About Eastbound

A recruitment firm with one person's name on the line.

Eastbound isn't a platform or a CV mill. It's a founder-led firm where every placement carries a personal reputation.

Justin Gleason, Founder of Eastbound
The Founder

Justin Gleason

Eastbound was founded by an American who has made Beijing his home, where he lives with his wife and daughter. After years inside the city's international community, he kept watching the same story: good schools struggling to hire, and good teachers struggling to find schools they could trust, while volume-driven agencies profited from the mismatch.

He started Eastbound to do it properly. Small, selective, and personal: every candidate interviewed by him directly, every school relationship built face-to-face.

"If I wouldn't put a teacher in front of my own daughter, I won't put them in front of your students."

What We Believe

Three principles, no exceptions.

1

People over volume

We'd rather place five teachers who stay than fifty who churn. Retention is the only metric that matters to a school, so it's the only one that matters to us.

2

Honesty both ways

Schools get our candid assessment of every candidate, including weaknesses. Candidates get the real picture of your school. Overselling creates turnover; honesty creates tenure.

3

Teachers never pay

Our fees are paid by schools, never deducted from a teacher's salary. It's cleaner ethics and a wider, better candidate pool.

Why It Works

Two perspectives, one recruiter.

Most agencies in this market are either Chinese firms that can't truly assess an English teacher, or overseas recruiters who can't sit down with a Beijing school. Eastbound is both: native-level judgment of candidates, and a local presence schools can actually meet.

Eastbound at a glance

  • American-founded, based in Beijing
  • Every candidate personally interviewed by the founder
  • Document & visa verification on every profile
  • Contingency-only pricing with zero upfront fees
  • 30-day replacement guarantee on every placement

Talk to the founder.

We're happy to visit your campus, jump on WeChat, or start with a single hard-to-fill role.

Get in Touch