Job Discussion Forums

[Solar Strength]

I've been looking for EFL jobs for the last 2 months in Taiwan, and all I can come up with are jobs that ask for a work permit. Or a few hours here and a few hours there, part-time like.

The place, even Taipei City, is dead, as far as being a TEFL center goes. There's not much going on. The demand is low to non-existent.

I've been staying in the local guest house near Zhong Shan Station, Tex-Mex, and, while they've been helpful, others seem to echo the same frustrations.

Taipei is dead.

Anyway, not a happy vibe in Taiwan in terms of the TEFL scene.

[Ferfichkin]

Have you tried other parts of Taiwan? At the end of the day, employment opportunities in Taiwan, like anywhere else, come down to the ratio of supply and demand. Taipei has the largest demand for English teachers, but it also has by far the largest supply; there are more foreigners in Taipei than anywhere else on the island. That, in my opinion, creates a lousy supply/demand ratio, especially for people new to the country.

From what I'd seen, the best supply/demand ratio appears to be in places like Taoyuan and Hsinchu. Both places have a relatively high per capita income, which means that parents can afford to send their children to cram school, which means there is a reasonable demand for English teachers. The other side of the equation is supply. There are far fewer foreigners in both of those places, so there is less supply to meet the demand.

If I were you, I would get out of Taipei, and especially Taipei City. I would catch a train to Taoyuan and/or Hsinchu and pound the pavement. I think you would have a much better chance of finding work that way.

Good luck!

[romanworld]

[Ferfichkin]

[plumpy nut]

You might try getting a teaching license. Either that or you're going to have to try another country. It's no good losing money spending too much time searching.

[doomer]

One can't always extrapolate personal experience to generalize the whole.

The numbers say TW is NOT dead: Number of Foreign Teachers in TW.That's 6,000+ FTs on normal working permits/ARCs. Double from a decade ago. Also, these figures don't include long-termers: JFRVs (married to TWese), +5yr permanent residents (APRCs), and others with open permits. I'm the latter, so I'm not officially declared as an FT.

Low hour work permits (minimum 14/wk) shouldn't be rejected off-hand. It's easy to get hours at other places. Many smaller chains don't guarantee max block hours to newbies, who are unknown quantities & at higher risk for garnering student complaints. Hours grow after you've proven you have good student retention rates.

I'm guessing the avg TEFLer stays for 1-3yrs, and then leaves. Not everybody likes TW or any given school, so turnover for individual schools is normal. And TEFLers usually give notice only 1 month in advance, 1-2 weeks, or 0 days. Schools often can't predict when.

So when you're pounding pavement, make sure you're armed with well-done resumes w/ good pics. They're for dropping off at schools to be remembered when an opening does occur. Resumes on file save them time, trouble, & money.

So if they decide to keep your resume = a great sign. Bad if they don't. It's how I got my 1st job: answered an ad for a large chain, visited, they said no, but 1mo later they called me up - another FT had fled with 0 notice. The job wasn't too bad - stayed 5 yrs.

It's far easier to get a job if you're: white, female, look younger, not too overweight, avg attractiveness or above, neat in appearance, personable, BA degree, avg English language skills or above. Roughly in that order. This is mostly driven by customer/student demand, & not employer preference. Adjust yourself accordingly. That said, I'm not white and I still got a job.

If all else fails, work for a large chain (they hire year around) or use a recruiter. Either way, it's normal for many to stay for year 1, then jump ship in year 2 after you know your way around, and have done more on--ground research & networking.

In my 15 yrs in TPE, I've rarely heard of anyone not getting a job after 2 months (unless you're non-white). Normal is 2wks-1mo.

And as Ferfichkin says, smaller cities & rural areas = less popular, so there's less competition. Rural areas likely depend on recruiters.

GL in whatever you decide.

[romanworld]