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HESS International English
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Pilot82



Joined: 22 Mar 2008
Posts: 150

PostPosted: Wed Aug 22, 2012 4:13 pm    Post subject: HESS International English Reply with quote

Considering....has anyone had any eexperiences with this outfit. They seem alright from thier website. Any insight would be greatly appreciated
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Pilot82



Joined: 22 Mar 2008
Posts: 150

PostPosted: Wed Aug 22, 2012 5:25 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

6 views and no replies...they're one of the biggest chains schools there and no one knows nothing about them?
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creztor



Joined: 30 Dec 2009
Posts: 476

PostPosted: Thu Aug 23, 2012 1:47 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Threads about this school everywhere. Use search.
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Pilot82



Joined: 22 Mar 2008
Posts: 150

PostPosted: Thu Aug 23, 2012 2:46 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Yeah I had to go back a few pages but I read them and it seemed to be alot of horror stories about them. Only one poster Loto123 had anything good to say about them but the threads were from years ago like 08 09 10 and 11
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Rooster_2006



Joined: 24 Sep 2007
Posts: 984

PostPosted: Fri Aug 24, 2012 3:09 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Pilot82 wrote:
Yeah I had to go back a few pages but I read them and it seemed to be alot of horror stories about them. Only one poster Loto123 had anything good to say about them but the threads were from years ago like 08 09 10 and 11
Well, maybe if everyone except Loto123 complains about Hess, that means something's wrong with Hess.

As a former Hess employee, I strongly advise you not to work for Hess. Hess' reputation is so bad, they have a special unit of employees at Hess headquarters called "Hesswork Recruit" whose sole job it is scour every nook and cranny of the Internet (Wikipedia, Dave's ESL Cafe, Forumosa, Tealit, etc.) and try to cover up all the negative opinions about the company. Seriously.

Hess gambled with my legal status in Taiwan. They took my passport and claimed that they were working on applying for my work permit. Then, the day before my visitor visa was about to expire, my boss informed me that they hadn't even submitted the paperwork yet! He told me to be ready to fly to Hong Kong THE NEXT DAY (at my own expense), with only a few hours notice, if the paperwork didn't go through. Man, was I on pins and needles! On the afternoon of my last legal day in Taiwan, my boss called me and said "You can take a deep breath -- you won't have to buy a ticket and fly to Hong Kong this evening." Yep, that's right, they just sat on my passport for a month, did absolutely nothing, and waited until the last day to file the paperwork. True story.

And then, when I didn't meet their lofty expectations at the end of the probationary period, they canned me and told me I had a week to leave Taiwan, and that they would cancel my ARC within three days of ceasing to work there. They told me that I would have to pay them 20,000 NTD if I chose to work for another employer in Taiwan! I said "You can't do that, it was you who terminated me! I have every right to hunt for another job!" After a tense hour or so with them on the phone with Hess headquarters, they finally caved, saying that "Due to the bad economy and the involuntary nature of the separation, we have decided not to pursue the 20,000 NTD 'Training & Investment Fee.'" Gee, thanks a lot. *beep*.

Then, when I actually managed to find another job, Hess tried to drag their feet on the Letter of Release so I would be unable to switch to the new employer before having to leave Taiwan. They said they simply would not give me a Letter of Release before Saturday, and that I had to leave Taiwan on Monday.

I could go on and on about all the bad practices at the company. But I'll just leave you with those two nuggets.

I eventually found a decent employer in Taiwan and managed to untangle myself from the cult-like organization that is Hess. I worked at that last employer for over a year, banking decent money with relatively good security and a re-contract offer.

Currently, I teach English in Japan. I am in the second year at the same school and things are going great. My boss at this school actually paid me more than the maximum bonus amount at contract renewal time, stating on the bonus payment slip "THANK YOU!" So...Hess can suck it. I have moved onto much, much greener pastures, with schools that actually appreciate me and don't try to mercilessly terminate me and then blackmail me. Employers who don't play games with my legal status.


Last edited by Rooster_2006 on Fri Aug 24, 2012 3:53 pm; edited 1 time in total
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Pilot82



Joined: 22 Mar 2008
Posts: 150

PostPosted: Fri Aug 24, 2012 3:36 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Yeah Rooster I read your past post about your experience and it sounds like they are no different from Aston Future English. I taught english in mainland for like 4 years.

I started with Aston but they ended up not panning out well. So I went public and liked it much better. But after 4 years there I wanted a change of scenery and Taiwan was next on my list. So I guess it's Thailand for me, LoL
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Rooster_2006



Joined: 24 Sep 2007
Posts: 984

PostPosted: Fri Aug 24, 2012 4:00 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Pilot82 wrote:
Yeah Rooster I read your past post about your experience and it sounds like they are no different from Aston Future English. I taught english in mainland for like 4 years.

I started with Aston but they ended up not panning out well. So I went public and liked it much better. But after 4 years there I wanted a change of scenery and Taiwan was next on my list. So I guess it's Thailand for me, LoL
Hess isn't the only option for Taiwan. When I worked for Mandy Chih at Amigo School in Fongshan Town, Kaohsiung County, she was a decent employer. 600 NTD an hour, reasonably nice woman, etc. Kaohsiung Korean School treated me decently, too.

As you know from working in China, teaching English anywhere in Asia is a huge gamble. Some employers are completely devoid of any sort of morality. Other employers are nice, honest individuals. Unfortunately, it's really hard to tell which your employer is until you've worked for him/her for a month or so. I tend to find that the smaller the school, the better they treat their foreign teacher, so that might be something to keep in mind.
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Pilot82



Joined: 22 Mar 2008
Posts: 150

PostPosted: Fri Aug 24, 2012 9:28 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

You're in Japan now?...I also wanted to go there to work but it's hard since I only have my Associates and TEFL. Howd you end up there?
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Rooster_2006



Joined: 24 Sep 2007
Posts: 984

PostPosted: Sat Aug 25, 2012 12:53 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Pilot82 wrote:
You're in Japan now?...I also wanted to go there to work but it's hard since I only have my Associates and TEFL. Howd you end up there?


Like you, I once only had an associate's and a TEFL cert. So I moved to Taiwan, worked as an English teacher for a little more than a year and a half, and put myself through my junior and senior years of college that way (distance education), taking the proctored exams through Great Master IT Training Center in Kaohsiung and Pearson VUE in Taipei, mostly.

Then, with a bachelor's degree and experience in Taiwan in hand, I packed up and moved to Japan. And found a job.
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Pilot82



Joined: 22 Mar 2008
Posts: 150

PostPosted: Sat Aug 25, 2012 2:56 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thats inspiring...I want to upgrade to a BA...but I'm still paying off loans.
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Rooster_2006



Joined: 24 Sep 2007
Posts: 984

PostPosted: Sat Aug 25, 2012 3:33 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Pilot82 wrote:
Thats inspiring...I want to upgrade to a BA...but I'm still paying off loans.
As was I. I took out two Stafford Loans and also charged a bunch of classes to my credit card. I was already knee-deep in debt from my associate's degree when I entered Taiwan...

I made the minimum payments on my loans and went for the jugular on the BSL degree. Almost all the money I earned I funneled into online courses and credit-by-examination exams, because I knew that the moment I had my bachelor's degree, I'd be able to land something much better-paying. When I finished my last course (October 23, 2011, age 23), I was up to my eyeballs in debt.

It paid off, though.

I moved to Japan and landed a gig paying 3 million yen a year. Within less than a year of finishing my BSL, I had paid off all of my debt. All my credit cards. All my Stafford Loans. Everything.

There's this common "wisdom" on Dave's ESL Cafe that you should "suck it up, go back to America, and finish a bachelor's degree, then when you have a bachelor's degree and have grown up, come here." That's exactly what the guys in the Korea forum told me to do. Ignore those guys. They're losers. They don't know how to think outside the box.

So...good luck! Very Happy
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Pilot82



Joined: 22 Mar 2008
Posts: 150

PostPosted: Sat Aug 25, 2012 11:55 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thanks...yeah thats what they say....."go back and yadda yadda yadda"
As you shared they can't think outside of the box.....so I leave them inside it and go for it!....Thanks again!
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123Loto



Joined: 14 Aug 2006
Posts: 160

PostPosted: Sun Aug 26, 2012 9:47 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Rooster_2006 wrote:
As a former Hess employee, I strongly advise you not to work for Hess. Hess' reputation is so bad, they have a special unit of employees at Hess headquarters called "Hesswork Recruit" whose sole job it is scour every nook and cranny of the Internet (Wikipedia, Dave's ESL Cafe, Forumosa, Tealit, etc.) and try to cover up all the negative opinions about the company. Seriously.


I always respected your posts because they stuck to the facts of your own personal experience.

That's why I was surprised to read this paragraph, which is just wrong. There is no "special unit at Hess HQ" whose sole job it is to refute negative press. That's kind of nutty when you really think about it.

Why on Earth have you decided to make stuff up at this point?
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Rooster_2006



Joined: 24 Sep 2007
Posts: 984

PostPosted: Sun Aug 26, 2012 12:27 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

123Loto wrote:
Rooster_2006 wrote:
As a former Hess employee, I strongly advise you not to work for Hess. Hess' reputation is so bad, they have a special unit of employees at Hess headquarters called "Hesswork Recruit" whose sole job it is scour every nook and cranny of the Internet (Wikipedia, Dave's ESL Cafe, Forumosa, Tealit, etc.) and try to cover up all the negative opinions about the company. Seriously.


I always respected your posts because they stuck to the facts of your own personal experience.

That's why I was surprised to read this paragraph, which is just wrong. There is no "special unit at Hess HQ" whose sole job it is to refute negative press. That's kind of nutty when you really think about it.

Why on Earth have you decided to make stuff up at this point?
I'm not making it up. A couple of years ago, "Hesswork" was quite active in editing the Wikipedia article on Hess Educational Organization to make it more "palatable."

Need proof? Here you go:
http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Hess_Educational_Organization&offset=&limit=500&action=history

And here's a whole list of Hesswork's edits on Wikipedia (over three years, spanning 2006 - 2009):
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Contributions/Hesswork

It's true that these particular edits date back a few years. But the point is, they have been engaged in tampering with Wikipedia articles in their favor in the relatively recent past. I'm sure they still are -- they've probably just gotten smarter and stopped using the handle "Hesswork" because it's so obvious.

So you see, I'm not "mak[ing] stuff up." If you don't believe me, go and check those links for yourself.
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123Loto



Joined: 14 Aug 2006
Posts: 160

PostPosted: Sun Aug 26, 2012 3:36 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Ok I see where you've come to your ideas - but there's a big difference between someone making a few changes on wikipedia and stating that there is a dedicated "unit" of "employees" (note the plural) whose "sole" job it is to scour the internet for negative Hess statements. (Actually I think I know who the Hess rep was that did some of the changes... in reality he was a bit of a stickler for his own rules - he just stuck to the facts; and I'm also fairly sure he was acting on his own volition - no higher ups told him to do it).

If there was such a unit (and dude, there's not) they're not doing a very good job - which a quick perusal of the current wikipedia page will tell you.

Rooster, you had some negative experiences with Hess... but let's face it, you struggled to find work after leaving Hess. You come across as an intelligent and well-informed person on the internet... but I sometimes wonder if you're a natural teacher? Sorry, I don't want to sound patronizing or whatever, but some people are and some people aren't...
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