow that". SMH.
At any rate, I worked with FastSchool for a few months.. and I should point out that when they installed their program onto my computer they had to manually come onto my computer via some device that allows them to use my computer from their computer. After the software was installed my virus protection kept alerting that it had a virus and they just kept telling me to turn it off an ignore it... Sketchy I know.
So after some time they told me that there wasn't enough demand to keep teaching the classes I was teaching and that I would be able to start doing these classes with 200-500 students. The rub was that I would have to buy a brand new laptop that had an i7 processor and 8gb of RAM.. Well I have an i5 and 8gb RAM but they told me that this isn't enough.. despite the specs being pretty much negligible.. So overall I calculated that I would have to work about 3-4 months with this company before I would break even after buying a laptop(new or used) which they demanded I get for the job. Suffice it to say I couldn't find one for a reasonable price so I just feigned that I was trying to find one until they paid me. They ended up paying me and I never heard from them since. They never said a single word.. didn't even check back with me to see if I had found a laptop which I found very odd; this just tells me that they must have a very high turnover rate.
Overall, with all of the money I spent on props and on programs to help with OL classes.. I am not very certain that I broke even with the money I made from FS. They only ever give you 1-2 hours every weekend(If that), and so the $30 an hour seems enticing. To be honest though, when all was said and done I felt like I had traveled 100 miles for a cracker.
Thanks for the review! Great information here...
"BUT it’s against their company policy for you to get a hold of any co-teachers. I honestly thought this was so absurd"
I worked for a company like this, my theory is that they don't want teachers to discuss pay. Probably some teachers were making way less and/or way more than others.
Yes, that is one theory that I had also. My overarching guess is that if the teachers communicated with one another there would be a MASSIVE turnover rate.. for several different reasons including some teachers getting way more hours than others as well.
I looked at their YouTube page online and was amazed at how completely AWFUL it was. I was thinking this company must be a joke. I cannot understand how this company is in business.
I had "interview", guy was late. After interview he said he would be back in contact. Never heard back not even rejection, just NOTHING. I emailed and skyped, no response. I have 10+ years teacher ESL online to Chinese children and degree and TESOL cent. so....yeah. whatever.
Yeah i went through the process, seems to be true. But i was rejected at the end because i had no musical abilities, they are looking for people who can play instruments and sing for this salary. Hope this helps. (i have 5 years experience, degree, celta etc)