My wife and I are looking at ESL teaching as a means to achieving expat status- and we're both in our late 50's (I know, I know, I had to learn the hard way, "ageism" is a BIG sin in ESL recruiting--- oh well). Anyway, I had investigated some online TESOL 100-hour cert. programs, but had not done much more, once I knew that this age discrimination is a major source of the prejudice with which ESL recruiters/programs function. Actually, we were waiting until after the elections in Nov. to see how the wind was flying. This past week, determining that we might want a 'two year hiatus from the USSA,' we/I almost immediately received an email from them [Teachers-International]. It looked too good to be true. I looked at the website, checked some of the vacancies, and liked what I saw- esp. the salary figures: @2000E ...with no experience! (Hey! i.e., almost a living wage (in US terms) if both of us worked, and that for someone with a masters.... or a doctorate!) I was surprised they needed ESL teachers in IRELAND, (one of our target destinations) but thought, "what the hey"; comparing TI's salary figures with other former Eastern Bloc countries, (which we had some experience with, via a more 'established firm') and knowing what they are ACTUALLY paying, didn't raise too many red flags (lol)- so....

After sending in a simple email outlining my wife's academic and my credentials, (but not giving them the actual names/dates data) they replied in two days, and said 'two firms were very interested in us.' This sounds like textbook response, from what I have read above. [So glad others are catching these scams!]
I tried to respond to the email of the 'person' who contacted us for more specific details (a salary or a target range of pay, a full-35 hour week, or one that fluctuated during the year, what kind of 'accomodation' etc., from one 'Joyce,' who had written:

[You will get a confirmation of receipt after activating the Placement Package. We are glad to assist you.
Sincerely,
Joyce Frederickson

Teachers International Organization
Email: joyce@teachers-international.org
Web: http://www.teachers-international.org

Visit our Teacher Support Section:
http://www.teachers-international.org/contact/index.html ]

and guess what? The email came back undeliverable...immediately.

One HAS to be a bit more savvy than this, folks. Even when re-sending the reply email to the 'main site' three days ago, I've not yet received a response.... and I don't think I ever will, after reading these responses. Sigh. Live and learn.

Better to go with a company with a track record of 20-30 years, who would hire us, (even with our 'age issues'), than presume to send money to a program that calls their reg. fees, a 'placement package.' Get this scam off the internet as soon as possible, is my opinion. thanks for posting your observations. Hope mine corroborated what others are saying.