A Cautionary Tale: My Experience with SilkWay

I still remember the day I decided to take a chance on SilkWay to find a teaching job in Vietnam. Their ads kept popping up on social media, promising a life-changing experience in Vietnam. I scheduled a consultation, and a friendly woman named A. called me back and asked me some questions about my teaching experience, my willingness to relocate, and my previous relocation experience.

After the interview, A. told me my chances of getting a job offer in Vietnam were very good and informed me about the costs of their services. SilkWay's services, which supposedly include full support from home to employment, cost 21,000 Russian rubles.

After paying, they created a WhatsApp group and started searching for a job for me.

Rates/Timeline:

1) Visa tour - $125 for 7 days, business visa - $300 for 10 days (document preparation and visa fee)

2) Tefl and C1 certification - 21,000 rubles

3) Work certificate from the employer - 5,000 rubles

4) Translation of documents to Vietnamese and apostille at the Russian embassy in Hanoi - $50

After the first-second salary:

5) Certification legalization TEFL/TESOL, C1 - $425 (sometimes before the first salary)

6) Work permit, TRC - $300

Let's break it down.

1. The tourist visa costs $20 if you do it electronically, but nobody will tell you about the possibility of doing it yourself.

2. Tefl and C1.

I thought Tefl was a must-have, but it's not. It's a desirable certification that increases your salary as a teacher, but it's not a requirement. You can get Tefl by paying $20 and taking an online course on an accredited website. They offer it for 11,000 rubles.

C1 (EF set) is a free test for language proficiency. It's divided into four sections: speaking, reading, writing, and listening.

I scored C1-C2 in three sections and B2 in writing. The nice guy from SilkWay, L. (he's also O. A., the owner of the company), told me I needed C1 in all four sections for legalization, but that's not True. It turns out they were just trying to scam me out of 8,000 rubles by inventing non-existent requirements.

3. Work certificate from the employer. I have 2 years of official teaching experience, but when I told SilkWay, they replied that the minimum experience required is 3 years (spoiler: it's not). They were kind enough to offer to create a fake document for 5,000 rubles.

4. Certification legalization after the first-second salary. Unfortunately, I got stuck with a not-so-nice guy from SilkWay, L. (his real name is O. A.), who wouldn't stop reminding me to pay for their services every day.

Now, let's talk about the 'legitimization' process. Before I even left my home country, my contact, L, was constantly reminding me to pay for legitimation. I was confused, thinking, 'But you guys wrote that legitimation can be paid after 1-2 salaries,' and L would scare me with the possibility of not being able to legitimize documents on time (spoiler: complete nonsense, just another way to suck money out of clients), threatening me with deportation and associated costs.

Bottom line, the company is trying to make as much money as possible by inventing non-existent conditions, scaring clients with failure to find a job.

I paid the company 21,000 and a $100 prepayment for legitimation (L, you weren't shy about reminding me about the payment every day in the chat). They accept payments by transferring to Russian bank accounts and Kaspi bank. But if you're already in Vietnam, they'll take your currency in the best possible condition.

Now, let's talk about the conditions of working as an English teacher in Vietnam:

1) Work visa

2) Contract from 12 months to 1 year with the possibility of renewal

3) Vacancies are available in state and private schools and kindergartens.

4) Salary First 1-3 months of probation and document preparation - $800-$1,000, $1,200-$1,400 after 1-3 months.

5) 60-100 hours per month on the main job + additional lessons if you're doing well

6) Free accommodation (in large cities, partial compensation, often shared apartment)

7) Students' age range - 3 to 14 years

Vacancies are more common in the northern part of the country, in Hanoi or provinces around it

9) Penalty for early contract termination - $1,300

Let's jump to point 4:

First 3 months' salary - $800-$1,000.

When I arrived in Vietnam, the company called me a taxi, which I had to pay for myself. They offered to book a hotel for 1-2 weeks at their expense while I looked for a job. In my case, it was Hanoi. The company connected me with a mediator, a Vietnamese woman named A.N. She wasn't the employer, but a middleman between me and the employer. Silkway was just dumping their work on her. And, as it turned out later, A.N. would receive a significant amount from the employer for each teacher she hired, not a scheme, but a song - I don't want to live.

For 2 weeks, A.N. dragged me all over Hanoi for demo lessons that weren't paid at all. I'm reminding you that all this time, I was paying for my own transportation and accommodation. She needed to constantly remind herself of my existence, or she'd forget about me the next day, just like it happened to me.

When I asked Silkway, 'What's going on? Where's the promised job with an $800 salary?', the company advised me to 'persistently, but politely' ask A.N. for more hours. In other words, Silkway had no leverage on the Vietnamese side.

After 2 weeks of demo lessons, with no prospects in sight, I packed my bags and went back home.

Going back to the $800 payment from the start. The astronomical hourly rate for a lesson according to the contract is 330,000 dong (~$13). So, 2-3 lessons per day. This is presented as very favorable conditions, but in reality, it's not.

5. 60-100 hours per month .

The company couldn't even offer me one lesson per day, forget about 100 hours.

6. Partial compensation.

You'll get around $80 back if you're lucky, but a decent apartment in Hanoi starts at $300, assuming it's not in a slum and has some decent renovation.

7. And now, my favorite - fines.

According to the contract, if you break the contract early, you work for a month for free (aka a $1,300 fine).

Another great point that's just fantastic:

If you get sick and warn them that you'll be out the next day, and you've got, say, three classes that day, pay attention: YOU have to pay the amount equal to each missed hour! And this is for a legitimate reason! That is, you don't get paid sick leave, you pay for being out sick. That's the lovely math from Silkway.

The verdict:

With SilkWay, not only will you not make any money, but you'll also be left in the red. It's a classic model: they get money from you for the job placement, they consult with you, and then it's every man for himself: deal with all the problems on your own. It's hard to pick apart from a legal standpoint.

The main tools for sucking money out of you are coming up with non-existent conditions, sugarcoating the salary and bonuses, scaring you with failure in job placement, and threatening to charge you for any service you don't pay for.

My advice:

If you want to get a teaching job in Vietnam, look for vacancies on Facebook and in Telegram groups dedicated to these topics (search for them in Telegram). If you understand that it's tough on your own - UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES should you contact SilkWay!

Thanks for your attention, don't repeat my mistakes, and take care of yourself!