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Tunghai University

 
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telliot33



Joined: 16 Nov 2010
Posts: 6

PostPosted: Sat Sep 01, 2012 6:52 am    Post subject: Tunghai University Reply with quote

Hey everyone. I'm a newbie trying to decide on my first teaching experience overseas and am hoping for some feedback. I've been offered a position at Tunghai University in Taichung teaching English to high school students (they have an affiliated high school on campus). Return flights are paid, salary is $64,925 NT, teaching hours are around 20 per week (school day is 8-5), and they offer 2 month's paid vacation over summer and a month in December. The vacation time is awesome, but they don't pay housing, and as saving money is a big priority I'm wondering if somewhere like Korea might be a better bet. The 18% tax concerns me too, even though apparently you get most of that back after a year. With regards to my quals I'm a newly certified teacher from Canada with a B.Ed and a CELTA. Is this deal too good to pass up or could I be doing better? Any thoughts would be super appreciated.
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telliot33



Joined: 16 Nov 2010
Posts: 6

PostPosted: Sat Sep 01, 2012 5:14 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Actually I just found out they don't cover flights. The recruiter (Teach Taiwan) has been very misleading, their ad posted on Dave's job list stated the positions they were offering came with paid round trip flights and $5,000 NT housing stipend, but for this job neither is true. The vacation time is admittedly great but when costs are deducted its not nearly as good a deal. Plus I asked if it was possible to email a current teacher at the school as I can't find any info about it, and he said it was rude to ask this (most other schools in other countries I've considered had no qualms about this, including Korea). Gotta say this kind of stuff definitely puts a bad taste in my mouth.
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creztor



Joined: 30 Dec 2009
Posts: 476

PostPosted: Sun Sep 02, 2012 2:34 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Want money? Go to Korea. 18% tax is the norm here, but you do get "most" of it back. If you really just wanted money, I'd look at Korea and post in that forum.
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Solar Strength



Joined: 12 Jul 2005
Posts: 557
Location: Bangkok, Thailand

PostPosted: Sun Sep 02, 2012 7:12 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

telliot33 wrote:
The recruiter (Teach Taiwan) has been very misleading, their ad posted on Dave's job list stated the positions they were offering came with paid round trip flights and $5,000 NT housing stipend, but for this job neither is true.

....he said it was rude to ask this (most other schools in other countries I've considered had no qualms about this, including Korea).


the old bait and switch tactic. then it's a deal breaker. walk away from it. if they're playing games now with contract terms before you even start, what kind of games will they play once they have you in their hands, so to speak. Not worth the headache.

Stay away from recruiters. That's all I'm going to say about that here. A poster by the name of Rooster just wrote something last week here about recruiters. find his post. it's 100% true and well worth heeding his advice.

my suggestion: come to taiwan and have a look around yourself. you can talk to teachers face-to-face and have a first-hand look at the school and facitilites.

never buy sight unseen in Asian TEFL. it's way too risky.
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52skidoo



Joined: 12 Mar 2012
Posts: 32
Location: Taiwan

PostPosted: Tue Sep 04, 2012 9:31 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

If you are a licensed teacher from canada with a BA and Celta you should be starting out at 80,000 nt a month at a government high school or private school. Do not trust recruiters.

If I had your qualifications I would try for a reputable international school (which means higher than average pay) in Thailand or Indonesia, or perhaps Vietnam, or maybe even Burma, which is opening up now, but I would stick to Yangon as Mandalay has a lot of power outages on a daily basis, about 4 hours a day.

Southeast Asia is a much friendlier place to teach in my experience.

Best of luck. PM me if you have any detailed questions.
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JDB



Joined: 06 Sep 2010
Posts: 13

PostPosted: Wed Sep 05, 2012 3:08 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

52skidoo wrote:
If you are a licensed teacher from canada with a BA and Celta you should be starting out at 80,000 nt a month at a government high school or private school. Do not trust recruiters.

Why do you think that a licensed teacher from Canada will get $80000 in a public school?

I work in a public school, and you will have a hard time to find a job that pays that much. There are some, but those are the exception. You would start out under $70000 with flights and paid vacation. Most public school jobs are contracted out to a recruiter who fills the position, direct hires are the exception. I second "Do not trust recruiters".


I don't know about international schools in SE Asia specificly, but most International schools did their hiring months ago for this school year, and generally like to hire experienced teachers.

To the original poster, you should look into Brunei. It's hard to get hired there but it's worth a try.
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telliot33



Joined: 16 Nov 2010
Posts: 6

PostPosted: Thu Sep 06, 2012 6:05 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thanks for the advice everyone! I'll definitely be taking all your suggestions into account.
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markcmc



Joined: 18 Jan 2010
Posts: 262
Location: Taiwan

PostPosted: Mon Nov 19, 2012 8:17 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Perhaps my reply is too late to be of use, but the offer is average for Taiwan. Some universities will give you more, or less, vacation. The contact hours are a little higher than normal.

Did you accept the offer?
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Solar Strength



Joined: 12 Jul 2005
Posts: 557
Location: Bangkok, Thailand

PostPosted: Mon Nov 19, 2012 1:48 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

markcmc wrote:
Perhaps my reply is too late to be of use, but the offer is average for Taiwan. Some universities will give you more, or less, vacation. The contact hours are a little higher than normal.

Did you accept the offer?


Hi mark,

This position is absolutely not a faculty MoE stipulated teaching position. It's something else, although I'd have to guess that it seems more like a "project" or "staff" type teaching position.

You know, NT $64, 000 for 20 hours a week is not too bad for a first time job, though. That's about twice as much as my first job here paid for about the same hours per-week. And I didn't get 3 months paid vacation!

So OP, what did you decide to do?
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markcmc



Joined: 18 Jan 2010
Posts: 262
Location: Taiwan

PostPosted: Mon Nov 19, 2012 10:57 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Hi Solar,

You're right, it's not a faculty MoE stipulated position, but there are very few of those for anyone nowadays. I also agree that it's not a bad first time job. Finding any kind of university job is hard at the beginning.

Are you teaching at university in Thailand?
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Solar Strength



Joined: 12 Jul 2005
Posts: 557
Location: Bangkok, Thailand

PostPosted: Tue Nov 20, 2012 2:48 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

markcmc wrote:
Hi Solar,

You're right, it's not a faculty MoE stipulated position, but there are very few of those for anyone nowadays. I also agree that it's not a bad first time job. Finding any kind of university job is hard at the beginning.

Are you teaching at university in Thailand?


Yes, things have really tightened up in Taiwan in terms of finding university TEFL jobs, at least the MoE faculty positions. I'm on break from Thailand but hope to be back in a month but don't have anything lined up yet. Or I may end up in Taiwan again or Japan. Not sure yet. It's tough right now, as you now. If you have something good going for work, hold on to it ! Very Happy
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telliot33



Joined: 16 Nov 2010
Posts: 6

PostPosted: Fri Jan 11, 2013 2:07 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Hey it's the original poster here, sorry I've been off this site for a while. I ended up not taking the contract. All in all I just wasn't quite ready to take the plunge, although yeah in hindsight it doesn't seem like it was a bad deal. The recruiter did seem a bit shady though regardless. Oh well, onwards and upwards...
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markcmc



Joined: 18 Jan 2010
Posts: 262
Location: Taiwan

PostPosted: Fri Jan 11, 2013 10:32 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Shadiness is a quality many recruiters share, but not everything they offer is bad. Just beware.
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