Topic: Crazy reply from Fly U Teach Limited...

[dublinman]

I have started my search for teaching jobs abroad but of course in the early stages I have to come up against this company!

I've been seeing alot of adverts by this company, Fly U Teach, in Irish college vacancy websites and I thought I'd apply to get a post in Malaysia. Well, after much activity I was accepted for an interview but it was to be in Co. Durham (I live in Ireland). I wrote an email asking if it was possible to have a phone interview or something other than me flying to Britain in order to just sit in an interview. The reply was incredible!! David Spencer, the director, wrote that it was only two hours from Dublin by car! Then he began to insult my application and cv (which I've since had checked and have been told it is more than apt for these positions). His whole message was immature, angry and insulting.

I'm just wondering if anyone else has heard of this company. And is this behaviour something I'm going to have to expect when applying to teaching jobs!?! It is a real company, and they are meeting in a hotel in Co. Durham this August but I wonder is this obviously a scam? Maybe the more experienced people in the tefl community can help me out here!

dublinman

[bomha]

Any Englishman with such limited knowledge of geography should not be hiring people for jobs outside his own neighbourhood.  As for South East Asia, a government official in Thailand required an Irishman to take a test of the English language!   Trust me, even the geography teachers here don't know Dublin from Belfast or Cardiff.

[ysl428]

I also have had a very bad experience with Fly U Teach.  I saw their advert on Edinburgh University's careers pages and sent them my CV.  I was offered an interview for yesterday afternoon, again in Peterlee, County Durham.  I initially said that I would attend, but, having thought about it a great deal, I decided to cancel my interview because I had a few qualms about the fact that their company was only established in 2007.  Mr and Mrs Grebe-Spencer both called me, and both had a very vicious manner.  They told me that I would be charged for non-attendance, and that they had a clause on their website saying that, if you send them your CV, you are subject to their terms and conditions of non-attendance.  This is, of course, ridiculous- there is no such clause on their website and, furthermore, such charges are completely and utterly illegal.  I told them that I would not be paying any such charge and contacted my careers service to make them aware of this (they have subsequently removed this company's advert from their database).  I then received an angry email from Mr Grebe-Spencer, telling me, amongst other things, that he was "disgraced" with my "immature and unprofessional behaviour".  He rattled on for quite a while, telling me that I would be subject to Fly U Teach's unattendance fees and would be billed accordingly.  He also said that he would inform other teach abroad companies of this, saying that they "keep each other informed of bad applicants".  He then ended the email by stating  "I do believe you may be serving me in Macdonalds sometime soon."

It is unfortunate that we both came across this company, but I hope that you will not let this experience put you off.  I am counting it as a very close call- if this is how they treat their applicants, how do they treat the teachers that they send out to Malaysia?  I hate to think!

[samvimes]

He has no contractual agreement with you; either verbal or written.

I'll check out his website and get back to you.

[ysl428]

I have just checked Fly U Teach's website again and they have added something that was not there when I checked their website yesterday afternoon: in the "Teachers" section they have added a tiny statement right at the bottom, saying "There is no fee for applications made to Fly U Teach. By sending your CV application you agreed to the terms of our interview unattendance fee's".  This was obviously added to their website after our conversation yesterday. 

[hero]

By sending your CV application you agreed to the terms of our interview unattendance fee

What? 

[samvimes]

HAHA, laughed my head off when I read that.

By sending your CV application you agreed to the terms of our interview unattendance fee

It's about as legal as saying "if you talk to me of respond to me in any way then that means you agree to giving me all the money in your back account".

In my opinion a company is defined by the behaviour and ethics of its owners /managers and I would say this is a huge red flag.

[hero]

"By reading this notice you agree to do whatever we say!"


Hee hee

[hero]

I just e-mailed them a link to this thread via their website

[Nemesis]

Sounds like they need a special warning given to them? I'm sure they can explain things away, but bad is bad and a warning is a warning.

On the main page there is a solicitation for CV's but no fee mentioned. It's on a secondary page....

http://www.flyuteach.co.uk/page2.html

[wangsuda]

I would never work for an outfit that uses English like:

Unlike many other companies Fly U Teach is run by ex-teachers, international and in the UK and can appreciate the objective factors that can often pervade in everyday life as a teacher.

What the hell does this mean? It doesn't even sound impressive.

[hero]

On the main page there is a solicitation for CV's but no fee mentioned. It's on a secondary page....

On the page http://www.flyuteach.co.uk/page9.html there's no mention of it either.

We process all CV within two weeks and inform all of our candidates if you have been successful or not. You will then be invited for an interview which will allow us to get to know you and more importantly allow you to get to know us....

They also say, "Call us today...." but no mention of the fact that by showing interest in a position you may be liable for an "unattendance"(sic) fee!

[Paul Mawson]

I can’t understand where this is coming from..I have been with Fly U Teach for 4 months now and they have been excellent, helping me settling in, the school is amazing and the support is tremendous.  I am in the process of renewing my contract.  They are the most professional and supportive company and I would recommend them to all.

I also can inform you that they have no “hotel” in Co. Durham, but they DO have offices with a boardroom.

They also have the most attractive and rewarding teaching package than any other companies. David and Zak are the most dedicated and supportive characters and they have been a huge influence to my success in Malaysia.

Paul

[Fly U Teach]

Here at FlyUTeach we operate with empathy, dedication and respect and when we encounter applicants who do not share our vision to improve education standards throughout Malaysia we decide not to waste any precious time and instead dedicate this time to the applicants who are genuine about becoming a successful international teacher. I am genuinely distressed to hear of 2 disgruntled applicants. We never ever endeavour to upset any candidates and in this instance the people in question have created distress themselves.

We have a huge number of applicants and choose not to waste time with applicants who decide to cancel on the morning of interview thus depriving someone else of an interview. We also do not waste time with candidates who posses a confrontational nature in email. The reason being that we want only the best for the students in Malaysia and these characteristics don't manifest well when in the classroom. The Malaysian students are our utmost priority and care and it is our duty to respect and develop these students as best we can. In doing so we carefully select our teachers based on academic background, attitude, and experience. We are very meticulous in our selection process and I have no reservations in stating that the students are subject to the education provided by our teachers therefore it is our responsibility to dedicate them with only the finest teacher, mentor and character.

I'm sure you don’t need me to say but teaching is about developing young, impressionable minds, and actually teaching your subject is only a small part. You are developing character and interest and are supporting these students through a crucial time in their life. The students in Malaysia are even more impressionable than most therefore putting trust in the right teacher is crucial to our vision. If we have any doubt about a candidate we will not risk the students welfare - the student comes first. In addition we have massive support form the UK and Malaysian governments. The Malaysian government are very keen on FlyUTeach and understand our vision as it is directly comparable with theirs as outlined in the 2004 report by the Ministry of Education.

Along with our current teachers in Malaysia we are sending more in the next 2 weeks for the September start. Our current teachers are doing very well and are delighted with their experience. Many teachers have already extended their contracts which is a direct result of our handwork, dedication and support.

We welcome all applications, provided that you have a dedication to teach and are mature, professional and committed. 

At FlyUTeach we don't have an application fee or programme fee. We feel this is unfair on our teachers. However when candidates don't turn up for interview without informing us we feel this is very unfair on another candidate who could have had that slot. Not to mention that this wastes our valuable time. Hence, why we have interview unattendance fee's. It takes all of 1 minute to either email or phone with a cancellation. Several candidates have done this in the past and this is not a problem. We thought this is a much fairer way than imposing an application fee.

In response to the claim that we run interviews from a hotel I must state that we have offices in County Durham with a boardroom that we normally use for interview. We occasionally interview at Job Centres if we have meetings that day.  We are also launching our office in Kuala Lumpur in the coming weeks. We have vast experience in recruiting teachers in other businesses. We have dealt mostly in the UK with supply teachers and are well versed in teacher recruitment.

It is unfortunate that this situation has occurred and I am genuinely distressed to hear that certain candidates have reacted indifferently to our company. We always support and dedicate ourselves to our teachers and have never had any problems with our teachers. Our company prides itself on being Capable, Caring and Confident and we always put the welfare of the students first.

(name removed)
Company Director
FlyUTeach

[Paul Mawson]

I am a graduate of Teesside University. I applied to the company in response to an ad on my Uni website.  I am back home at the minute due to the holidays in Malaysia and fly back next week.

I'm sorry if you don't agree with my statement but this is how I feel. I am very happy to be employed by them.

I strongly suspect that this attack is an effort to promote your own website and discredit other companies...

Paul