I graduated in 1993 from the University of Victoria with a BA in Economics and History. After some extensive travelling and empty pockets, I racked my brain as to how I could combine making money and immerse myself in different cultures abroad.

I decided to take the plunge and teach English in Asia despite having no real experience. I began teaching in 1996 at a YBM ECC in Busan, South Korea and immediately fell in love with the profession, the people I worked with and most of all: the students. After two years of teaching in Korea, I obtained TEFL Certification through the London TEFL Bureau and was offered a position teaching Cambridge-administered courses (FCEs and CAEs) in Poland. The move from a city of 4 million+ in Korea to a small town in SW Poland was a huge shock but all part of the adventure. I loved every minute of it. After three years of teaching abroad, I returned to Canada. After spending time with family and friends and finally finishing my first novel, I started to think how feasible it would be to set up a small recruiting agency.

Through various contacts of mine in Korea, I was able to set myself up and haven't looked back since. The one problem I had while in Korea was meeting many other teachers who should not have been there in the first place. By this, I mean people that had no respect for the Korean people, their language, their food or any other aspects of their culture. They were ignorant and negative and brought others around them down. I thought to myself, how did these people get here? Then the light came on; the recruiting process was circumspect.

Many recruiters do not care who they send as long as they have a steady stream of teachers going to Korea and that they get paid. Not only was it disconcerting for Koreans but also for other teachers who had to put up with the constant complaining and bickering of these 'dissatisfied' teachers. In a way, I couldn't help but think this was the fault of the recruiter either for being greedy or just not being able to choose the right people for the job. I felt as though I knew what kind of person was not only right for the job but right for living in a foreign country and I truly believe that a decent screening process is necessary in the recruiting business.

I started recruiting because I wanted to help people find not only employment and work experience, but also the feelings that come with living in a totally different yet fascinating culture. There is nothing more satisfying in my opinion than to have someone write me back and thank me for the opportunity to encounter all the wonderful things that go with living and working abroad rather than just the standard "gotta make lots of cash" mentality. As stated throughout the Russell Recruiting web site here, we only deal with companies we have worked for in the past or are willing to give us current foreign teacher contact info for our applicants to ask direct questions about the owners, the apartments, honouring contracts, the director, students, etc. We feel confident in sending you to Korea, and now China too; as our contacts and connections have expanded, knowing that you will be looked after properly and treated with respect, something that is hard to come by for English teachers in many scenarios throughout the world. There are organisations out there that prey on unsuspecting, naïve teachers. Many people deserve to be named for their current and past assistance and we couldn’t have succeeded without their help, here are, but a few. The rest of you? You know who you are.

Robb Harker, Mark Williams, Stephen Whelan, David Brandreth, Graeme Gerrie, Richard Baxter, Shannon Evans, Andrew Skinner, Sarah Elford, Kevin Thom, Paul Ford, Shane Nielsen, Barbara Russell, Stuart Hunter, and Leon Van der Pol.