Job Discussion Forums

sbettinson · Joined: 22 Jul 2004 Posts: 81 Location: Taichung

Hi everyone,

This is my first post after having joined last week and I am looking for some advice (like most people on this site) on teaching in Taiwan.

My girlfriend and I are planning on coming to Taiwan in October and we have no experience of TEFL. We both have a degree and are booked on a weekend TEFL course at the end of August so that base is covered before anyone asks.

My girlfriend currently works in a 1 to 1 role teaching people how to use computers in the local community in her home town in England. She has also performed a number of sub teaching exercises in local schools before she landed her current job. So, she has a good idea and a moderate grounding in terms of teaching experience.

I, on the other hand, have none. Well, I have taught a couple of people in my family and my old landlord who was in his 60s how to use computers but nothing you would count as classroom based or even extensive learning. I currently work in a Business Development role for a Training company in Northern Ireland and have done so for the past 2 years.

I know that experience in many schools/institutes is not a pre-requisite and the chances are that my girlfriend will be the person in greater demand out of the two of us but it concerns me that I have no experience and the only thing that really swings it in my direction is that I am a native English speaker. Is this the case for many people?

Why Taiwan you may ask? We like the look of Taiwan most of all and then S.Korea in terms of salary vs cost of living. We are both looking to get some experience in doing something different for a while and we like the idea of TEFL, the chance to experience another culture and also save some money as we both have debts to pay back here in the UK from our student days. I'm sure we are not the only ones!

I have spent many years living abroad when I was young and last year spent a month in Beijing, absolutely loved it and thought the people were fantastic. Needless to say I would be keen to get away and go back to the Far East and my girlfriend does too.

Well, that's us in a nutshell without too many specifics. The questions I really wanted to ask are about contacting schools and what sort of things I personally should be stating in my CV and covering letter to attract the attention of prospective employers. With no teaching experience to put in my CV that is of value should I just state my achievements in my current and past jobs? Naturally I want to keep the whole thing concise and not to state too much info on my sales role as it isn't hugely applicable.

In terms of actually applying for jobs I take it there is plenty of demand and by coming in October we have not missed the boat at all? Our plan would be for one of us to land a job with a school before coming out and then the other person applies for a working visa and looks for jobs once we are our there and fill in time with private tuition. Naturally we would like the same city and being at different schools is not a problem.

Finally, this may sound like one of those stupid, "how long is a piece of string?" questions but is it possible to find work quickly before heading out there? I am finishing my job here in Ireland at the end of September and would like to be applying now for jobs starting in October. Is that a reaosnable timeframe?

I would greatly appreciate any feedback and perhaps the opportunity to either email or speak to someone by phone who is currently teaching in Taiwan to get some further information on their experiences.

Well, I will leave it there for now and look forward to a response. Thank you if you managed to read this far! Smile

Thanks,

Shaun

Pop Fly · Joined: 15 Feb 2003 Posts: 429

Aristotle · Joined: 16 Jan 2003 Posts: 1388 Location: Taiwan

Please read this,
http://www.geocities.com/taiwanteacher2002/Success.html

MTurton · Joined: 10 Mar 2004 Posts: 107

Aristotle advises:

sbettinson · Joined: 22 Jul 2004 Posts: 81 Location: Taichung

Thank you very much so far. My fears of finding work are starting to reside a little more now.

The business card thing sounds like a good idea. Will have to give that a whirl when we get out there. In my job now I do a lot of prospecting so I guess you could say it was second nature to me! Smile

I'm finding out more useful links and snippets of info every day so keep 'em coming if you have any more.

Aristotle - I'm watching out for you... Smile

Bye for now and hopefully I may get to meet some of you soon.

Shaun

Xenophobe · Joined: 11 Nov 2003 Posts: 163

Taiwan may not be Third World, but it has only one foot on the First World pedestal. I had this discussion with some Taiwanophiles, a few years back. One inDuhvidual (to coin a phrase developed by Scott Adams) stated that if if Taiwan wasn't part of the First World, then it should at least be considered Second World rather than Third World. Buttmunch, whose degree was in Fine Arts, didn't realise that that term was used used to refer to the former Soviet Union and its vassal states.

The standard of living is First World, it is its transparency and adherence to rule of law (or lack thereof) that keeps it out of full membership in the First World, according to Amnesty International. But then again Svend Robinson has demonstrated how Canada has a two tier legal system (I can''t use the term criminal justice as justice seems to have taken a sabbatical from Canada's courts) somewhat akin to Taiwanese Kangaroo Courts.