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naturegirl321
Joined: 04 May 2003
Posts: 9041
Location: home sweet home
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 Posted: Sat Aug 23, 2003 9:16 am Post subject: Opinions on Pai-Li Enterprise |
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What do you think of this advert? I know that it's from a recruiter, but, my friend's stepmother is Taiwanese and said that it's one of the few reputable recruiters in Taiwan.
Has anyone worked for them or known anyone who has worked for them?
Here's the advert:
Position:
Several English teachers required for well-established English language centers and private schools in major cities in Taiwan. About US$1550 - 2300 (Australian$2300-$3500 ) per month, medium or long term contract. Very low income tax. Free airfare, top hospital cover medical insurance, work cover, temporary accommodation and extra company benefits
Excellent offers for right candidates:
1. Work with a fully registered employment agency in Taiwan with more than 12 year experience specialized in cross cultural international human resource management. Support and service more than 8 countries and all over Taiwan.
2. Minimum about US$15 ($25 Australian dollars) per hour. About US$1550 - 2300 (Australian$2300-$3500 ) per month depends on working hours. Average is about US$1760 (Australia$2700) per month.
3. Extremely low tax rate, especially for long term contract - 6%. Low living cost as well.
4. Free airfare available for qualified teachers. Free temporary accommodation. Free work cover, top hospital cover government official medical insurance and extra accident insurance cover. Extra company benefits and incentive.
5. Decent partially or fully furnished permanent accommodation is available at a very minimum and heavily discounted cost to suit individual needs. Water, electricity and phone connection are all included.
6. Your placement is secured with a contract before you depart.
7. Your settlement in Taiwan is organised to accommodate individual needs with full support throughout the whole contract period. Free counseling services are available to all our teachers for the whole contract period to ensure comfortable and enjoyable stay in Taiwan.
8. One year contract mainly.
9. Great opportunity to learn Chinese (Mandarin) and get ready for the next biggest market in the world. Boost your future career potential. You don't need any Mandarin/Chinese ability.
10. A wonderful travel opportunity and working holiday to broaden your horizons.
11. Extend your profile through cross culture working experience.
12. Potential career opportunities
Condition:
1. Tertiary qualification (any major) preferred. Diploma holder/TAFE graduates with additional TESOL qualification are also very welcome to apply.
2. Must be a native English speaker. Overseas applicants are also very welcome to apply.
3. Teaching experience is not essential while we need your passion, knowledge and patience.
4. TESOL (Teachers of English to Students of Other Languages) qualification a plus.
5. Both female and male are very welcome to apply. |
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Okami
Joined: 25 Jan 2003
Posts: 121
Location: Sunny Sanxia
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| Posted: Sat Aug 23, 2003 10:04 am Post subject: |
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Why do you need a recruiter with a market like this? Schools are currently short teachers and desperately looking for a decent warm body with little or no body odor. Let me go over the points as I find some quite hilarious.
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Position:
Several English teachers required for well-established English language centers and private schools in major cities in Taiwan. About US$1550 - 2300 (Australian$2300-$3500 ) per month, medium or long term contract. Very low income tax. Free airfare, top hospital cover medical insurance, work cover, temporary accommodation and extra company benefits |
Generic, typical line sold till they bait a sucker in. It can be scarier to come with know job and then find one and build contacts staying at a hostel than having made prior employement arrangements. If anything go with a good chain to start with like Hess.
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| 1. Work with a fully registered employment agency in Taiwan with more than 12 year experience specialized in cross cultural international human resource management. Support and service more than 8 countries and all over Taiwan. |
I've never heard or seen anything about these people or company. For someone with 12 years experience, you think there would be less grammar errors in their ad. Which 8 countries?
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| 2. Minimum about US$15 ($25 Australian dollars) per hour. About US$1550 - 2300 (Australian$2300-$3500 ) per month depends on working hours. Average is about US$1760 (Australia$2700) per month. |
Pay seems ok, but the high end is the very high end for a newbie. They fail to mention how many hours. This is ok.
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| 3. Extremely low tax rate, especially for long term contract - 6%. Low living cost as well |
This is highly misleading. If you start now, your tax rate is 20% unless they are pulling some financial shenanigans in your favor or theirs. It's not uncommon for them to do it in your favor though. It takes 3-9 months to actually start saving money after you get done setting up a house.
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| 4. Free airfare available for qualified teachers. Free temporary accommodation. Free work cover, top hospital cover government official medical insurance and extra accident insurance cover. Extra company benefits and incentive. |
Free airfare is a rarity, but the disclaimer makes me nervous. When is it reimbursed? Medical insurance is required for all employees and then they get all nice and vague on additional benefits.
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| 5. Decent partially or fully furnished permanent accommodation is available at a very minimum and heavily discounted cost to suit individual needs. Water, electricity and phone connection are all included. |
Never move into a place provided by a boss. Their idea of suitable and affordable living conditions is far from your idea. I've met a few people sleeping in classrooms(it is technically free accomodation  ). I even met one couple who were shown a nice apartment that would be theirs(it was the boss's parents apartment) and then were made to move into a less than stellar place. One guy had to live with the boss's auntie who would scowl at him for good measure.
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| 6. Your placement is secured with a contract before you depart. |
Contracts in Taiwan are not worth the paper printed on. Please look up Brian Kennedy's articles for the state of enforcement and judicial means. In Taiwan, a judge mediates contract disputes, he does not enforce the contract. It's an important distinction for anyone thinking of legal action. There is the CLA, finally.
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| 7. Your settlement in Taiwan is organised to accommodate individual needs with full support throughout the whole contract period. Free counseling services are available to all our teachers for the whole contract period to ensure comfortable and enjoyable stay in Taiwan. |
I have never seen or heard of counseling services offered. This does not mean they don't exist, but raises my BS alarm.
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| 8. One year contract mainly. |
In order for legal working papers(ARC, resident visa, work permit) you must have a 1 year contract. moot point
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| 9. Great opportunity to learn Chinese (Mandarin) and get ready for the next biggest market in the world. Boost your future career potential. You don't need any Mandarin/Chinese ability. |
This is hokey. Most people I know who speak good Chinese went to classes full time. It was the thing they did.
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| 10. A wonderful travel opportunity and working holiday to broaden your horizons. |
Taiwan is not a great place to travel. It's dirty and poorly maintained. You can count on one hand the number of rivers safe enough to swim in because of pollution. You can't drink or water plants with the water in Kaoshiung. In Taipei, they were dumping 1 million metric tons of untreated sewage into the Danshui River last year. Farmers use generic and/or fake pesticides and herbicides on the produce you eat. They've used radioactive rebar from Russia to build bridges and apartment buildings. Taiwanese have a whole different idea of what yes and honesty mean. I would not call your first 6-9 months a "working holiday" by any stretch of the imagination.
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| 11. Extend your profile through cross culture working experience. |
I can only laugh at this one.
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| 12. Potential career opportunities |
Which are? If you're white, black, dark skinned asian, or red, you will meet a definite glass ceiling. It doesn't break and if you want to advance you will have to do so with your own or a foreign company which may or may not be legal. Most foreigners I know are teachers, translators, couple engineers/computer related, small business owners and writers. I do not know of anyone who became anything more. You have to be Chinese for that. Because unfortunately, they are a wonderfully racist people in denial of their blatant racism.
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| 1. Tertiary qualification (any major) preferred. Diploma holder/TAFE graduates with additional TESOL qualification are also very welcome to apply. |
A university degree is the minimum qualification for a legal job.
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| 2. Must be a native English speaker. Overseas applicants are also very welcome to apply. |
I've seen Romanians, Poles, Nigerians, Barely able to speak English South Africans, Germans, Indonesians(Very rare) and Russians teaching English. Some of them actually spoke clearly, most didn't. If they need warm bodies, white faces with barely intelligable English count.
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| 3. Teaching experience is not essential while we need your passion, knowledge and patience. |
They got the patience part right, should of emphasized it though.
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| 4. TESOL (Teachers of English to Students of Other Languages) qualification a plus. |
I hope so. In reality, TEFOL means nothing to the 90% of schools in Taiwan and your pay will not reflect that you actually have training in what you are doing.
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| 5. Both female and male are very welcome to apply. |
I hope so. I only know of one transgendered person in Taiwan and They are quite intelligent and well spoken.
This job is a pass. Go with a chain if you need security without being screwed.
CYA
Okami |
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naturegirl321
Joined: 04 May 2003
Posts: 9041
Location: home sweet home
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| Posted: Sun Aug 24, 2003 3:17 am Post subject: |
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Wow
Okami,
thanks for all the info. I emailed them back, just on a whim and asked them tons of questions, just to see their reply.
I am also considering Hess, but according to many opinions on this forum, their pay is pretty low. I might just go there and look for a job on-site, rather than trying to do it from China. |
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Okami
Joined: 25 Jan 2003
Posts: 121
Location: Sunny Sanxia
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| Posted: Sun Aug 24, 2003 1:57 pm Post subject: |
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They'll probably drop you for asking too many questions. It's generally a red flag for Taiwanese employers, as it means you will be a "unsuitable" employee in their eyes.
If you have the cash, set something up with Hess. Then come over, and if you don't like the school or the atmosphere split. It will be a teacher's market till January, unless SARS hits again. If there is no reoccurence of SARS, then January will probably be a school's market. SARS is the big wild card. We also have elections coming up and these elections are going to be hotly contested as they will determine the political direction on Taiwan to a SAR of China, quasi independent nation(most likely as it is the current status quo), or as an independent nation.
I've heard, but check with the old man on the mountain, Killian, about whether they start busting illegal teachers at that time. I should be legal again soon, so it isn't a worry for me.
Naturegirl, I want to give you some friendly advice. You're analysing too much. You posted a lot of good questions and I'm sure you're reading a lot of info. It will not help you, unless you make a decision and act on it. Please don't get stuck in analysis paralysis and be stuck where you are. Taiwan needs decent individuals.
CYA
Okami |
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McMurphy
Joined: 02 Oct 2003
Posts: 15
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| Posted: Mon Oct 06, 2003 4:31 am Post subject: |
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| Just wondering how things worked out with the Pai Li job as I have been talking with them as well. |
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Aristotle
Joined: 16 Jan 2003
Posts: 1388
Location: Taiwan
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| Posted: Mon Oct 06, 2003 4:42 am Post subject: |
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| I can find no record of the company under that name. They are a new company or an old company under a new name. Either way, stay away from recruiters. |
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McMurphy
Joined: 02 Oct 2003
Posts: 15
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| Posted: Mon Oct 06, 2003 4:58 am Post subject: |
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I realise it's a big gamble dealing with recruiters but unfortunately my situation is tight, one could say even desperate. I'm now just trying to make the most of a tricky position.
Yes, it would be ideal to just travel straight to Taiwan and do it all myself, avoiding recruitment, but I have to throw the dice. Hope I don't roll 'snake eyes'... |
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Aristotle
Joined: 16 Jan 2003
Posts: 1388
Location: Taiwan
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McMurphy
Joined: 02 Oct 2003
Posts: 15
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| Posted: Mon Oct 06, 2003 5:09 am Post subject: |
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| Cheers Aristotle, I'll sign on. |
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TaoyuanSteve
Joined: 05 Feb 2003
Posts: 1028
Location: Taoyuan
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| Posted: Mon Oct 06, 2003 5:12 am Post subject: |
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McMurphy,
Please take the advice of others who have come here before you; don't go with a recruiter. Too many people have been in the best cases disappointed and, worse cases, flat out ripped off by them. I was burned and everyone I've spoken to who used a recruiter has had a similar experience. The risks are too high, especially if -- as you say-- things are tight financially. Most schools have means of direct contact, either through ads on sites such as this or web sites of their own. You can contact schools directly and avoid the headache of a recruiter. Do the smart thing. Protect yourself. |
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McMurphy
Joined: 02 Oct 2003
Posts: 15
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| Posted: Mon Oct 06, 2003 5:34 am Post subject: |
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| I know a lot about the horrors of recruiters, though I appreciate your fair warning TaoyuanSteve. As I said though I have little option but to throw the dice and yes, just like in the casino the odds will be against me. It's now a case of doing the best with the current set of circumstances. |
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